Someone asked me recently how my journey with yoga began. I remember it vividly, and know that I am like many others who found a new part of themselves on the yoga mat... and then just kept going with it.
I was in a yoga class at the local community center, bored, complaining in my mind about the teacher, who I thought just talked too much. I’d been practicing for a few months, loving the asanas and feeling physically great after every class. So I was annoyed with this teacher, and impatient for the flow to begin.
The theme of the class, she explained, was opening the heart. She went on to describe the different heart-opening poses we’d learn, and warned that for some people, it could bring up emotions, for others maybe not. The New Yorker in me was thinking, “yadda yadda… Can we move on here?”
We started moving, some simple vinyasas, and then a series of poses I’d never done, arches and backbends that lifted and exposed the heart, alternating with rest – child poses with forehead to the mat, known to still the clamor of the mind.
And then it happened.
Tears started flowing. And flowing. There was nothing particular in my thoughts, and I can’t say that I felt sadness necessarily, but something was releasing, and the tears were literally flying out of my eyes. Nose running, mat soaked with tears, I walked out to find a tissue, not understanding what I was feeling or why the tears would not stop. It continued through the final meditation, and I was speechless afterward.
That was the day I understood that yoga is bigger than me. And I committed to practicing and learning as much as I could about it.
There's more to the story of course -- a years-long process that continues every day. And now, through YYI, I now have the honor and pleasure of offering yoga retreats to others, working with some of the best teachers in the country, and sharing the beauty and power of this ancient practice.
My team would love to hear your story! Send us a note on our Facebook page, or an email to info@yatrayogainternational.com. Namaste.
Jodi
Our own Jennifer Tipton recently returned from Africa, with new stories and inspirations from her adventures with the Masai, a tribe which lives in its rich traditions in Kenya. As you can see, she took the opportunity to do a camel pose on the beach with some locals - and a camel!
