Trying the trend of yoga for life
Campus Times
February 13, 2004
Yoga has fast become one of the most popular fitness and health regimes in
the United States with studios sprouting up across the country.
In the past, I admit I have fallen prey to those silly infomercials with the
complex gym-in-one contraptions that promise results in weeks (I blame it on
my eye for good advertising). But I’ve become wiser and have found that
the simplest of machines, our bodies, can provide the best workout for the body
and mind.
As a person who is always a little late to try the newest trend, only recently
did I embark on the journey to self-knowledge and that coveted yoga body through
the practice first developed in India some 5,000 years ago. I don’t have
designer yoga clothes and only recently did I obtain a mat. The swank studios
in New York are nothing like the small community center I practice in. But I
love it.
Every week, for one hour, I am utterly selfish. I encourage everyone to indulge
yourself in something like this. More often than not, this thing balances you
out, putting you in a better mood and making you a nicer person to be around.
I try to get time for yoga outside of class, but that just goes to show that
we can’t be too self-absorbed. Usually I end up dodging my dog, Lenny,
who I think believes that leaning on me when I’m in navasana, the boat
pose, is really helpful. Or, I’m negotiating mat space between my other
two eighty-pound hounds.
Nevertheless, I have that hour each week. Class begins and I slip into Hatha
Yoga, or breathing exercises – which I attempted to duplicate recently
before my chemistry final during Interterm.
Our instructor leads us in a jingling Indian accent that rises and falls,
as she takes us through the body and mind bending poses.
My 5’11’’ frame and less than flexible back leave something
to be desired in my downward-facing dog pose. But what I do get from yoga is
an understanding of the need to focus on breath and balance.
As I focus on these elements I am one with the gritty floor that is home to
bingo events and after school programs. It isn’t the chants of Buddhists
or the whispering breeze but the buzz of the air conditioner and flickering
fluorescent lights that surround me.
Yet I am rejuvenated each time. The best thing about yoga is that everything
is focused inward. You have to have an open mind and understanding of how much
to push yourself in order for you to achieve what is your individual best rendition
of each pose.
There is no competition. My “yogi” friends, all of whom are gracefully
aging into their sixties and seventies, encourage each other and have accepted
me just the same.
Yoga is more than a trend. With the right teacher you come to understand yoga
as a life practice, which means I’ll have to spend more time on it and
reject any notion that this time could be better spent elsewhere. I see how
my present and future will benefit from slowing down more and taking the time
to really know the flow of breath and the strength of my body.
Each session ends with dead-man’s pose. Willing each limb to relax, releasing
the tension from every muscle in my face and neck, I lay there on the hard wood
in more comfort than on the best of mattresses. There it is – simplicity
versus all those other hyped-up sales pitches. And simplicity wins out proving
it’s ok to take some time for oneself.
Bailey Porter, a junior journalism major, is managing editor of the Campus
Times. She can be reached by e-mail at porterb@ulv.edu.
