WhyWePractice

Step off the mat. Step into life.

[whywepractice]

Surround yourself only with those who want to see you grow.

[whywepractice]

You have to go through a process to understand.

Laruga Glaser

I think what attracted me to look further into the actual practice of yoga is the fact that it’s experiential. You have to go through a process to understand.

When I started to practice yoga, there is a sense of connection on the inside where I really wanted to be a good person. Where I felt motivated to transform myself, or move myself higher up... and the moment I came on my mat, I felt like I was home. I really felt like this is a space where I can be me, and really connect to this internal part of myself. I felt at home within myself. I felt at my home with even the things I was struggling with, and that was huge for me in the beginning when I started the practice… and one reason why I continue to do this practice.

In the Ashtanga yoga practice, we learn many many asanas. We go through this process of being taught and we guide ourselves through a sequence of postures. And it looks to be on the outside very physical, or to be representative of something very external. But underlying through all of that, what’s really moving us within these asanas is the breath, is the focal point, our sense of concentration, and through the asanas, through the act of performing the asanas, we are internally aligned. I feel personally this is what really moves the action of the asanas. This is what breathes life into the asanas. It’s like a form of expressing this internal aspect of ourselves to the outside or, also, just using the asana to feel on the inside, and it’s a marriage of both.

The transformative process really comes through with feeling this connection, so the change really came from within. I think that was what was huge for me: instead of these rules I was trying to follow on the outside – to feel like I wanted to fit in, to want to fit in, to want to attain validation or even approval from my parents – when I started to practice yoga, it really came from the inside. There is a connection on the inside, where there was a motivation to be better. To be more aware, to live on a higher level, to connect with people more authentically, because I was connecting on the inside: because I was aware of what was happening inside of me, there was more motivation to lead my life externally, connecting on a higher level. That internal connection is really what transforms us because we start to feel the importance of shedding the layers, that hold us back or cover who we really are.

[whywepractice]

Full transcript here.

[whywepractice]

"What we focus on becomes reality. Learn to place your focus away from the fluctuations of the mind.

Daniel Aarons

[whywepractice]

You think because you understand ‘one’ you must understand 'two’, because one and one makes two. But you must also understand 'and’.

Ancient Sufi teaching

[whywepractice]

Allow ourselves the freedom to not be perfect.

Bex

[whywepractice]

'This is who I am' is the starting point, but it is not our end point.

CP on personal growth

[whywepractice]

Be careful with discipline, for it can be a veil of self-hatred.

CP

[whywepractice]

Having open hamstrings doesn't mean you'll be less challenged: you can have really open hamstrings, and still be really frustrated at work.

GB Workability

[whywepractice]

'Noticing' is the start of Paying Attention.

GB Participation

[whywepractice]

We're going for full body participation today. That means the pose might not be that 'big' or visually nice, because you might have to dial back a little. That's okay: we want not just one area, but every part of the body to be involved.

GB Participation

[whywepractice]

In order to deepen a pose... sometimes, we have to take a step back, not go so deep into it.

GB Participation

[whywepractice]

Bow to your neighbours, Bow to your friends behind you, And now for the hardest part of class... Bow to your heart.

GB Steadiness, final day

[whywepractice]

Put energy into your work, not the way you work.

a friend, over dinner

[whywepractice]

To trust that the situations I’m in are there for a very specific reason.

Kathryn Budig

I was taking a class the other night where… I’ve never taken this class before and I went in there and I wanted to work. I wanted to sweat, I wanted to flow, I wanted my vinyasas – that was the mood that I was in. And the class was slow, very alignment driven, which is great but it just wasn’t what I wanted.

So for the first half hour of the class my brain went, “Damnit! This wasn’t what I wanted. I could’ve done a practice at home, blah blah blah blah…” And you’ve got this whole conversation, aka Life, happening in your head. And… just being a little snotty bitch, honestly – judging everything.

And then, by the end of the practice, you do it, and you do your savasana, and you sit up, and you go, “Wow. This is exactly what I needed. This is exactly what I needed.”

The yoga practice has allowed me to trust that the situations I’m in are there for a very specific reason, even if it doesn’t align with what my ego or brain wants.

And if I can stop tearing everything to shreds and judging it, and expecting it to be a certain way, then there’s a lot to get out of your life.

[whywepractice]