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    View Life From The Down Dog Position

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    api-612897292
    The author had preconceived notions that yoga was not for men and was more of a social activity for women. However, during lockdown the author began doing short yoga sessions for exercise and stress relief. The author was apprehensive about their first professional yoga class but found it to be intense workout that left them sweaty. Nonetheless, the author kept returning to classes and found yoga to be mentally relaxing and help detach from stressors. Yoga has taught the author to keep an open mind and that facing problems can be helped through simple breathing exercises. While not a full "yogi" yet, yoga has had a positive impact on the author's life by providing an escape and pushing outside their comfort zone.

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    View Life From The Down Dog Position

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    api-612897292
    39 views2 pages
    The author had preconceived notions that yoga was not for men and was more of a social activity for women. However, during lockdown the author began doing short yoga sessions for exercise and stress relief. The author was apprehensive about their first professional yoga class but found it to be intense workout that left them sweaty. Nonetheless, the author kept returning to classes and found yoga to be mentally relaxing and help detach from stressors. Yoga has taught the author to keep an open mind and that facing problems can be helped through simple breathing exercises. While not a full "yogi" yet, yoga has had a positive impact on the author's life by providing an escape and pushing outside their comfort zone.

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    The author had preconceived notions that yoga was not for men and was more of a social activity for women. However, during lockdown the author began doing short yoga sessions for exercise and stress relief. The author was apprehensive about their first professional yoga class but found it to be intense workout that left them sweaty. Nonetheless, the author kept returning to classes and found yoga to be mentally relaxing and help detach from stressors. Yoga has taught the author to keep an open mind and that facing problems can be helped through simple breathing exercises. While not a full "yogi" yet, yoga has had a positive impact on the author's life by providing an escape and pushing outside their comfort zone.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    39 views2 pages

    View Life From The Down Dog Position

    Uploaded by

    api-612897292
    The author had preconceived notions that yoga was not for men and was more of a social activity for women. However, during lockdown the author began doing short yoga sessions for exercise and stress relief. The author was apprehensive about their first professional yoga class but found it to be intense workout that left them sweaty. Nonetheless, the author kept returning to classes and found yoga to be mentally relaxing and help detach from stressors. Yoga has taught the author to keep an open mind and that facing problems can be helped through simple breathing exercises. While not a full "yogi" yet, yoga has had a positive impact on the author's life by providing an escape and pushing outside their comfort zone.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Finding myself in the down dog position.

    I was always under the assumption that yoga carries a certain reputation in today’s society
    and time. I perceived it as something for housewives, social media influencers, or working
    women to do and then grab a health smoothie afterwards and talk to the other yogis about
    their lives, gossip, or the recent episode of this week’s reality tv show. It wasn’t really a
    space that should be infiltrated by someone with a Y chromosome. Well, that was my
    perspective on yoga but somewhere along the road it changed.

    I first started dabbling with yoga when the initial lock down came knocking. I think we all
    grasped at weird little things that would have kept us sane during the pandemic. For myself,
    it was just a quick five to 10 min sun salutation to keep boredom from overwhelming me.
    And the little bit of exercise can only do one good. I was not overly fond of yoga at this time,
    but it was the start of a beautiful relationship that yoga, my mat and I share. It was a year
    later that one of my friends opened her own yoga studio when I decided that I will support
    her (like a good friend should have) and give this yoga thing a valid attempt. And that was
    the instigation of my relationship with yoga. But like most relationships it has got its ups and
    down dogs.

    I was fairly apprehensive walking into the studio for my first yoga session under professional
    supervision to commence. The saying goes ignorance is bliss and I totally agree with that
    statement. If I had known that a yoga session is a little bit more than just light stretching I
    doubt I would have partaken. At the end of the session I had sweat dripping down as if I had
    just sprinted a kilometre in the middle of the Karoo in summer. Immediately I was thinking
    well that was fun, but “adios yoga, it has been real”. However, I found myself going back
    week in and week out, and it was not just for the fitness aspect of it. Not at all, there was
    something soothing to the soul every time I finished the vinyasa flow and found myself in
    the dead man pose.

    Yoga has made me break down certain social barriers in the way that I perceive life. As I
    have stated before, yoga was never something that I saw myself partake in as I put it in the
    same boat as Pilates, something that is not meant for someone with testosterone. Yet, here
    I find myself, gym bag packed with my yoga mat and towel waiting for the next class and
    writing an article about yoga. I view life now with a certain open mindedness and willing to
    accept and even try new things. I might be stubborn sometimes, but I generalise to get my
    point across.

    Personally, I do not fully comprehend the concept of “aligning one’s chakras and getting the
    mind body in soul intact” and how it goes hand in hand with yoga. I am fairly close minded
    when it comes to these supernatural aspects of life where there is not really a logical
    explanation for things. However, can I say that I feel a little bit more relaxed after yoga?
    Well not physically because as mentioned earlier, it is an intense work out that works
    certain muscles in my body that I never even knew existed. But mentally, oh boy, it is dare I
    say it euphoric when you walk out of that session. It allows you to detach from the
    thoughts, problems, stress and bad vibes of your life for an hour. You walk out there feeling
    that you have attended a self-help seminar by just doing some simple stretching and
    breathing, to put it in Layman’s terms.

    It is mind boggling to think how yoga has taught me that you can face most of your
    problems by just doing the simple act of breathing. Just focusing on your own breath allows
    you to be calm and view certain situations, obstacles, difficulties, and complications with a
    clearer head. Because if we are being honest, us as humans perform at optimum potential
    when our mind is clear, and body is relaxed. I would be a hypocrite if I said I perfected it and
    nothing stresses me out, but once I just take the time to relax it is a different ball game.

    I would not classify myself as a yogi just yet. Yoga has definitely had a positive impact on my
    life thus far. It has given me the opportunity to escape from everything when I get on my
    mat and start of with a sun salutation right through to ending with the dead man’s pose. It
    also allowed me to push myself into trying something that I have never thought I would
    even attempt. But most of all, yoga has taught me how you must get uncomfortable to
    become really comfortable.

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