What I Learned From Yoga
Part of the new habit I’m trying to develop this year is ‘Saturday me-times.’
I’ve grown too accustomed to having someone around me all my life, 24/7, which isn’t bad at all. It’s just that, I get fully immersed in sharing “myself” to other people too much, that I forget to also know myself and to talk to myself more. Soliloquy I suppose, not the mentally ill kind which is creepy — but more for personal development.
They say the first step to understand one’s self is by listening to his own body talk.
I went to a yoga class at 8 am one fine Saturday morning to do just that. I went to the class straight out from bed — in my pajamas, with no hair wax, no deo and no shower. And it was liberating!
We were about 10 in the class and only two of us were boys. (I guess boys are not so much into these, isn’t it?)
There were lots of stretching and rolling and touching the toes and breathing. It was easy at first until it became repetitive. I felt my back was already snapping at some point during the session, realizing afterwards that I’ve carried some life lessons while doing all these morning stretches.
And thy were:
Open your ears. Yoga sessions are never complete without instructors teaching you what to do next. Same goes with life, we encounter people who guide us where we should go, and all we need to do is listen.
You must lean towards the ground. Feel the earth. Humility comes a long way. It teaches you how to look back at your roots and how to never easily get swayed by other people and their opinions.
Meditate. Your mind and body also need rest. You need time to reflect. To just keep quiet. Understand what your body needs and what your soul needs.
Repeat. Consistency is important. To memorize the steps, you need to do it again and again. To develop endurance and flexibility, you have to exercise more regularly. Life goes in cycle – you just need to be consistent.
Breathe. Sometimes, all you need is to breathe to make you feel alive.
P.S. Seems like it was a pretty decent Saturday to me!
