Namaste Monday: The Power of Yoga

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I believe in the principle of taking yoga off of the mat.

Meaning, what you feel in yoga {hopefully peace and surrender} and your goals for the class {whether it be calmness or patience} should be applied to your everyday life.

I made a comment on Twitter last Thursday after I left my yoga class.

I said:

"It's amazing how morning yoga has the power to shape my prospective for the day. I breathe deeper, make healthy food choices & smile more!"

It's true.  How could you not walk out of yoga class feeling happier and healthier?  I find that I focus on my breathing.

When someone cuts me off well driving, instead of scream a long list of profanities at them, i let it go with a deep breath and a smile.

When someone cancels their plans on me, instead of being mad at them, i think of it as a positive thing.

When someone fights with me, I take a deep breath and walk away from the situation.

I tend to eat cleaner foods that day.  More veggies, fruit, smoothies, and whole grains and less sugar and carbs.  I {somehow} crave less chocolate then on days when I don't do yoga.

The best news?  I swear I sleep like a baby on nights I do yoga.

But yoga is more then just a healthy body.

Yoga is also a healthy mind and spirit.

The affects of yoga can change how you view the world.

I 100% believe yoga has the power and ability to change your life.

There is something so magical about it that can be unlike any other activity you do.  There's {hopefully} no competition.  It teaches you acceptance, love, and how to have a wholesome mind, body, and spirit.

Part of taking yoga off of the mat for me comes in the form of community service. I've already spoken about how I used the Karma yoga from my teacher training for create a program for kids with special needs.  But I've also given yoga to other people.  Since I've become a teacher, I've introduced my athletic friends, my best friend's mom, and even my grandmother to different form of yoga.

Most people see yoga as something to get in shape.  But yoga is for anybody.  There are programs all of the world situated for people with addictions, people who have dealt with lose, people who are bullied, people who are elderly, people with back/neck/leg/stomach pain, people with kids, people with.... you name it, there's a class for it.

I think introducing yoga to anyone can help change the world.  

I'm Christian, don't get me wrong.  But I believe that a lot of the Buddhist principles of the yoga foundation are simple and easy to follow.  I'll talk more about this in upcoming Namaste Monday posts, but I think introducing the concept that the word Namaste teaches - the light in me honors the light in you- to everyone in the world can change how we view each other.  

We might use namaste at the end of each class, but the concept and belief of it can be shared with everyone no matter who they are.

It's not about being friends with each other.  It's simply about knowing we are all human and we all have the same emotions, so we must treat each other the same.

Think of how the world can change if we all lived on this belief?  No war, because we would accept each other's differences and beliefs.  No suffering, because we would be willing to give without receiving compensation.

Your definition of yoga may be that one hour class you take a few times a week.  It may be those stretches you do every morning.  It may be a way for you to loose a few pounds and tone up before summer.  It may be a meditation practice for you.

Either way, yoga can BE your life.  You can BE yoga.  

All you have to do is believe in the power of the small word:  Namaste.

That's why this series is called Namaste Monday.  It's the beginning of the week and we all have the power to change our outlook for the week ahead.

Moorea wrote an incredible post last week about bullying.  She spoke about being bullied throughout school and how she worked to overcome that.  And I cried when I read it.  Because I was bullied too.

I thought about how in grade school I would come home every single day and cry to my mom.  I would cry myself to sleep because the girls were so cruel.  I could never understand how someone could make you feel that way.

And I thought about how much my life has changed since I discovered yoga.  How I became confident in myself, which led to that showing to others.  

How, if yoga was introduced to EVERYONE, maybe bullying would be reduced. 

{Part of the reason why I am such a strong advocate for yoga for children in schools is because by introducing something as powerful as yoga to someone at a young age can change how they choose to treat people}

Like I said, yoga can change a person's life.  It can also change the people's live's that you come in contact with on a regular basis.  

So this week, let's wake up each morning and think, Namaste.  Let's view people as our equals, not our enemies.  Let's remember that we are all human.  Let's follow the belief of the light in me honors the light in you.  

Namaste, friends.

Have an amazing Monday.

xo