…To My Yoga Practice
I feel very fortunate that during my yoga teacher training, I learned how to weave stories into my practices in a way that honours and respects its roots. When I first came to yoga almost 15 years ago, I had no idea that it was anything more than another form of physical movement.
I thought it was good for stress & relaxation, & that was as far as my knowledge went.
I had no real interest in deepening this knowledge until I began exploring various teacher training courses and what teaching yoga could look like for me.
As part of our training, we learned how to theme our practices so that our students could experience more than the physical, more than the āsana. I’m very grateful for this knowledge because it’s encouraged me to go deeper with my personal practice as well.
Initially, the stories I wove into the practices centred around constellations and the chakra, which were an easy starting point where I felt confident I could impart enough knowledge to inspire my students to dig deeper for themselves. As my confidence grew and I began reading more books like the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, I felt more comfortable sharing my interpretations of the messages within these texts and helping my students deepen their own connection with yoga.
Recently, we focused on the chakra, specifically the vishuddha (throat) chakra, which is about speaking our truth with conviction and kindness; say what you mean and mean what you say. I had been struggling with how to focus on this theme until an hour before I was due to teach, I witnessed a racial attack on a member of the public outside the health club where I teach. It took me a second to understand what was happening and another second to decide if I felt brave enough to call the racist out. I did. Then I wondered if I could incorporate this experience into my practice that evening.
Would it be well received?
What if my students weren’t who I thought they were & found it too much?
In that moment of questioning, I realised that this was a lesson I had learned about myself and should absolutely share. When we do something that takes us out of our comfort zone, we expand our comfort zones and become more courageous. That is surely worth sharing.
I shared the experience with some nerves, but I knew it was an opportunity to give a personal example of using my voice with conviction and choosing to stand up for someone being verbally abused in public. Too often in the UK, we turn a blind eye when bad things happen because we’re scared of the consequences for ourselves. I realized that the potential consequences mattered less to me than the regret of knowing I could have intervened but chose not to. At that moment, I felt a shift within myself. Sharing this experience with 20 students reinforced my feelings. I understood that by sharing, I could encourage them to be brave, to stand up for themselves and others, and to use their voices to advocate for what they believe is right.
The stories we share in our practices can be as superficial and fun as learning about constellations (which I absolutely love!), or as deep as bringing activism or the philosophies of yoga into it, and everything in between. The key for me is to always be true to who I am and be okay with the fact that the yoga I share isn’t for everyone. I’ve had some people tell me they don’t connect with the stories I share, and I’m totally cool with that. I believe everyone can enjoy yoga, but I am not the teacher for everyone, nor should I want to be.
Of course, yoga can simply be about the physical for you, but it’s worth considering that this is not yoga in all its amazing forms. It is simply the āsana, the physical element, which amounts to barely an eighth of the entire yoga philosophy.
When we only focus on one part (typically the āsana), we’re missing so much of the magic & depth.
This is why I love to weave in stories, share lessons I’ve learned, and hopefully inspire the people who practice with me every week to deepen their own knowledge, understanding and connection.
Main – Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash
