If some people swear by medicines because it saved their lives, then yoga is my medicine. I swear by it because I believe it saved me and continues to do so from the chaotic mind I’m sure we all have during this pandemic. When I was thinking of the first topic I wanna post here, there was no question it’s gonna be about yoga. I became familiar with yoga (as well as pilates) around 2017. I have a scoliosis and it was a famous remedy that a lot of people with scoliosis do. But I was a college student at that time, and as much as I wanna enroll myself in a yoga class, I can’t. First, because I probably won’t be able to afford it and second is, as a college student, I don’t have the luxury of time given the amount of travel I have to go through going back and forth (Hello, Manila traffic! Lol). Practicing on my own was NEVER an option for me at that time because I was too scared. I thought to myself, if I’m gonna do yoga, I must do it with an instructor. I didn’t wanna attempt to do it on my own because I’m very specific with my form and alignment and there will be no one to correct it if I’m doing it wrong.
Here comes 2020 and Covid-19 hit us, we were all forced in a lockdown. I went home in our province on a Friday, 3 days before the lockdown on March 16, 2020. During that time, I was on a hiatus on my physical exercises due to health issues. (Will do a separate blog on this!) Last week of March, I finally decided to get back on the groove and start moving again. I used my trusty Nike Training app that I’ve been using for years. I started with their 4-week beginner program that allows you to gradually get back to your fitness. Little did I know, this program will be the one opening my door to the wonders of yoga. This program has yoga incorporated in it at least twice or thrice of each week. I followed along and through those weeks, I had an epiphany that is, I can actually practice yoga on my own!
After finishing the program on Nike Training, I was determined to focus on yoga. I researched some apps I can use and started using the Downdog app and later moved to the Alo Moves app. They have a month and a half of free trial, so I maximized it and I practiced every day. Because I like going through the process properly (lol), of course I started a beginner program again in Alo Moves (Yoga for Beginners by Patrick Beach). If I’m not mistaken, it’s a 30-day program to familiarize yourself with the common instructions in yoga as well as other traditional practices such as sun salutations and vinyasa and bunch of different poses. Around June, my Alo Moves subscription ended and went to Youtube to dig some yoga channels. I found Sjana Elise and Travis Eliot (special shoutout to Travis, everyone’s guru). After finishing all of Travis’ videos on youtube, I was hooked! I love the intensity of his power yoga and the stillness of yin yoga. During this time, I’m also educating myself with the “different kinds of yoga” out there, namely Hatha, Ashtanga, Ashtanga Vinyasa, etc. but up to this day, I must admit I’m still confused which is which. (HAHA sorry) By August, I finally purchased my first real yoga mat and my practice just progress from there. (Having a proper mat is life-changing) I went back to Alo Moves to do more programs and that’s where I found Briohny Smyth and Kayla Nielsen, some of the yoga teachers I love! I also created a yoga account and started joining fundraising yoga events.
On September of 2020, on one of these fundraisings I joined, I met Ayn Latonio, a Vinyasa Krama and Gokul yoga teacher. It’s so funny because I was tempted not to attend the class because my best friend was coming over and we’re doing a power yoga after lunch, and his class was on the morning. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough energy for my second yoga sesh. Little did I know, it’s because of that class that my yoga practice will start to deepen. I was introduced to what Yoga is really all about and that it is more than just a physical practice. The physical practice is probably just 10% (idk the math lol just guessin but the point is there is so much more to it than the asanas) of what yoga really is. The discussion for this is probably for another blog post. It was also around this time when I started using Inner Dimension TV. It is the yoga platform app of Travis Eliot and his wife which I use up to this day. Two words to describe it, life changing (for my physical practice).
One year and four months later, I cannot express how grateful I am for this practice. There is so much more to learn, and I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to more deeper teachings on the philosophy of yoga as well as the anatomy and biomechanics included in it (which will probably contradict to the latter but eh, what can I do lol). I also wanna do a teacher training in the future, mainly as an investment for myself. Looking forward to more years in this practice!
