My yoga journey

Clover, 20, Undergraduate.
This is my yoga story.
I was on a look out for my next interest after my grade 6 Violin exams. I never liked it- it was my Mother’s idea. Growing up, I had the mentality that girls should gravitate towards being arts inclined.
It comes to no surprise that I gave a shot at dance. After the first few classes, I came to conclusion that the only dances I am capable of were perhaps chicken dance and split banana dance- dance was not for me.
Long story short, I went for a 1-week Bikram yoga trial under the recommendation of a friend and I loved it. That was right after my ‘O’ level exams.
I hinted my Mother about how I wanted to sign up for yoga membership with hopes that she would fund for it. She replied with disapproving looks on bases of it being some random gym membership and the novelty would eventually wear off. I was slightly disappointed but totally cool with that. Do not mistake me, my Mother is a lovely human. The both of us were simply on different perspectives. I was not going to give up just yet.
I saved up enough money for the yoga package (of $2.5K) with my part-time job I had before the JC curriculum started. Only after making payments to the yoga studio, I then realised that I needed parent signature and the photocopied IC to register as a member. After all, I was under 18 years old. Needless to say, my Mother was not in the best mood after I explained what happened in exchange for what I needed. That was also how my Mother came to know about the matter.
On first impression, it may seem like I was audaciously bold and somewhat rebellious since my parent’s instructions of keeping an idea at bay were turned on deaf ears. However, those were not my intentions at all. I merely wanted to follow my heart in making decisions based on my beliefs.
No doubt, the amount of money spend was not a small sum but I believed in the value of it. At current time, it has since been more than 3 years after the incident and I can safely say that I have never regretted the decision of integrating yoga into my life. To my 17 year young soul:
‘Good on you for having courage to pursue what you had in mind despite oppositions. Keep yourself anchored in resilience and perseverance while following your heart. Well, it should be a given that your heart desires should never bring harm yourself or anyone.
In years to come, you will learn so much more about life through your personal teacher- yoga.
You will learn to open your heart with sincerity and be genuine to your encounters. To have yourself be humble to what lies ahead. Enjoying your free spirited heart while staying grounded.
You will learn to let go of judgments and free yourself from petty thoughts. Tuning into a positive mind of attitude and embracing the beautiful possibilities.
You will learn to trust in the process.
You will learn of contentment with every break through.
You learn about forgiveness and fresh starts. To love a little more in life- it’s the way you live life that makes it beautiful.’
And to you, my reader:
‘Choose the option that fulfills you and enriches your soul. If being bold and different is part of your identity, do not be afraid to express it. You are uniquely you and you are the beautiful you. It starts with believing and having faith.
In any case if a wrong move was made, do not be discouraged because ‘a smooth sea never made a skillful sailor’. We grow through every setback in life and that builds us to be the stronger person we are today. Making mistakes are part and parcel of life. I would rather be making sensible wrong decisions of my own desires than to follow blindly to what is being told. Life is but a journey of learning, exploring and discovering.’
Ending off with my favorite reminder about life- life should be lived light but not taken lightly.
Thank you for reading,
Namaste.
Clover/ YTTJan 2016 (Weekend)