You may have heard teachers talk about ‘taking your practice off of the mat’ and wondered what exactly this entails? And, no, it doesn’t mean standing in tree pose while waiting in the line at the grocery store, but that does feel good, doesn’t it? The practice of taking your yoga off of the mat refers more to creating and holding space for what you need outside of the hot room. It means practicing the skills that you use while in asana. Patience, kindness, peace, self-love, being mindful and the list goes on …
Boy, do I know this is so much harder said than done!! A fellow teacher once said to me that nothing makes her lose her yoga faster than her kids, and can I ever agree! I am the mother of three teenagers and they know how to push my buttons. There are times I don’t think I could keep my cool with all the patience in the world. That being said, I get to practice breath and patience every day, MANY, MANY times a day.
It is in positions like pigeon and toe stretch where your body may feel uncomfortable and that little voice in your head is screaming at you to come out, but instead you breathe. Focusing on the breath, allowing it to calm the body, and letting go of your anxieties. Over time, you may notice, with a regular practice, that you stop reacting so quickly to uncomfortable or tense situations outside of the hot room. Slowly changing the neural pathways in the brain and thus your behaviour.
Changing your behaviour in the hot room will also effect the way you see yourself. I always park my mat in the exact same spot, right by the middle pillar. Subconsciously, I may think it provides some sort of camouflage. As humans we get comfortable in our own grooves and try not to deviateate too much. When we break free of those restraints, it lets us sometimes see something in a new way. A fellow teacher was telling me that she, like myself, was uncomfortable looking at herself in the mirror in Warrior 2. Then during a particularly busy class, she noticed a pair of legs in the mirror that were really toned and strong. She surprised herself that they were actually hers, and with a gaze free of judgement, she loved what she saw.
Yoga is not meant to be something that happens in a room and stays there. It can become a way of life, an appreciation for your body and so much more!
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(Originally published July 4, 2017)