Release Your Anxiety About Starting A Yoga Practice
Yoga is for the world inside of you, embody these three mind shifts before embarking on your path.
November 1, 2022
Quadeera Teart
As we prepared for our first Yoga & the Green Mimosa event this past October, I received many inquiries from aspiring yogi's. In this opinion article, I'm educating aspiring yogi's on the three mind shifts they must make to approach their mat with peace, ease and confidence.
Yoga Is For Skinny White Ladies
Yoga is for the world. You probably practice yoga more than you realize. I've seen many definitions of yoga from breath to life force. What all the definitions seem to have in common is consciousness and awareness of one's breath. Yoga is whatever it is for you and for where ever you are.
As a matter of fact, the origins of yoga date back to ancient Egypt and other parts of Africa, and ancient India. The reason people in America might think it's only for skinny white ladies is just a marketing and media game. This lens is shifting though as more and more yogi's and yogini's use their social media platforms to create content, products and media that showcase the diversity of yoga around the world. As we grow and expand at FeelWell Magazine we look forward to shaping this world view and showcase the diverse beauty of men and women across the globe.
I'm Not Flexible, So I Can't Practice
Yoga is not about how flexible or inflexible you currently are, it's about how flexible you become. Yoga is about growth and expansion of one's self that starts in our invisible breath and becomes visible in every area of our life. What you give to yoga, yoga will give back to you.
My favorite yoga story is that of Glennon Doyle on one of Oprah's Super Soul Sessions. She describes her experience with Hot Yoga, my favorite form of yoga. (Watch the video here.)
What I love about her story most is the valuable lesson her Hot Yoga instructor taught her about sitting in the stillness. Glennon spent her entire first hot yoga class sitting in the stillness of heat. If all you can do is sit on your mat and breathe, here's the good news you're still practicing yoga.
I'm Not the Yoga Type
If you approach yoga with an open mind and heart, your heart and mind will greet you back with more openness. Yoga is a beautiful, much needed opportunity for individuals to connect and commune with self.
Many of us are so caught up in the rat race of life, making money and acquiring and maintaining success we don't even know ourselves. Yoga is an opportunity to gain stillness of mind, heart and body. It's not about how deep you can bend your body, but how deep you can go into your mind (self). Each pose requires you to breathe and locked into those breaths are thoughts, emotions, memories and ideas. Scientists are still trying to quantify the mental wellness benefits of yoga.
BREATHE...you just did yoga.
The magic of yoga is that if you keep showing up, yoga will show up for you. You believe your breath will be there and so it is. If you give yoga a chance it will grow you in immeasurable ways. Yoga will stretch your body while stretching your mind. As a beginner, give yourself grace and have patience. The beauty of yoga is there's no beginning or ending, no winning or losing. Yoga is whatever and where ever you are on any given day. Yoga is just like your breath...it just is.
About the Editor
Quadeera Teart is the Publisher and Wellness Curator of Feel Well Magazine.She loves teaching wellness and women-owned companies strategies to increase visibility and credibility through multiple forms of media. She's had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Harriet Cole, former editor-in-chief at Ebony Magazine, TV Personality & Wellness Entrepreneur, Yandy Smith-Harris and led brand initiatives for the celebrity non-profit, Honey Shine, Inc., a non-profit founded by Tracy W. Mourning. You can stay connected to her by subscribing to Feel Well Magazine and by following her personal page on Instagram.