In the past couple years, I’ve ventured into different fitness studios to experience heart raising exercise with goals to de-stress, feel strong and keep healthy. Eventually, I gravitated towards yoga finding it the most effective mentally and physically for the long term.
Being able to apply yoga practice to daily life by attending classes, practicing sun salutations in nature and stretching at home offered variety and peace at the same time.
For me, exercise helps with a positive mindset and being able to overcome obstacles in decision making both personally and professionally. Without consistent practice in a sport or wellness activity, I noticed my mind would become cloudy, on edge and doubtful leading to internal stress which contributed to body tension and muscle pain.
Often times, I’d get injured from high intensity cardio training if I was over stressed with an irregular sleeping pattern which meant having to take breaks from any form of exercise for a few days to a week.
Yoga is something that has helped me understand and gage what my body needs on certain days and understanding when to take a slower, less strenuous Hatha sequence, a restorative yin sequence for joints and when to progress with a Vinyasa flow sequence for strengthening while breaking a sweat.
Mentally, it has helped me enforce strength and discipline to maintain inner zen especially working under high pressure environments where everything is fast paced.
The decision to become a certified teacher came to mind when I understood how yoga could help consistently throughout life. It made me realise that I wanted to deepen my practice, expand on yoga knowledge and learn how to guide a class while also helping those looking to bring calmness to their life while balancing busy work schedules.
Karina
Feb’20 Weekend YTT
