Wednesday, November 7, 2007

...through yoga.

As I was paging through one of my yoga books a few months ago I found the most wonderfully worded Sutra:

Grace, beauty, strength, energy, and firmness adorn the body through yoga. -Yoga Sutra III.47

I was so inspired by those words that it was the theme of the yoga class I taught that day.

When I first started on my yoga journey I was deep into my ballet classes and figure skating lessons. I love body movement and feel very graceful and beautiful while doing it. For me, the strength, energy and firmness were just an added benefit of the movement. Once I stared with yoga, I realized that yoga is also a beautiful thing for me. It also has all of the added benefits and then some! But in the beginning, it was the beauty of the poses and how I FELT in them.

How do you feel when you move your body? If you do yoga, what drew you to it?

Some things to think about the next time you are on your mat.

2 comments:

Marya said...

That is so beautiful, Karen! I love to move my body too. I took dance lessons for many years (ballet, jazz, tap, pointe) and then got into martial arts which really helped "burn" off excess energy but strained my joints. And of course now there's belly dancing! I didn't know I missed dancing until I did it again. I started yoga because I hurt and I heard it was great for stress relief. That it was! Then I just loved how I felt, in the pose, after the pose, LONG after the pose. I've never felt the same again (thank goodness!) :-)

Marya said...

That is so beautiful, Karen! I too love to move my body (although it took me awhile to realize it). I took dance lessons for many years as a child - ballet, jazz, tap, pointe - and skated, then later did Martial Arts, which was great for "burning" off excess energy but rough on my joints. And of course now there's Belly Dancing. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I find myself moving all the time, especially when I hear music. I was drawn to yoga because I hurt and I had heard it was great stress relief. I love(d) it because of the way I felt in the pose, after the pose and LONG after the pose. I have never felt the same since (thank goodness) :-)