How Can Instructions In A Yoga Class Relate To Everyday Life?

When a yoga teacher offers up some great advice or suggests that you “let go” of anything that isn’t “serving you,” how does that make you feel? Can you relinquish control and let go?  Do you think about what is causing your pain or discomfort?

Letting go is freeing. It’s is as powerful as the teacher’s instruction to “listen to your breath.”  This is the sweet way a yoga teacher reminds students to “redirect” their mind (which tends to wander) onto the one thing that offers you the most benefit. Your breath!

Directing your attention to your breath allows you to handle uncomfortable situations. Hatha yoga classes are simulating and yet can be challenging.  Yoga teachers encourage and thoughtfully guide you as to how to “respond” to the agitation you might feel.  Rather than “react” to the challenge, you learn to acknowledge it and, focus on your breath.

Participating in a yoga class can be your “cue“ as to how to handle the difficult challenges we deal with in life.  It can be a reminder of our endurance and help us to sustain and thrive.   It outweighs the feeling of resistance or giving up altogether.  The cost can be great when you are in a reactive mode. Reacting can often ruin your day - or even worse, relationships.

            Whether you take yoga regularly or never set foot on a yoga mat, some of the simple reminders that often come out of a yoga class can often help to enhance your life.  We all have moments and circumstances that create friction, stress, and un-easiness. In a yoga class you are simply reminded that there are choices as to how to move through stressful situations. You do not have to open hamstrings or be able to stand on your hands to benefit from simple advice that teaches us how to interact on a daily basis.

So, the next time you feel that grip of emotion caused by some misunderstanding or even some frustrating interaction with your child or spouse... take a moment before you react, take a deep breath, listen to it, and see if by letting go of that initial emotion you can help yourself turn what could have been a troubling situation into something beautiful. 

Namaste

For more information go to www.yogapata.com or call us at 203-215-7750

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Tracy, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Columbia University, taught English at Staples and Darien High School before deciding to change careers and focus on educating the community on the richness and transformative benefits of yoga. Tracy, was trained in Mysore India, and was the first yoga teacher to bring this style of yoga to Fairfield County more than13 years ago. Tracy, along with her husband Mitchel, owner, is a teacher and visionary at Yogapata in Wilton Ct.