Non-Competitive Yoga Bringing Back The Peace |
One of the most appealing things about discovering yoga many years ago, was finding a non-competitive, singular activity in a communal setting. Being non-competitive was positively encouraged, this was a "moving meditation," we were reminded often by the teacher.
Even though I knew it was a mistake to peek at other's during practice I still did, either getting into 'compare despair', or realizing I wasn't alone while wobbling and losing my balance.
When the teacher told us,"remember non-competitive means not competing with other's or yourself." it really resonated with me.
That was my yoga back then, kind and loving, with enough effort to fully benefit from the deep relaxation or Yoga Nidra at the end of the class, which we were told was the most important part of our practice.
How comforting that felt, what a divine and radical act of self care Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep was (and still is), a completely new yet very welcome concept for me at the time.
Self care, self love, non-judgemental, non-competitive, accepting and safe, are all words that I learned in those early days in yoga practice.
Many years later I found myself in one of the popular Astanga classes. It was fast,vigorous, energetic lots of sweating, Ujiyi breath being practiced loud and intense, it sounded more like Darth Vader than the gentle rhythmic 'ocean' breath I had learnt. I knew this wasn't my yoga and I began to realize there was a yoga for everybody. I became aware that Astanga yoga was great for people who enjoyed physical workouts and/or dancer's also. Yet it felt competitive and distracting to me, and there was no blissful Yoga Nidra either.
Despite the popularity of vigorous styles of yoga and hot yoga, plus the plethora of different types of yoga popping up on what seems like an hourly basis....(Beer Yoga anyone)? the essence of yoga, can still be found.
With age comes wisdom (we can hope) and the benefits of practising yoga in our wisdom years are too many to ignore.
There is a yoga for everyone, my yoga is a simple and enriching practice, peaceful, accepting and non-competitive.
© 2022 Own The Crone. All rights reserved
Even though I knew it was a mistake to peek at other's during practice I still did, either getting into 'compare despair', or realizing I wasn't alone while wobbling and losing my balance.
When the teacher told us,"remember non-competitive means not competing with other's or yourself." it really resonated with me.
That was my yoga back then, kind and loving, with enough effort to fully benefit from the deep relaxation or Yoga Nidra at the end of the class, which we were told was the most important part of our practice.
How comforting that felt, what a divine and radical act of self care Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep was (and still is), a completely new yet very welcome concept for me at the time.
Self care, self love, non-judgemental, non-competitive, accepting and safe, are all words that I learned in those early days in yoga practice.
Many years later I found myself in one of the popular Astanga classes. It was fast,vigorous, energetic lots of sweating, Ujiyi breath being practiced loud and intense, it sounded more like Darth Vader than the gentle rhythmic 'ocean' breath I had learnt. I knew this wasn't my yoga and I began to realize there was a yoga for everybody. I became aware that Astanga yoga was great for people who enjoyed physical workouts and/or dancer's also. Yet it felt competitive and distracting to me, and there was no blissful Yoga Nidra either.
Despite the popularity of vigorous styles of yoga and hot yoga, plus the plethora of different types of yoga popping up on what seems like an hourly basis....(Beer Yoga anyone)? the essence of yoga, can still be found.
With age comes wisdom (we can hope) and the benefits of practising yoga in our wisdom years are too many to ignore.
There is a yoga for everyone, my yoga is a simple and enriching practice, peaceful, accepting and non-competitive.
© 2022 Own The Crone. All rights reserved