When I finally decided to sign up for a beginners workshop earlier this year, I had no idea how much this practice would change my life. I had tried a class at this studio near my home about four years ago and had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and in trying to keep up with the flow of the class, I wound up stubbing my big toe so badly the whole thing turned purple and stayed that way for weeks after the class. I limped out of there and did not return for four years.
Now there are several different types of yoga, but the one that I am in love with is called Vinyasa Power Yoga or Baptiste Yoga. Did I mention that the studio is heated to somewhere between 85 and 90 degrees!? It honestly felt like 120 degrees the first few times I went to class. I can tell you that I have never sweated so much in my life! Just trust me when I say that I have gotten so used to it that now I am doing the virtual classes at home in my closet so I can turn the heat up there. The heat actually helps you open up so much more and gain more flexibility so that you can grow your practice more readily.
Ok, back to my introduction to Babtiste yoga. A very good friend of mine who has taught yoga for years, when I told her that I signed up for the beginners workshop, she sent me the book by Baron Baptiste, called Journey Into Power. I told her I wish I had started years ago and she reminded me that everything is in perfect timing for the journey that we are on. Such Wisdom.
“Every single one of us is suffering from the same problem. Of course, your life looks different than mine, or your friend’s, or your neighbor’s. You might even think that your problems are completely unique, but for those of us who feel dissatisfied with our bodies or our lives, there is only one explanation: We are not living from our authentic selves, from our truth. We are asleep to who and what we really are and can be.”
“We are pursuing some better version of ourselves, all the while asleep to the one true fact in the universe: Our ideal selves are already within us, just waiting to be awakened. Our only task is to relinquish the luggage of life and accept what was there from the start: the light in our hearts and the power within.” -Baron Baptiste
These words really resonated with me and were just further confirmation that I was on the path I had been searching for. The path to self discovery and learning that everything we seek out in the world already exists inside each and every one of us.
I began to understand how mentally and physically strong I really am. Power Vinyasa Yoga is an amazing form of fitness that sculpts strong, healthy bodies. Every single muscle is used in strength and balance to tone and chisel, all the while the real miracle is happening within you.
“Ultimately, yoga ignites your spirit. When you are free from the constraints of a weak body and the limitations of emotional reactiveness, you live in a higher place. You begin to dwell in spirit, all that is not authentically you falls away. You carry an inner oasis of calm and composure, even in the midst of the chaos of daily living.”
Goals!! I couldn’t have said it better myself.
