Since my last post I completed a 50 hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training with Bernie Clark here in Vancouver. Although I love a good Hatha flow, I knew I needed to bring more Yin into my life. After a week of sitting on the floor and learning to relax the muscles in order to get deeper into the connective tissue, I have already started to bring this practice into my life more. I even taught my first Yin class this week!
I also know that Yin yoga will be a much better fit for my "Awakening to Midlife Wisdom" workshop that I have created for women going through menopause and perimenopause. For more information on my work in this filed, I invite you to visit my website at www.ohmyogawellness.ca.
One of the things Bernie encouraged the students to adopt is a practice of sitting on the floor- to eat, surf the net, watch TV, write, read etc and I have been "getting down" with this idea since the course completed. I have to say, I don't miss the chair and I am getting much more flexible just with this simple step.
If you have been feeling stressed and in need of some balance, I would suggest to try a Yin class. I did- I am conYinced!
I spent the better part of today doing yoga on a golf course. The idea was that the sponsor of Hole #1 had a prize for the best group Yoga pose and asked if I would assist the teams to express themselves by assisting with poses.
The majority of the were men- in fact I think I only saw two women golfers. The immediate reaction was "I am not flexible, I can't do yoga". But the amazing thing was being able to find something that worked for everyone. In the process it looked like they all were having fun.
This is what I love about yoga. There are so many options available. You just have to be willing to give it a try. And that was what was so cool about today- there was a lot of enthusiasm and willingness to come outside the comfort zone.
I did hear many comments that had me thinking that there are still many myths about yoga. One of my goals is to attempt to dispel those myths so that more people can enjoy the numerous benefits of yoga.
So whether it is pre-natal yoga, mom and baby yoga, yoga for teens, yoga for stiff men, restorative yoga, Yin Yoga, Power Yoga, Yoga for seniors,-when it comes to yoga, there is something for everyone!
