Me and Yoga!

So let’s start with this; hi, i’m Eith and I’m a very hyperactive person.

You wouldn’t want to meet me after a cup of coffee or a piece of chocolate in my system. I should walk around with a warning sign; caution, any contact could cause you trauma, proceed at your own risk!

But in all seriousness, I have never thought that i could sit still for five minutes, let alone for half an hour or more, until i started doing yoga in October of 2015.

It was a random decision really, i was on youtube (isn’t that how all random things starts?) and i came across the “Yoga with Adriene” channel. She was this quirky little funny person who didn’t take perfection seriously. I have taken yoga classes before, and the main purpose of my yoga instructor was to twist my body in ways beyond it, i couldn’t for the life of me, have my heels down in a downward dog for example, which is one of the most basic consistent postures in yoga, but my body simply didn’t stretch that way.  

I wanted to do yoga because i was going through a stressful phase (don’t we all?) and i wanted to gain the peace of mind, many of those people - yoga people- seemed to have, it was almost as if they were floating, and i wanted to float too!

But all i got from the classes i took was either instructors who “forced” my body to do these - granted, beautiful- but uncomfortable shapes, or great well balanced instructors who -due to valid reasons- charged too much.

So i wanted to approach this differently, i decided to consult youtube again and i ended up finding this full “30 days of yoga” home practise with Adriene.

“CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!” i quoted the great Barney Stinson and i jumped straight to the mat! (It was a regular, boring, not spongy exercise mat. I had to order a non slippery yoga mat online, it’s lovely! It has an elephant on it!)

With this interesting channel that tells me i don’t have to be flexible to do yoga, and that i don’t have to be perfect at it, and that i can “find what feels good” to me and my body, i started doing yoga.

It was a journey for the body and the mind. I learned how to calm my racing thoughts through something as simple as breathing, and my body muscles started to melt into the posture and i felt better at it as i went!  

Once i finished the full 30 days, i decided i wanted more, that i can do more, so India was my next natural step!

Everything was colorful, new, and vibrant. It was beyond expectation and i loved doing yoga surrounded by the energy and vibe of that country.

I think one of the most important things in any new venture is to try, to put yourself out there and accept the possibility of failure. This year i decided to challenge myself again with another 30 days of yoga practice and once again, i picked Adrain and did her “Yoga Camp” last month. I didn’t skip a day and i was pleasantly surprised to feel my heals reach the ground in my downward dog!

Weather you started a new hobby, a new practise, or decided to learn a new language, patience is key and effort is a must!

So think about something new and take a tiny small baby step to accomplish it, those steps will accumulate through time, and one day you’ll realize you can do a perfect downward dog or express yourself well in french!

And since Ramadan is here, it is a perfect time to manifest the calmness that comes with it and start your very own gentle yoga practice every day before Iftar!

Why not start the Yoga camp and challenge yourself?

Thank you for reading, and do share with me your experience in mastering a new skill or hobby!

Ramadan Kareem to you all and Namaste!