om body
take you of the sofa, onto a sticky mat, and
into an altogether more satisfying space.
here’s a yoga bufet, and you can
eat all you want!
If you have the joy of living in a big city,
chances are the cost of your average yoga
class makes quite a dent in your wallet. Even
if you’re somewhere less frenetic, forking out
for a weekly session at your favourite studio
probably isn’t cheap. So if you’re planning on
trying something new, you want to make sure
that you’re going to like it.
As it gets easier for folks to post content
online, so the opportunities to take your pick
of yogic delights grows. Put almost any type
of yoga into your favourite search engine
and you’ll probably ind a video about it.
And even if you don’t feel like jumping in
at the deep end and giving it a go, at least
you can get a feel of the pace, themes, and
approach that a ‘Hot Slow Hamstring Hell’
teacher takes.
heory or practice: You’ll
ind plenty of both.
If you’ve been going to an asana class
regularly for a while, there usually comes
a point when you can’t help but feel a
bit curious about where all this bending
and breathing stuf came from. How has
it evolved? When did it start? Why does
it make you feel awesome, even if you’re
not sure you’re ever going to touch
your toes? (And weirdly, why are you
becoming less bothered about the fact
that you can’t?)
With the best will in the world, signing up
for a series of lectures on yoga philosophy
and theory may not sound like the most
fun thing to do. When you consider buying
a book to start your studies, the deluge of
suggested titles can be totally overwhelming.
Online, you’ll ind some fascinating short
(and long) talks, documentaries, ilms,
interviews and presentations about (literally)
all aspects of yoga philosophy, tradition
and theory. And you can watch them whilst
having a cheeky glass of wine.
Brilliant, right?
For when your mind needs more.
We all know (or at least our teacher keeps
annoyingly reminding us) that yoga is
about way more than getting your body
bendy. Through the time we spend on our
mat, we’re trying to work out the ways that
we can get our body and mind to work
together, and in doing so remove all the
layers we’ve got in place which stop us fully
experiencing the wonder it is to be living
this life, here and now.
It is highly debatable whether or not the
fact you can get your leg around the back of
your head (or into any other odd position,
for that matter) makes you any closer to
enlightenment. But what isn’t debatable is
that we need to be working with the stuf in
our heads as well as the stuf on our bones.
Surprise surprise, there are some
totally excellent ways of beginning (or
developing) your journey into mindfulness
and meditation online. As well as plenty of
scientiic talks, presentations and articles
about why we should all be doing this stuf,
there are great practical ways of getting
into it – whether it’s an app on your phone
that helps you mindfully drift of to sleep,
or one that helps you make a meditative
walk to the oice every day – there are
plenty to explore.Get some quality time for
you and your yoga.
Whilst sharing your yoga practice in a room
full of your fellow students, all breathing
and moving in synergy, can be brilliantly
energising, sometimes it’s good to get a little
more intimate. No – not like that. I mean with
your yoga. No – not like that either.
Following a guided practice online, in a
cosy environment when it’s just you, your
breath and your body, is a very diferent
experience. There’s no one around to
compare yourself to, so maybe the inner
critic gets a little quieter. You have no
teacher to try and impress, so perhaps
the ego is able to take a seat for a while.
Without the over-stimulating multi-sensory
experience of a studio, you can really focus
on what’s important: you.No dress code, no time limit,
and no excuses!
Perhaps the biggest (and most obvious) beneit
of online yoga is that it’s online! You have
absolutely no need to leave your home, or
even get dressed if you can’t be bothered. (But
at least make sure the curtains are drawn.)
I am a irm believer that anything is
better than nothing; I always advocate to
my students that 15 minutes of breathing
and stretching every morning, with maybe
a couple of sun salutations thrown in for
good measure, is much more achievable
than inding 90 minutes every week, so take
the easy option! We get so wrapped up in a
belief that an asana practice has to be long
and hard, and if it isn’t we might as well not
bother. Rubbish! Whether you’ve got ten
minutes after the kids have gone to bed, or
60 minutes on a quiet Saturday morning,
you’ll ind a practice to it your needs online.
Learning yoga practices in person from a
skilled, experienced and generous teacher is
always the ideal. But guess what? We’re living
in a real world where ideal isn’t always going
to happen. So practice responsibly, never
do anything on your own that you wouldn’t
do with your teacher, take care of your own
body, but be brave and take a step into the
virtual yoga world. Enlightenment could be
at your ingertips! (It isn’t – just before you
get excited. But longer hamstrings might
be....)Guess what? You can join Meg on her 28
day online course ‘Zero to Yoga Hero’ which
starts later this month. Visit reallifeyoga.
net/zero-to-yoga-hero to sign up and ind
out more.