Why I practice yoga and you should too.
The posture that almost made me quit my first yoga class!
This is it: the posture that made me walk out of my first hot yoga class! It felt not only impossible, but unreasonable, and even a little bit mean to even ask me to try to straighten my legs, engage my quads, grab my feet and touch my forehead to the floor.
But anyone with a yoga practice knows, impossible things happen on the yoga mat all of the time. That’s one of my favorite things about it!
Regarding impossibilities, the exchange between Alice and the Red Queen from Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll sums it up perfectly:
Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Such a great reminder to start each day with imagination and no restraints.
In celebration of the season of gratitude, I’ve listed 6 impossible things I’ve come to believe from practicing and teaching yoga, for which I am forever grateful:
Touching my forehead to the floor in the standing separate leg stretching pose. It doesn’t happen every time, but it has happened so I know it is possible!
Every class is different, even when the postures are the same. This is a tough one to explain to the uninitiated, but after just a few classes you know this is true, as unlikely as it seems when you begin your practice! I am different every day, so my practice changes as I change.
Feeling “good” again. Dealing with autoimmune disease in my twenties, I wasn’t sure I’d ever wake up again in the morning with that ready-to-greet-the-day-bring-it-on-feeling ever again. It really felt impossible but I didn’t allow those feelings to swamp me. I sweat them out on the mat daily until my doubts dissolved, my strength returned, and only my feel-good vibes remained! Believe me, if I can do it, you can do it.
Transformation can stick. I remember looking around the studio and seeing myself in the mirror the first few months of my practice wondering how long I’d keep it up. I’d never committed to anything at that point in my life. I had no self care or physical routine that I considered a lifestyle. Yoga changed that for me. When I started back in 2001, yoga wasn’t mainstream like it is today. Actually, it was considered a little bit strange. A lot of my friends made fun of me - asked if I was joining a cult sort of thing - before finally coming to class to me because I was so happy and so energized from yoga. The transformation was real and it showed. It still does.
Everybody can do yoga and everyone can benefit. Now I understand that Hot Yoga may not be for everyone, but I don’t make any assumptions about who will benefit from the practice and who will not. Success has a lot more to with mindset and determination than body type and health issues.
Yoga really is a lifelong practice. I’ve been practicing yoga since 1997 and Hot Yoga since 2001! Yes, my practices evolves as I do, but I understand this is a lifelong love affair. Yoga is my go-to method to undeniably connect with own infinite source and that comforts me. I want you to experience that comfort, connection and stability too.
If you can’t list your own 6 impossible things yet, get back on your mat!
Here is a handful of upcoming adventures and immersions that are varied enough for the most impossible yogi out there!
Teacher Training. Save $400 when you pre-pay by Jan 15 for this Spring 2019 immersion.
Odyssey to Delphi Greece Retreat. A 7 night adventure in the heart of the Ancient world. Men and women traversed impossible feats to reach the Oracle at Delphi (where we will be hosting yoga class, by the way!!!) to seek guidance form the god Apollo. Your chance is here Sept 1 -8, 2019.
Life Design: Empowerment Workshop and Brunch. Life changes become possible when they are the right ones for you. 2 spaces left in this workshop.
Our online The Zen Lifestyle Lounge™® is coming soon. This virtual membership site will be up and running in the next few months. Stay tuned!
The gift card sale is still on! This is our best sale event of the year and it ends Saturday November 24. Don't miss out!
The holiday season is here, 2019 is around the corner. What impossible things will you accomplish?
Namaste,
Lara
PS The mailing list below will keep you up to date specifically about our upcoming online programs and make you first in line for our Zen Lifestyle Lounge™® program launch.