【MyStoryMySpeech】My yoga journey (I)

My yoga journey (I)

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写得有点长，加上背景音乐，读得比较慢，所以分成了两个部分 ；）

My yoga journey (I)

It was in 2007 that I finally started yoga, even though I had been curious about it for long time. At the beginning I did my own practice by following Bryan Kest's Power yoga DVDs, and I fell in love with it right away.

The more I practiced, the more I wanted to learn. At the end of 2008, I made the big decision to indulge myself completely into yoga. I signed up to a one-year intensive teacher training program with Ashtanga yoga master Mark Darby. Since then, I never stopped my yoga practice and teaching.

It was not an easy journey for me. I went through injuries because I pushed myself too hard; I got jealous and unhappy when I saw others improve faster than me; I wanted to quit because it was difficult to get up early in the morning when it was -25c outside; I was also frustrated and disappointed with myself for not being able to move on to next asana for long time, because my teacher said that I was not ready.

Finally and slowly, I learned to accept who I am, don't compare with others, or myself. Be present, do whatever I can at the moment.

I learned a lot from my yoga practice, and the most important thing is to be patient. The founder of Ashtanga yoga, K pattabi Jois, said, ‘Do you practice and all is coming.’

When I started to practice Supta Kurmasana, my teacher always joked that my arms and legs are too short so that it was practically impossible to get into this pose. However, after many years of practice, I was able not only to do this asana, but also move on to Eka pada sirsasana, Dwi pada sirsasana, Yoginidrasana, etc.

  (Eka pada sirsasana)

I heard many people say that yoga is very boring, you just sit there and breathe. But in fact, many doctors consider yoga, special power yoga and Ashtanga yoga, similar to weight lift training. There are many different styles of yoga, like Ashtanga, Hatha, Vinysa, Iyengar, hot yoga, Yin yoga, restorative yoga, etc. The most important thing is to find the style suits your needs, get a teacher that you trust, add the practice to your schedule, then keep doing it.

Yoga is more than a way to be more flexible. Its therapeutic effects reach beyond physical fitness and mental relaxation. Yoga is, at its core, a spiritual discipline. 

To be continued...