Early days..
Yoga classes are weird things. In how it can be sneaky. At first you don’t know that this is going to be a permanent fixture of your life. Or at least semi-permanent. Changes you feel could be so insignificant at first that you don’t even stop to think about the impact it has on you. You might keep going to the class because you paid for the term. Or because you decided you are so stressed and talked yourself into doing something about it and think you might as well stick with it for sometime.
All reasons are valid reasons
Your work colleague may have casually suggested that you try yoga. And she too is not so serious about it but it’s something she has in her self-care regime. So, you tell yourself, ‘those who are serious about life, tries yoga at least once, because that’s what mature people do, they try’. Right? Maybe you are overweight and think yoga is a less invasive, low effort, alternate way to achieve healthier lifestyle. Or it is just a tick in a box.
You don’t really need a reason
Its’ not karma that guides you to the path of yoga. Nor it’s your identity. or goes in hand with something you believe; that this is a good thing for the world. That this is what good people do. No, it’s definitely not that. Why people stick with yoga best left undefined and evolving. Organic in its unfolding. Because it is not another thing which needs to be labeled, packaged and stamped. I like yoga in its nature to be open-ended.
I like it for its ability to appeal to everybody. IT IS for everybody. For those who don’t like haram pants and won’t fit into yoga pants. For those who takes it to lose weight. For those who want to regulate stress. For those who want to accompany a friend. For those who want to be there for the ride. For those who are curious. For the skeptics and not flexible. For misfits. For the meek. For the self-assured as well as the scatterbrains. Whatever you call your self you are worthy of yoga.
My reasons
I fall to the most mundane category of people why they stick with it. I stuck with it because I paid for it. I stayed for practical reasons. And my practical ‘social class’ had taught me to get value for money. At the beginning that was the main reason I kept at it.
I was definitely having fun with my body. I had forgotten what it feels like to do interesting things with it. It was charming to see the things I can still do. And the new things I can do. On the flip side, it was a shock of bucket of ice-cold water to realize how unfit I was at some areas, at a prime age.
It was clever, in a way how easy to get back to shape if you do simple things. Some poses only took 2 attempts to master. One week I couldn’t do it. The next week it was doing it. And my favorite memory of yoga. I was a pro at shoulder stand on the first go. So much so that I felt, damn! I could even relax in my shoulder stand. And that was what yoga asana is about, Sthiram Sukham Asanam – steady and in comfort is the yoga pose. After I rolled back from Sarvangasana, world had taken a different shape. I didn’t want to come to the seated pose and act normal again (chuckles). Shoulder stand is the best way to relax for this yogi. Who knew?
Subtle changes
I noticed, that I wasn’t craving meat at the end of the first yoga class in this regular class. I doubt it has anything to do with spirituality. Or that I decided to stop eating things with a face all of a sudden. it’s because I was feeling light. And my body didn’t need anything heavy at the minute. It didn’t change my food preferences in the long term. As it is more of a choice.
I kept at it. I kept going to the classes for unsexy reasons. For middle class reasons. It was the most stupidly simple thing to do. Just keep doing the simple things. In small quantities. For a long time. And you’ll be surprised with the long term effects. Don’t take it too seriously. Don’t try to define it. And if you have a lapse, that’s ok too. That’s so ok. Your body doesn’t forget how you felt. Your muscles store the memories. Muscles remember. You’ll pick it up from where you are. And that’s ok. It’s all ok. Yoga is one thing in your life that doesn’t need explanations. Just get back to it without guilt.
I’m grateful that I decided to finally take it up.
What is your early days of yoga like?