Om_Yoga_Magazine__November_2017

om body om body

om body

Three secrets to deepen your practice in 15 minutes a day. By Stephanie Spence

A

s traditional 90-minute

classes give way to hour or

in some cases 50-minute

long classes, yoga instructors

are challenged to alter their

classes to fit the condensed timeframe.

To accomplish this, important aspects of

Real Yoga are being eliminated, such as

Savasana. Savasana, arguably the most

important yoga pose, is sometimes barely

five minutes long. Beginning intentions or

grounding into your body, vital to set the

tone of your class, is all too often just a

roundup of ‘let’s begin’.

I’m also seeing a controversial trend where

classes are becoming more of a fitness

regime where students are taken through

poses in rapid succession without actual

anatomical instruction. Some may argue

that ‘any kind of yoga practice is better than

none’. But what about those that want

Real Yoga?

Compounding these problems, a 2016

study from Yoga Alliance, the US-based

professional organisation for yoga teachers,

identified most people receive yoga

information online or from a friend outside

of class – not the teacher – where hands on

training is more beneficial to the student as

led through a traditional structured class.

Supplementing your practice with accurate

and reliable information, such as from

sources like OM, is becoming more and more

important. You deserve the best!

You want to achieve all the physical

aspects as well as the mental and spiritual

benefits of yoga all while managing an

already packed life schedule of must do’s.

So, maybe, a 50-minute class fits nicely right

in between your work and home life.

So why the lecture?

While all of this is being discussed by global

yoga leaders, I believe the net result is you,

the student, are being cheated out of Real

Yoga. What do I mean? Real Yoga is based

on eight limbs, which asana is only one

part. Real Yoga is a body, mind and

spirit way of life, not just moving through

physical postures.

So, rather than complain about it,

here’s my call to action for you.

First, your practice is a place to declare

peace and is not limited by time. It’s a place

you protect with every fibre of your being. If

the trend in studios looks more like fitness

classes then you need to back fill on your

own time the important aspects of Real

Yoga: mind and spirit.

MINUTE YOGA

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