Yoga Myths

I went into my yoga teacher training with very little background. Yes, I had practiced yoga before but my experience with asana was fairly new. I had always wanted to try yoga but my perception of yoga was based on what I saw. And what I had seen was slim white women contorting their bodies into shapes I knew I could not do. Yoga was not for me UNTIL I came across a white woman in a bigger body teaching accessible yoga. I was blown away. This whole time I had a story that I could not do yoga. This was my first lesson in yoga is for every body. 

YOGA IS FOR EVERY BODY

As a yoga teacher, I am responsible for relaying the information I learned in my teacher training to others. I am grateful I have the opportunity to offer sacred knowledge to students. One of the workshop topics I enjoy teaching is yoga myths. I've had friends, colleagues and students tell me their stories on yoga. Below is a list of stories I've heard:

• You have to be flexible to do yoga.
• I don't have the money to spend on expensive clothing and a mat.
• I've tried yoga before but I did not feel welcome into the studio.
• The class was fun but the teacher used terminology I was not familiar with.
• The yoga classes I've taken were taught too fast. I was always behind.
• Yoga is religion. You have to become a Buddhist. 
• I was told you need to be spiritual and meditate everyday.
• I'm not into that breath work stuff. 
• I don't want to become a vegetarian.

I'm always surprised when I hear the feedback from students on this topic. There is still a lot of mis-information out there about what yoga is. Yoga is much more than poses on a mat. Yoga is not just a physical practice that you do twice a week for an hour. Yoga tells us that in order to realize happiness, one must discover our true, spiritual nature. And this can be done by practicing mindfulness. You can practice daily gratitude and compassion for self and others. You can have the physical practice and work on the breath as well. There are a number of practices, techniques and rituals that can help purify the mind and body and potentially guide one to a path of Self-Realization.