I have often told my friends I don’t run. Unless I am cognizant of imminent danger to my person. For a long time, my idea of exercise or wellbeing was #kujipigiapole with a night (ok maybe consecutive nights) of dancing in a #lit club. I found yoga after my bestie suggested it as a great way to heal after pushing my favorite human out of me.
Sidebar: I had a mild (-ish) form of Diastasis recti. Which is your ab muscles literally separating to make space for baby! Thank you, evolution.
Anyhu, Like a responsible adult, I asked Uncle google and found some yoga videos that helped me. Before long, feeling like I had cracked yoga, I thought to try a real class. A Baptiste Power yoga class.
That is how I found Africa Yoga Project. They have free yoga classes to celebrate International Yoga Day. I showed up on a Tuesday, 1pm delightfully unaware that it was the Advanced class. Lol #ifyouknowyouknow
Allow me to set the scene…Me. Complete novice. Tuesday 1pm class is the Advanced yoga class. Breathing like an old tuk tuk going up a steep hill. Barely able to keep up. Actually not keeping up at all! Watching other yogis doing those crazy stretchy things. Looking like I’ve been rained on. Read profuse sweat. It was terrible. And terribly amazing! The teacher, Moses, was so encouraging. He broke down the poses. The other yogis were helping each other. Encouraging each other. Laughing, struggling, moving TOGETHER!!!! At one point when I was completely done, he said take a breath and do it again. Went so far as to adjust my pose. I was feeling disgusting and didn’t want anyone touching my sweat but he didn’t care about all that, he was up to me getting the most out of that class. It was one of the very few places I could be at my absolute worst and not only was that ok, It was welcomed and I felt completely supported.
I could and often say that yoga is awesome because it is improving my posture, building my strength,flexibility, breath and a ride or die community. In truth, the thing about yoga that gets me over and above all that… Is feeling my body on the on the mat. Seeing my practice as a reflection of what is happening off the mat. An access to just be in the here and now. An access to community. An access to joy. An acess to pain. An access to vitality. An access to power. An access to freedom. Plus yoga is fun! Yoga is like the master WiFi Password that gives me access to any and everything that I am willing to do the work for.
Long story short, Yoga is Bae ❤️
See you when I see you.
Julie.
An alleged yogi.
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