Finding your way to the mat

I show up, hopefully a few minutes early for class. The class before me is getting out, some are ripe with sweat, others just sticky hair, but all have a sort of content happy face. The doors from the outer studio to the practice room are open. I slide off my shoes and head in, find an opening and roll out my mat, sit down and start to center myself. Focusing on my breath moving in and out. More people come in, I do a some neck stretches for the stiff neck I've had all day. The teacher walks in, she's been manning the desk out front checking people in as they come in. She takes her seat in the front of the class and starts a guided breath meditation.

This was my experience most weeknights at the yoga studio I attended in Northern Virginia. For about three years I slid around trying out classes, attending new teachers, and above all just practicing. Yoga is a practice as one of my favorite teachers said, "Yoga is the practice of staying calm even while you are pushing yourself physically, and it will slowly retrain your brain for handling the stresses of daily life." As I practiced there were two things I had over the years and though it took a long time to embrace them. They helped my practice tremendously.:

• No expectations: Keeping an open and fresh mind about each class gets hard especially if you have a routine. However, if you show up to your Thursday night sweat your butt off hot flow class only to find a substitute who is gonna teach a slow but equally as challenging class you won't become upset if you stay open. You might even learn something you would never have gotten from the original teacher. Yoga teaches control and surrender, it is just many think surrender in life is the same as losing.

• No judgement: Though many people take this as not judging others and you shouldn't judge others in your class, it is more important to not judge yourself. I know every time I have hurt myself in yoga is when I was pushing myself because I was judging myself harshly and forcing myself to go further.

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After I began to practice these two key points I found myself feeling even greater peace and relaxation from the classes I took. As these principles spilled into my life it began to take on a more peaceful tone. The hardest part I find most new yoga students have is fear of attending new yoga classes. When I was a new student I would see photos like this and think that this had be the kind of poses they were doing in the class and if I don't know how to do it I will stick out like a sore thumb. Most beginner classes follow a form close to basic hatha classes, though the teacher may change around the style of sun salutation or some of the seated pose it gives and accurate portrayal. The following is a common hatha yoga classes. In the opening of the class some teachers will chant OM, others use a set opening chant or one that fits the class dynamics. This is followed with breathing, eye and neck exercises. Then a series of sun salutations, which can be considered a warm up exercise allowing muscles to loosen up. This is usually done in the vinyasa style. After this all the other poses are for toning and stretching specific muscle groups. There are standing pose such as the forward fold and squats. Then balancing poses, followed by seated poses and twists.(1) Then the final relaxation usually done in corpse pose, this pose has an importance most new students miss. The pose allows you body to let go of tension it may have built up, as well as any mental stress. (2)

Below is a photo of a common hatha series from Rowan Cobelli's website.

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Work Cited
1.Yoga Now Malaysia. Yoga Practice Outline. n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2013
2.Yoga Journal. Yoga Journal Poses. AIM Co. n.d. 2013. 8 Sept. 2013
3.Rowan Cobelli. "A Basic Class Sequence". Rowan Cobelli. n.d.Web. 8 Sept. 2013