Hi everyone!
Today, it’s no regular blog post, but rather a journal like – updates article.
I feel inspired after a sunny weekend spent in good quality company talking about life. The workshop on Saturday, which lasted 1 hour longer than planned (this is what happens when you passionately start talking about yoga ) made me so happy. I love when I see my students open to learn and making progress in their practice. Because for various reasons many people could not come, we ended up having a workshop with a group of 3 lovely ladies . It reminded me why I love teaching small groups in the first place. There is quality and there is individual approach which no big gym and commercial classes are ever going to replace that. If you want to practice yoga, then you need to address the individual in front of you.
When I moved to Sweden, I was practicing yoga at Nordic Wellness. I did not know what to expect. I thought yoga is the same everywhere regardless if it’s a gym or not. And then I realized that yoga at the gym and in groups of 30-40 people is not the same. The mental approach is not there. The breathing emphasis is not there. Bad aligned dangerous poses are all over the room (at least the ones I attended). The teacher (even if it’s a good one) does not have time to assist the whole group. Many people go to push themselves and just have a quick stretch before or after workout. It is difficult to learn what the hell this is all about. You might go for years and think you know and still not have a clue what yoga is.
Then it started to get clear for me that my aspiration is to practice and teach yoga, not merely instruct a few poses. But few people (very few) understand how the human brain works and more over how to manage our thoughts, the every day stressful situations, how to take decisions, how to live more in peace with ourselves, how to be more disciplined and healthy. Many people want, few know how to find that balance.
So by starting to teach small groups, I aspired to give just that. I aspire to guide people how to get to know themselves better, how to find more time for things that are important for them, how to make peace with things they cannot control and how to be more balanced every day. There is no magic trick, it’s just practice and dedication. Come to the class and “all is coming”.
This weekend was a reminder and an opportunity to see again that by putting constant effort results do show up. 2 of these 3 ladies that came to the workshop started practicing yoga with me, the 3rd was just starting shorty before we met. And I could not be any happier than to see a beginner flourishing and learning. Their practice changed so much since the beginning and continues to change and develop. And the only think they do is to keep practicing, have an open mind and a desire to learn. And of course patience 🙂
We talked about the purpose of yoga, the meaning of the asanas, the mind and how it influences our life.
It was beautiful to have the opportunity to share theoretical knowledge that can make such a huge impact in the practice. They always go hand in hand 🙂
On Sunday, I met some friends. Enjoyed the Göteborg sun (probably like everyone else) and had an awesome time with like-minded people that strive for continuous progress in their life. It feels such a blessing and freedom to chat with someone that understands what you are talking about and actively listens before giving an opinion.
I am happy the sun is back. The spring seems to finally be here. And I’m getting my energy back after the cold that ruined my last week. By seeing the nature starting to life again (and my body and mind starting to finally feel good again after a week of struggle and bad practice days) , I also think about the impermanence of life. Nothing lasts forever. Not even a bad moment, memory or pain. What goes up must go down and the opposite. We live in a constant change. The sooner we make peace with that, the better our every day life becomes. Then we can finally enjoy and stop wasting time on unnecessary things and conversations. We start to choose good company that makes us better people and start focus on decisions and activities that make us grow.
Wish you all a lovely week!
Lavinia
© Unfold Your Mat 2017