It’s your journey
When you begin your yoga practice and convinced yourself that this is good for you; that this is going to be a permanent fixture of your life (or may be semi-permanent); you try to go above and beyond. You try to convince others to take up yoga.
This is common with any new project you take on. You want to share your newfound joy with your circle. You want to engage them in the conversation at least. Unless you are super skeptical and still trying to make sense out of it first. it’s easier when you are skeptical. Then you keep it to your self and try not to broadcast. You try to explore the many layers of yoga. But what usually happens is we try to rope in kith and kin, all and sundry. Man, and animal.
I hope you won’t do what I did and try to convert people. I tried this first with my inner circle. Then like the good do-gooder you are, you branch out. You try to convince them that it’s good for them, like how it’s good for you.
The sales pitch..
First, I tried it with my friends & family, because I have the most influence with them (or I thought at the time). I tried to convince them to come join the yoga class at the cultural centre to do yoga alongside me.
My family simply wouldn’t have it. Some would say ‘oh the horror of doing something novel as yoga, and in public?, what even is yoga? It’s good for you because youngsters don’t get enough exercise as we do, I get enough exercise’. The list of justifications went like that. Others would give their customary and stoic ‘no’. Which brooks no arguments.
Then you would try it with your friends. Because it’s good for them, right? Especially if one is having severe stomach ulcers and the other is having thyroid imbalance. The answer I got in return was the most nonplussing ever and it permanently cured me of trying to sway anybody towards yoga.
My friend who’s the more outspoken (speaks for the both of them) and occasionally decides what’s good for others like me, said ‘ you are just trying to get him to tag along because you don’t want to go alone’. I thought to myself ‘what?, that’s you, not me’. Because or course, we used to mirror each other so much. What I did say instead was nothing.
Lessons..
These early attempts to show my people, yes, MY PEOPLE the benefits of yoga taught me a valuable lesson. That it’s my journey. And mine only. Others will join you when they are ready. Or not ever. But it’s ok. maybe they’ll find peace in hiking. Or swimming with the turtles or throwing punches to the hanging duffle. And It’s all ok.
Because I was bossy, I convinced my family to follow a recorded yoga class I purchased. And because I was so sure that they couldn’t follow the instructions properly by themselves to it to be effective, I guided them while the video was playing.
And more lessons
I can tell you now, I wasn’t the best yoga teacher on that day. I couldn’t understand why they were not able to do a pose the way I did it. it’s a simple pose, why are they not aligned properly? I barked instructions. And got extremely frustrated when they continued to do a subpar pose [in my mind it was subpar (sigh.. the shame I feel now)].
And I continued to send yoga CD’s as gifts to people who had been kind to me in chance encounters. Now I would think it’s a gross imposition on my part to even think I needed to burden someone with my expectations of their health. But honestly, all I wanted for them was to get the same comfort I was offered. I thought I was being kind. I was doing my duty as a friend. But now, we know better. So, we don’t thrust yoga on anybody anymore.
But you are not alone
Good news is, on your journey you’ll find your community. You’ll find your tribe. I know it’s cliched. But it’s cliched for a reason. You will find your tribe.
You might not even know; that your colleagues who never talk about their recreational activities at work are ardent followers of hatha yoga. Or the you new colleague had been to Rishikesh years ago, even before you even learnt that name.
And miracles would happen. Your friend who would only listen to scientific reasoning to do anything would show up to the occasional yoga class you taught. Just to set the record straight there’s a number of studies done by prestigious academia to support the long-term and short-term benefits of yoga. Despite the scientific studies, it’s not surprising if people thought yoga is too hocus pocus for logical people, because we tend to judge too quickly.
So, you’ll walk your journey. You’ll learn great many things to aid your journey and be of service to others and their journey. You’ll find your people. You’ll get help from most unlikely of places. Most unlikely of people. You’ll be surprised on what you can achieve if you just do simple practices and not be too harsh on yourself. It’s not a lonely path. It just takes time to recognize those who would walk with us. After all, we don’t make friends, we recognize them.
How’s your yoga journey been so far?
I started practicing yoga when I was diagnosed with high levels of bad cholesterol. Believe it or not I somehow got my cholesterol levels back to normal within 6 months.