Dear Homegrown Yogis,
A few weeks ago, I was having one of those days. The kind where you are debating between crawling into bed at 4pm or eating a carton of icecream while chasing it with a bottle of wine. Don’t judge – you know those kinds of days! Like a dedicated yogi, however, I instead grabbed my yoga mat and went to sweat it out in Thursday night Warm Flow.
Sixty minutes later I stood up from my mat feeling like a new person. I was taking deep breaths for the first time all day. I felt centered; I felt restored; I felt untouchable. I absolutely had that yoga glow!
When I walked into my house after class, my two year old was having a full-blown temper tantrum. The living room was an absolute disaster zone. And the stack of receipts that have needed to be entered into QuickBooks for nearly 6 months was still sitting on the kitchen countertop. My breath got shallow. I felt off-centered; I felt exhausted; I felt defeated. The glow was gone.
The yoga studio where I completed much of my training has a tag-line: “Live Your Practice.” I have always loved that line but standing in the entry-way of my house that night, I finally understood what it meant. If we practice yoga while in a yoga class, we will certainly gain a great deal. Our bodies will become stronger and more flexible, and we will have a wonderful 60 minutes of peace and happiness.
But temper tantrums and messes and work will be there when class ends. By living our yoga practice and carrying the principles of yoga off our mat, we become emotionally stronger and more flexible and we will have a wonderful life of peace and happiness. When that occurs, yoga doesn’t just serve as an escape from life but rather as a way of life.
This month, I invite you to practice yoga on and off your mat with us. Come check out a class – you can even bring your kids along for our Family Yoga class on the 17th! Or practice living your yoga by celebrating creativity and expression in our Painting with Soul class, and celebrating community and fun at our Namast’ay and Party event. Yoga doesn’t need to end when we roll up our mats at the end of class – the practice of yoga and our yoga glow can continue on!
With love,
Rachel