Often Yoga is thought of as a practice of moving the body into various forms or poses. When we attempt to explain that Yoga is so much more than that, it becomes challenging as so much of that explanation lies in our being and is difficult to put into words.
In our retreat, we explored some of the concepts that help us better understand the Yoga lifestyle. We learned that much of how we lead our lives is already a Yogic practice.
Throughout the time together, we practiced Mindfulness in all of our activities with the intention to live in the moment. Through meditation, asana and sharing we became more comfortable with letting go of the past and not worrying about the future.
Exploring the Yamas and Niyamas of Yoga and their practical application to our lives brought about an awareness of the importance of living these “laws” in all we do.
Our voices joined in mantra chanting which energized our space, our crystals and ultimately, each other. By raising our energy vibration, we are able to send that out to the universe to promote healing. We communicate to express an idea or a thought. This can be effective or sometimes not as effective as we had hoped. Practicing active listening and nonviolent communication in a safe environment opens us up to new possibilities in our daily lives when we communicate with others.
As we immersed ourselves in these practices, it became evident that while we experience these concepts on our mat, it is only natural to take them out into our world.
We learned that taking these ideas and practices “off of our mat” and into the world is exactly how we explain the practice of Yoga.
What can you do to take your practice off of your mat and out into the world each day?
Namaste,
Liz
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