Ever since I moved to Chennai and started to lead a less reckless and slower life, Yoga has been on my mind. But it actually took me a couple of years before I gave it my first shot in 2017. It was my year of transformation, and the year I chose to do things I knew would help me improve my quality of life.
I joined the super fancy then Zorba, now Sarva studio for around 4K per month. It was expensive but I could choose to attend any day I wanted and I liked that flexibility. Actually, to be honest my first stint with yoga started with MBA where we had a mandatory course on Yoga for credits. Of course, like most people in my batch I was an idiot that never fully understood the value of this precious opportunity to learn something that would have helped me so much with my physical and mental health. We cried and complained about waking up early and how Yoga has nothing to do with the “all-important sounding” management studies. Well, that’s just youth I guess. Basically lots of unearned confidence and spite about things that are good for you.
But I would like to take a moment here and also mention the way Yoga is projected to kids and young people. Let us take a look at the mental model/frame of reference we have for Yoga. I can safely speak for myself here when I say Yoga has been projected to me the wrong way my entire life. I always perceived it as religious, not sure where this comes from, but let’s just say I did not have enough knowledge to separate from religion from spirituality or Hinduism from Yoga. This was a very serious flaw. Nobody in my house or in my school ever taught me the real-life benefits of how yoga can help someone in the long term. In fact, I don’t think most adults around me had that clarity in themselves, so I don’t blame them. On the other hand, yoga has been extremely commercialized as a fitness activity for corporate greed. The West may have started it, but we Indians have taken it a whole new level. Here are some examples that make me furious.
And now for the best of all. please find the baap of utter nonsense, presenting to you…. AQUA YOGA.
Most of us have either this image of Yoga in our minds or this.
You get the drift. This is why I strongly feel yoga is either religion-ized or commercialized. Neither of these is attractive to children or teenagers or anyone who has a mind, they are sure to be put off by this nonsense. Trust me there are more, pot yoga, naked yoga, salt yoga, yoga with animals, even Snowga 😀 😀 Google them when you are high and try along. I dare ya.
If only had somebody had sat me down, and spoken to me about mental health and holistic physical health in my teenage years, chances are I would have ignored all or most of it. But that’s my point. There wasn’t a single source of positive inspiration and the society was and is full of moronic representations of what Yoga is all about.
Anyhow, over the last two years, I have attempted to connect with what Yoga truly is about from a mind, body and soul perspective. It is a lot more difficult than you think. I can barely call myself a yogini, but I am definitely an aspiring one. My on and off relationship with Yoga has taught me a few important things about myself and my body, which I personally think is the most important take away from Yoga.
1.Focus is underrated, and very very very hard!
The biggest takeaway for me from any yoga session has been the challenge of focusing on one thing and that one thing alone, even if it is just for a few seconds. They say our mind is just another muscle, and the more you train it, the better it gets. This improvement in focus can help you go a long way in personal and professional life, to pay attention to things, and to notice every little detail that can help you make decisions in life.
2. Slow the fork down!
Like I said, my life is a lot slower than what it used to be. Depends on how you look at it perhaps, for the longest time I remember running and running and running, from things that scared me, made me uncomfortable, from relationships, from making real connections, from emotional attachment etc etc. and I did not ever want to slow down, until I was forced to, when it took a toll on everyone around me and of course damaged me deeply. I am not saying Yoga made me slow down, of course, it is one very small part of my transition journey. But if you have ever attended a yoga class, you know that it is all about finding your natural rhythm, and that requires slowing down and paying attention. Over time, I have learnt how much I like the slowness when it comes to certain things, and how at ease I am with myself when I am not running away from things.
3. Wellness over weight loss
I get it, It is easy to say this. Hard to follow, while we are literally surrounded by thousands, yes, thousands of manipulative reminders of how we should look, what we should eat, who we should fall in love with? There is a reason why the fitness industry in India is worth 4500 crore in India and is steadily growing. On the other hand, obesity has doubled in India in the last few years. It is simple no? We want to do yoga and lose weight but we also want to eat KFC with all its secret ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with either of these things. But I am really forking tired of being told what is good for me. Aren’t we all unique individuals with unique bodies and unique minds? Shouldn’t we explore what is best for us in a more grounded way, and pursue that? Just think about it, the next time you want to buy a pair of 25K Adidas Shoes.
4. Forget the high, lets get grounded.
This is perhaps my most favourite part about yoga, and also why I feel corporate yoga classes do not work for me. The simplicity of yoga is that it is the mere passing of knowledge from one individual to another, and is accessible to anyone and everyone. No fancy mirror rooms, no high-end equipment- Just some fresh air and a clean floor, and you are good to go. You know, the famous ‘High’ that we always refer to after a great workout, the connection you feel with yourself and the grounded-ness of that is even better than that “high”.
This yoga day, I wish to remind myself of why I chose yoga after many trying many other things, and hope that my learning helps you too. I fall in and out of yoga all the time, and while I am human enough to accept that and work on it, I urge you to give it a chance too, with an open mind. 🙂 Who knows what you might discover about yourself!
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