After 2 months of Yoga-ing, finally I can do a Chaturanga with my knees off the floor – it’s still not perfect but in time to come, I will perfect it. The success in doing the Chaturanga came as a surprise to me during my practice at home; usually I will do the knees, chest and chin down instead of Chaturanga but on the second week of September 2019, it just happened while doing the flow on Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation). My heart literally skipped a beat and jumped a little for joy – finally! It is an accomplishment for me because I have never done a proper push-up before and I have been struggling with knees, chest and chin & Chaturanga ever since the start of Yoga. Yay!
Little did I know that my joy is short lived.
After the first day of YTT course, my body felt as thou it has been ran over by a lorry, reverse and ran over again repeatedly – body aches on places where I was never aware of.
And on the second day of YTT, despite my aching body, we had to do numerous Surya Namaskar aka Sun Salutations and I remembered the first Chaturanga which I have to do, I nearly smashed my chin onto the floor because my arms were weak from the practice the day before. My Yoga mat, my towel and the floor were wet (with my perspiration, YUCKS!) – now who says Yoga is easy peasy?
For the YTT course, we will have to memorize the Sanskrit words for the postures as well as the pronunciation – it’s like learning a brand new language for me! I will read out the words while waiting for bus, or trying to memorise the Sanskrit sequence in the Sun Salutation. For the first few nights during memorizing, “Utthita Trikonasana” (extended triangle pose) keeps repeating itself in my dream the whole night – how like that?
I came to love Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) as this is my “motivator” – because whenever I am feeling lazy, I just have to tell myself, “just do 5 Surya Namaskar for the day as maintenance will do lah”. But the thing is, after 5 Surya Namaskar, the flow just goes on and on and I would have done quite a number of the twists, bends and back bends with bead of perspiration dripping. The after-effect of this is a sense of accomplishment and high on endorphins. For beginners or anyone keen to start Yoga but don’t know where to start from, the Surya Namaskar is the perfect sequence for you to follow. With proper guidance and alignment, the Surya Namaskar will do wonders for your body.
Most people associate Yoga as a form of exercise for keeping fit and to lose weight, but how many people actually are able to associate Yoga as a form of energy healing?
Yoga benefits includes improving respiration, digestion, vitality, reverse aging process, cardio and circulatory health, etc. Looking at it from the health aspect, doesn’t it looks like healing to you? The “traditional” energy healing (Reiki) needs a healer to heal you, whereas in Yoga, you are your own healer – and who knows your body condition more than yourself?
You don’t have to be a doctor to save people; You can save people in your own way or my way, though Yoga 😊
Yoga – which means the union of your body, mind and spirit – which also means that when these 3 are in sync, you would have attain the higher state of (sub) conscious. During Yoga practice, you strengthen your physical body, clear your mind and purified your spirit (balances your chakra) which is the process of sync-ing. The best thing about Yoga is that you can heal yourself anywhere, anytime and any place without the restrictions of external conditions. That’s why we feel happy after every Yoga class – positivity at it’s very best!
But as what I understand, many people have other misconceptions on Yoga.
Many people are unwilling to learn Yoga because “it’s a girl’s thing” or because “I am not as flexible, so Yoga is not for me”. C’mon la, you mean you go to school when you already know everything meh? You mean you must have muscles before you can go to the gym and train? It’s girl’s thing? Come and experience Ashtanga Vinyasa Primary Series and tell me again if this is a “girl’s thing”.
Moreover, we learn something because we are not good at it, that’s why we take up lessons and courses to improve. If we cannot do something and it’s our challenge within ourselves to learn and perfect it willingly – there is no reason why other people can do it and we cannot. We might not be better but everything takes time and effort and eventually we will be able to do it. We learn how to walk before we run didn’t we?
I have friends asking me, “Can you do a headstand now since you are in the YTT course?” or “ you must be ultra-flexible now”. This question makes me think that many people link Yoga with stunts or the circus act or some freak shows where Yogis twist and turn their body where no normal person can do. Oh dear! Misconceptions again!
If only more people can see Yoga as a form of healing instead of an exercise or some circus act, I am sure more people can benefit from this previous ancient practice that is being passed down generations to generations.
21092019 Weekend YTT
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Shirley