Confession: Why I Never Talk About Yoga.

One of the words I typically describe myself as when I make online appearances elsewhere is a yogi. That word kinda makes me uncomfortable. I know this is confusing, but hear me out. I describe myself as a yogini because yoga is a big, big chunk of my life. But I feel like when I say yoga is a big chunk of my life, that means that I must clearly be able to do all the "advance" poses, and I must like... be a pretzel... or something.

But I'm not. 

Are handstand warriors and yoga teachers the only ones that are allowed to talk about things yoga related? Or is there room for someone like me?

I yearn to talk more about yoga. This post is the start of that. Because there is room for me too. 

I have been able to grow and become the woman that I am because of my yoga practice. I've been doing yoga for a few years now, and I'm still learning, studying, growing, deepening my practice as much as I can. I am an avid yogi- and I think part of being a yogi is sharing what we learn with others to help them grow too. 

I can't do a handstand but my headstands are coming along beautifully. 

A lot of the fancy arm balances that we see I can't do either. I did my first side crow a few weeks ago and nearly shook my apartment building from excitement!

I have trouble defining yoga because I believe that yoga can be defined in many ways. However, I also feel that if so much time is spent on the postures, and not as much time on the other aspects of yoga (ethics, meditation, self-stufy, etc.) we could really be missing out on some yummy stuff! At the core though, whatever makes you come alive, whatever unifies your mind, body, spirit, THAT'S yoga.

Shanti Presence reflects this mission wholeheartedly. I'm very much aware that some of my malas look nothing like mala beads. But I feel like the look of the mala beads is less important than the *purpose* of the mala beads. Mala beads are supposed to help with meditation. You can keep track of mantras, breaths, whatever. Mala beads can also serve as a reminder for something. When I think about my malas, I think: can a person count on them? Yes? Well then by george it's a mala! 

I don't think the divine cares whether our malas look like traditional beads or not. 

Our yoga practice is the same way. It's about how the yoga makes you feel. What it does for you. If doing acro yoga is what makes you feel connected, and whole, that's amazing. Keep doing that. If you love more meditation time and less asana, keep doing it. But there really is no *right* way to be a yogi, other than really just being an ethical human being. 

So I guess in short, this means you'll be hearing a lot more from me. 

:)