Dear Friends,

Have you ever done yoga?

Yoga literally means “to yoke” or “to be one”.  It is a philosophy.  If I were to look for the definition of philosophy, it means the study of knowledge or experience.  So if we were to put together yoga philosophy, it means the study of knowledge or experience to be one.

How do you become one?

We become one when our mind, body, and spirit is in alignment.  We become one when we are in this moment and present.

I’ve been practicing yoga now for a little over six years and teaching it over 4 years.   Throughout my years of practice, what I remember the most are the little wins I get out of my practice.  I remember the feeling I got the moment I felt my fingers touch the ground.  I remember the moment I felt my forehead touch my knees.  But then realizing about alignment now, I do try to think back that when I touched the floor; or when my forehead hit my knees in my seated forward fold, was my back rounding?  I’ve practiced in different studios and learned from different teachers and understanding one practice from the next.  I normally follow practices that I resonate with.  I have a love and hate relationship with my Ashtanga practice because some poses might just not be accessible for my body but I learn that in constant practice sometimes it can happen and I admit I haven’t been religious enough to it as well. Then here comes practicing yoga with alignment.  I actually enjoy alignment, because I get to have a better understanding of my body and at the same time, the same old poses that I do everyday become more challenging instead of just falling into the poses and making my practice more mindful than ever before.  With alignment, I feel that there is more compassion to bend knees rather than rounding the spine because in the long run, I can pull a muscle on my back or hamstring just because I was forcing parts to touch.

But alignment practice can take so much energy to get into a pose and then there are days when you are not a hundred percent into the practice, you just want to surrender and let go and just allow gravity to work on your body instead. I guess that's where the balance should be. I cannot be over too hypercritical to myself when it comes to alignment when in fact I am still unlearning some bad habits that I’ve grown to have  through not having the proper alignment training.  I need to acknowledge both the fact that through alignment I can be a better practitioner and teacher but at the same time I need to practice patience more to myself and to my students to be able to grasp each concept of alignment but at the same time work harder for it.  I guess for the mere fact that each day I bring a sense of awareness more into my practice and my teaching.  

In learning the yoga poses and finding physical alignment, it also makes sense to bring the wisdom I learn to my everyday life.  Where do I rush in my life that would only hurt me in the long run?  What are my bad habits and now that I’ve become more aware of it, what do I do to be better?  What shortcuts have I done to achieve something that I may not be ready for yet?  And yes, when I become more aware, how do I strike the balance of not being too hypercritical of myself.

Yoga doesn’t necessarily mean the poses that you see on instagram.  It can be just anything that puts you in the present, helps you become more aware, be in tune with your mind and body. To be mindful of your actions because it affects your spirit. Whatever physical practice it may be -- lifting weights, any sports, eating, walking, dancing, washing dishes, doing house chores or even just merely breathing, for as long as you do it intentionally and with full awareness, it is yoga.  When your mind starts to shift from overthinking to just doing the task at hand and not worrying of the outcome, then you are in alignment. Your thoughts and energy are a little less scattered. It is not about perfecting it but something you can work on that’s why it is called a yoga practice and we have a lifetime to do it. May you find compassion, patience and kindness to yourself when you do it because if you are able to do that to yourself, you will have the same attitude to others. Your yoga mat is the world we live in now.  

Now, let me ask you again, have you ever practiced yoga?  Was there ever a moment where you felt one?