Apparently, yoga isn’t only about the “asanas”, the postures. This is often the reason why people do yoga, to become stronger and more flexible by doing postures. And I admit, this is still the main driver for me doing yoga. It has been very hard to not practice every day, while the knee heals. I miss doing yoga every morning. I miss going to see my favourite yoga teachers in the studios near me.
According to yogic texts, the asanas are only one of 8 elements in yoga. The others being breath, concentration, meditation, enlightenment, etc. but as a new yoga instructor, I need to teach the moves. And I cannot do many of the moves with the knee injury.
I do meditate but not enough. And I have integrated a few minutes of meditation to my classes since my cycling accident. This has reminded me that I need to remind people of why they are doing yoga: To connect the breath with movement and to calm the mind. This is the key to good mental and physical health.
Here are some tips on how to start meditation, from our friend Jess Leitch:
http://www.shakeyourbuddhi.com/blog/2016/7/20/tips-for-starting-a-meditation-practice
My mental and physical health has admittedly been up and down but I still find happiness in teaching others and seeing them progress. Adding in meditation into the classes is great for centering the class at the beginning and slowing down at the end. People might not be ready to meditate in our classes, but if introduced in short time increments, even the biggest sceptic might feel the benefits. Maybe they will just sleep better at night.
This is hardly practicing yoga but the golf was good and my leg was elevated, as the doctor advised.
We should learn from this guy who is able to meditate anywhere, anytime.