wellness
56 CalmMoment.comclass I started actually making eye contact with
myself in the mirror; when I caught and held my
own gaze and carefully followed the alignment
instructions offered by the teacher, I forced myself
to stare down every dark thought I’d ever had
about myself. And in the process I was able to
find a sense of comfort in the poses.
My practice helped me transcend the all-
consuming nonsense of daily life. It allowed me
to step outside of my mundane fears, endless
obsessions, and senseless anger. I don’t know
about you, but I’ve never had that kind of feeling
from other kinds of physical exercise. And it’s
because yoga is NOT just exercise – it’s a life path.
And if you allow it, the yogic path will envelop
every moment of your life – every breath, every
interaction, every gaze and every thought.
You see, when westerners talk about ‘yoga’,
they are almost invariably talking about ‘asana’,
otherwise known as the fancy gymnastics-esque
postures that someone in your state is probably
teaching at this exact moment. However, asana
is only one limb of an eight-limbed path, and true
yoga practitioners align their lives in pursuit of
fulfilling all eight limbs, not just asana – things like
breathing discipline, concentration, meditation.
The eight-limbed path of yoga can help usanswer the questions we spend our entire lives
obsessing over. Not superficial questions: Am I fat?
Am I pretty? Will I get that job? I’m talking about
REAL questions, deeper questions, the ones that
get embedded in our psyches during childhood,
the questions that continue to fester throughout
adolescence, bloom during adulthood and come to
haunt us: What is my worth? Do I deserve love?
What is my purpose? What if my dreams don’t
come true?
Even if you’re an anti-New Age fitness buff with
absolutely no interest in the spiritual side of yoga,
I don’t think you’re immune to the real power.
Because I don’t care how ‘together’ your shit is,
we’re all looking for some answers, for balance,
for peace.
My life madness certainly didn’t end once
I started practicing yoga. But no matter the
circumstances, my practice has been there for me- even when I couldn’t find a way to crawl off the
ground, when I thought self-hate would be the end
of me, my yoga practice helps me accept the fact
that bad judgement and big missteps are the toll
we pay for being present in our lives. Ultimately,
yoga has made me realise that happiness doesn’t
come when we magically become better people.
The practice is a reminder that we deserve to be
happy today, in this exact moment, because we
are already absolutely perfect.
Yoga is for everybody and EVERY BODY. You
don’t have to be thin and you don’t have to be fat.
You don’t have to be a specific colour or commit
to a specific diet. You don’t have to earn (or have
access to) a certain amount of money. You don’t
have to embody anything other than your truest
and most honest self in order to practice yoga. You
don’t have to omit the sadness, the anger, and all
of the other ‘ugly’ emotions that flavour our lives.
You don’t have to be anyone other than yourself.
And I think it’s high time that someone shouted it
loud enough so everyone can hear.
This is an edited extract from
Every Body Yoga by Jessamyn
Stanley (Workman, copyright).
Photographs by Christine Hewitt.
You can also find Jessamyn on
Instagram @mynameisjessamynYoga has helped Jessamyn
to step beyond the stresses
of daily life and find a new
sense of self-acceptance.