1) Total Quiet. Time to go within and commune with your own Soul.
There is no teacher giving you non stop instructions about how to move your body, etc.
Yes, instructions are really nice when you are new to Yoga, just learning. You get tips on how to safely immerse your physical body into what you’re now asking your body to do.
You also get little bits and pieces of interesting info about moving energy in your body; learn about the chakras, the five elements, the seasons of the year & moon cycles and their impacts on your body-mind-spirit, and other Energy Medicine insights.
This all raises consciousness around body-mind-spirit health and our Natural Rhythms with our Earth & Cosmos.
The benefits of a teacher can be quietly replicated by learning Yoga out of a book, using common sense about how you move your body, and paying deep attention to how the poses make you feel while doing them and after you finish. I remember my first in person Yoga teacher here in the Potsdam area, Joe Digiovanna. He had us spend more time after doing the posture sensing the energy shifts in the body than we spent physically in the poses.
My first Yoga book was a true gift of learning poses slowly to support my body adapting to the movements of Yoga.
2) You get to create your own repertoire of posture series. I invite you to have several options to choose from so you inspire your body-mind-spirit in different ways each day.
A couple of Yoga posture series are posted here. I invite you to explore them if it so pleases you.
I create Yoga posture series PDF files for every class I teach and I gift my students with a hard copy. When you can go back to the postures from class, with a visual guide, your body is invited to remember what you did in class. Your mind and spirit also recalls details of the tidbits of information about the Energy Medicine of each Yoga posture I try to share with students in each class. See #1 above.
One of my favorite series of poses is the Moon Salutation. I do it in a full circle Mandala and tend to practice this over the 3 day period of Full & New Moons.
3) Daily yoga creates strength, flexibility, and balance in body-mind-spirit.
Yoga is more than postures that strengthen and create flexibility in the physical body. We gain amazing balance physically. These benefits also extend into the mind and spirit.
The physical struggles we have with the postures support our opening to the metaphysical struggles of mind and spirit supporting the creation of strength, flexibility, and balance in body-mind-spirit
4) Daily practice opens your consciousness to other ways of thinking and being. You begin to explore and grow as a person.
See the above mentioned creation of strength, flexibility, and balance in body-mind-spirit
5) Saves you cash.
The number one reason my clients tell me they don’t do daily yoga is because they can’t afford to pay for daily yoga classes.
I invite you to grab a book and learn yoga on your own. Commit to gifting yourself even 20 to 30 minutes a day while you explore, expand, and grow your abilities on and off the mat.
And continue to gift yourself the occasional or weekly in person Yoga class. Many studios have a community Yoga class where donations are the accepted payment: a pay what you can afford Yoga class experience.
Find a donation class near you!
6) *No pressure to have fancy yoga outfits or care how others perceive you.
Yoga in PJs? Perfect!
Naked Yoga? Sure, why not?!
Yoga in your jeans and sweatshirt? Absolutely. I do recommend jeans with some Lycra stretch in them. Yes, experience speaking here!
Down dog without a concern who’s seeing your butt up in the air or watching your flesh jiggle!
*Although, I confess, after a time committed to daily Yoga practice, you stop caring what others might be seeing, perceiving, and thinking and you tend to just sink into your Inner Yoga Bliss: Soul Growth.
Yoga Blog Musings From Over The Years
I browsed through all of my blog posts from over the past 10+ years, well back to Dec 2013. I quit after that point. Not an easy task. I can see how all of my writings have been influenced and inspired by my Yoga background as well as my Herbalist, Shamanic - Energy Medicine, and Functional Medicine all woven together in an attempt to inspire the best in Body-Mind-Spirit.
I hope these writings inspire you to sink into your Daily Yoga Bliss and come home to your soul!
Very Yoga inspired info on weight loss: The Final Tip: Divine Weight Loss, this post has links to all 10 Divine Weight Loss Tips
Yoga as a muscle builder: Building Muscle, Building Vitality, a couple of decades+ back… my Yoga practice was about fitness. Yoga is so much more: Strength, Flexibility, Balance in Body-Mind-Spirit
Sacred Eating, every thing we do, all day long, can be brought back to peace and calm through Yoga principles
Vagus Nerve Love! This is the Big Medicine of a daily Yoga practice. I did not write this article but I share it constantly because it is amazing & to the point: https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/vagus-nerve-toning-for-health