If you were asked the question: What is your favourite yoga pose? Could you choose?
I don't think I’ve done every yoga pose and some I will never be able to do due to my skeletal variation. For me yoga is not comparing myself to Instagram yoga pics as I’m not made of liquorice (although I do have my yoga journey on Instagram) it's not about how a pose looks or comparing yourself to the person on the mat next to you. We are all at different stages of our yoga journey so let's throw comparison out the window and focus on how yoga makes you feel. Isn't that the reason we roll out our mats in the first place?
No one else will ever do yoga like you do because you are unique...fact. Yoga is for everyone and designer yoga kits are not required, that's another fact.
How a pose makes you feel, lets remove good or bad feelings but what challenges you... my nemesis in yoga currently are the dragons, especially the winged dragon and the 3 minute plank ( i'm sure my teacher doesn't have a watch and it ends up being way longer) but wise words were said to me, how we conduct ourselves on the mat is an allegory for life.
Do we give up because it gets tough, our body is saying I can't do this, but is it your body speaking or is it your mind? Not giving up, not running away, instead it's about finding your edge and challenging those boundaries to where you are invited and of course remembering to breathe. The breath is everything.
So going back to my favourite yoga pose. It's about what I need on the mat that day.
Downward facing dog or Adho Mukha Shvanasana is restorative and an inversion, it increases blood flow to the brain and helps improve collagen production in the face, knowing this little gem of knowledge I'll include it in my practice everyday! It's a foundation pose for transitioning into crow for example. It's important to get the building blocks correct and the rest will follow. My little quote for you today…
‘When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind’ LaoTzu
