Can you take a picture of yoga?

 Can you take a picture of yoga? 

Scroll through social media and it seems so, but what is yoga! 

Ok I'm going to honest here when I first found Instagram (several years ago) and the yoga community there I jumped on the band wagon and joined lots of the yoga challenges. Taking pictures of poses and posting them daily. Check out my Instagram feed it's all there - yogamovement_sash_gainsborough.  I guess I was looking for a sense of belonging.  The pictures where solely about making the shape of the yoga pose.  Will I fit in to this yoga world better if my poses look better. I pushed myself to attain better looking poses. It always left me with a sense of what do these pictures say about my practice. I was looking for external validation that my yoga was "good enough". Then my body started to hurt and I got a couple of yoga related injuries - minor but enough to make me reflect take stock and then pursue a more authentic journey of honouring me and not being bothered by how it looks outwardly. I stopped doing yoga challenges on Instagram. 

 So I guess you can take a picture of a yoga pose but yoga goes way deeper than the shape you make with the body. In a picture, can you tell the internal state of the person.  Are they in chaos or serenity?  Is there an internal acceptance of self and what feels right for their body?  Are they smiling through pain!

Does it matter about attaining more in the pose or is it about being happy with the practice and the process. Is the practice about truly listen to the body, mind and maybe the soul.

Can you take a picture that truly reflects self awareness and self acceptance? A picture that shows the inner work and healing that the process of yoga brings! 

The two pictures on this blog are both me and were taken approximately 8 years apart. Can you tell the difference. In which picture am I honouring myself  and the practice of yoga the most - Both - neither. Which is the older picture, which the more recent!

With Yoga Movement I aim to inspire you to honour YOU in the practice of yoga. I aim for never-ending self development so I can deliver classes and sessions to the best of my ever expanding knowledge and  ability. 

Can I take a picture of this? I believe the answer is no. The only way you will be able to gauge my ability as a yoga guide is to come along to class and experience it.  

See you on the mat

Sarsha ✨

Yoga - Well-being

 

Yoga can increase flexibility but yoga really is for the willing. You have to be willing to let go of what you expect from yoga and let it guide you - it has guided me to balanced well-being.  

Yoga for me is about balanced well-being - 

a balance of physical, mental, emotional and grounded spiritual well-being. 

When I first came to yoga it was more about the physical as I had a bad back and just wanted it to feel better, yoga was suggested and within a couple of sessions I started to notice the difference and my passion for yoga was born. Firstly, yes the physical as a practice but it didn't take long before the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of yoga started to impact my life. Over the years the dynamics of my yoga practice has changed and evolved at times it was much more physical and aired towards flexibility training and at times it has been more about my mental well-being (with very little physical practice). I find now that my yoga is is providing me with the tools to have a body that is ready and able to cope with the life I wish to lead and my mental and emotional health is in a good place too. 

Yoga is an everyday practice. I do yoga everyday but I do not step on to my mat everyday. Yoga is not just a bendy body its how and what you think and feel too. 

I have learnt over the years too much flexibility training and my body doesn't feel at its best - I have to find the balance between flexibility and stability - sustainable practice. And that mental health is something we work on everyday - and not something that just magically happens overnight. A spiritual practice for me is a self care practice about core values and boundaries as well as being about how I relate and translate religion within my life.

Yoga can be something you do, it can be something you are, it can be a way you choose to live and it can all of these at the same time. It can be on the mat and off the mat, Yoga is something that evolves within you constantly. Yoga is something that gives you sense of understanding of who you really are and freedom and the courage to be that person. 

In my last blog I listed the yoga and movement qualifications I have taken over the years.  

So it only seems fitting to list here the people who have inspired me and who's teachings and offerings have helped to open, expand and free my mind beyond what is conventional not just with yoga but the whole of life. 

This list is people I have spent in-person time with ; -  

In no particular order

Paul Chek - changed my life - saved my life - I don't agree with everything he says, he taught me to have my own mind.

Summer Huntington - Changed my physical yoga practice and continues to inspire me with her passion for movement. 

Cecily Milne - Changed my teaching habits and taught me to trust what I know.

Brea Johnson - Was the knowledge, the light and the love I needed to find to keep my heart on track in this journey called life.

Hannah Stewart & Emma Epton - taught me among lots of scientific and fun yoga stuff, that I am on the right path and I am not alone.

Richard Geldard & Matt Bryan - Stay in my own lane, be confident in who I am and what I know and feel.  

Mark, Zoe & Alfie - Love and its true infiniteness. 

Bye for now

Sarsha