(originally posted 11/19/2008)
” I can’t do Yoga –- I’m not flexible enough!” This is something that potential new students often say. Because of the way Yoga has been advertised in this country over the last 25 years, most people associate it with bending your body into various pretzel shapes, or standing on your head. However, not all Yoga is like that. Truly, the purpose of Yoga is to tune into your body and quiet your mind. Along the way, you begin to develop a new awareness of both your mind and body, and discover that you are far more than both of those (and far more than a pretzel).
At Tranquility Yoga in Westford, we teach a style of Yoga (Svaroopa®) that is very gentle and meditative and can be done by most people who are in reasonably good physical shape. Where other styles of Yoga often try to get students to achieve the “perfect pose”, Svaroopa® Yoga uses many props to help students settle into different angles. Every pose has a particular purpose of releasing a specific area of the spine, and that release happens when you are aligned properly. We help you find the proper alignment by using many blankets and blocks for support, and once you are in the correct angles we let you settle there for a while so that tensions begin to melt away from your body. And when tensions melt away from your body –- guess what? Tensions also melt away from your mind. That is one of the key ways in which Yoga is different from exercise; Yoga releases tensions in your body to quiet your mind.
If you’ve been feeling stressed lately, and want to try a different approach, then a Svaroopa® Yoga class may be just the thing for you. And if you’ve been achy or stiff, don’t worry –- Yoga will help with that too. Remember -– the purpose of Yoga is not to become a pretzel, but to become more of the human being you already are.
