Perfect Yoga

It’s a new year, which means that some 70% of the population has resolved to get healthy and start a yoga practice. But for many, buying a new pair of yoga pants (or as I like to call them, thigh corsets) and top of the line mat is the easy part. When it comes to actually getting off of the couch and onto the mat, especially in the cold winter, we would often prefer to keep scrolling through Instagram pictures of sculpted yoginis on a beach doing the standing splits, rather than move through the initial inertia and start our own practice (no judgment - we’ve all been there).



Often we equate yoga with tough, limb-twisting poses. However, yoga is not about touching your toes or stretching 98 degrees to the northeast. Yoga, quite literally, means “to yoke” or “union.” Yoga is a process of uniting with yourself, and it should be easy and effortless. You are in yoga when your body, mind, and breath align.

So, throw away the idea that you should already be flexible, that you’re too old to venture into yoga at the age of 40, or that yoga is the only thing that will save you from your love handles (although love handle disappearance is one common side-effect of a regular practice)! Remember: yoga is a process, not a pose. Whether or not you touch your toes is irrelevant - what matters at the end of a practice is the state of your body, mind, and emotions. If you feel at peace and are able to pay attention to your breath for one more second than usual, then you are practicing yoga.

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