everything is yoga

painting by Poh Ling Yeow

In the early weeks after giving birth to River I was floating with love and joy and simultaneously bewildered by lack of sleep and the relentlessness of breastfeeding my newborn babe; a mantra came to me "everything is yoga" and I breathed more deeply. Those three little words danced around my head and somehow just thinking of them, breathing them in melted the tension in my neck and shoulders, made me feel lighter in body, mind and spirit.

In his book The Tree of Yoga BKS Iyengar writes:

"Yoga means union. The union of the individual soul with the Universal Spirit is yoga...I say that yoga is the union of body with the mind and of mind with the soul".

I came to yoga at a time of deep grief some sixteen years ago. I knew very little about what yoga actually involved but I knew if I were to ever feel lightness again I had to find something to take me there and yoga turned out to be that something.

I am tremendously grateful that the first class I went to was led by Louise Goodvach, who in one class conveyed to me the essence of yoga with her strength, grace, compassion, humour and light. The space Louise created, the poses we held, lifted my spirit immeasurably. That class was the beginning of a long association with Louise and her yoga school and a lifetime love and appreciation of yoga and all the great things that come with regular practice.

Since having the boys I have practiced yoga at home with varying regularity. Now that River is at school and Sol is heading towards turning 3 the time has well arrived for me to seek a class and go!
So looking forward to it.

Do you have a mantra? A daily practice for your body, mind and spirit?

Whatever your something is I hope you manage to weave it into your day.