This past Saturday we had a great experience doing yoga. We usually do yoga on Saturdays, however, this past Saturday we were in for a great surprise. Our regular yoga instructor was out of a town and a lovely lady was substituting for him.
Her name was Jennifer Lack.
Jennifer began by saying that every yoga instructor has a different approach to the practice of yoga and her class will be different than the yoga classes we have experienced before. And she was right!
We began by lying down on our mats and with her voice guiding us we were able to unwind, relax and slow our minds down. Just this in itself was already awesome for me. For some reason all yoga instructors I have encountered so far try to steer away from any mention of spirituality in their classes as if they are trying to promote yoga as a physical activity and make it mainstream for people of all walks of life.
For me yoga is a path to quieting my mind, getting in touch with my spirit and grounding myself though movement, focus and breath. And finally I met an instructor who followed a spiritual yoga practice.
After the initial moments of becoming centered we began flowing through the different poses. The sequence and the speed of the poses felt challenging, yet enjoyable. We were sweating and feeling invigorated. I felt enlightened through the movement of my body.
By taking deep breaths and becoming very mindful in our movements we reached a place that felt like a moment in between time. We become engulfed in the present, mindfully noticing the experience of our practice develop. The constant noise of New York was gone without us even noticing.
Jennifer did not use music to motivate us. Her instructions, her wonderful way of showing how each asana (pose) should be done, how it should feel and what variations we can take on created the physical aspect of the class.
Every movement felt so easy, so natural. I really appreciated how Jennifer stressed that it is really important for us to let go of judgment, judgment of ourselves by comparing ourselves to everyone else in the room and judgment of our body as it feels different with the different poses. For example, a warrior one pose could feel different with the left leg forward than what it may feel with the right leg forward. It was important that we just notice, let the feeling be without us trying to push our bodies to conform.
The whole experience felt amazing. Needless to say, today every muscle in my body hurts. If you too are a seeker of a spiritual yoga class please email me. I will be happy to put you in touch with Jennifer so you too can experience how profound truly mindful movement can feel.
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