“Yoga is not about touching your toes,
It is what you learn on the way down.”
~ Judith Hanson Lasater
Eight years ago I was all about fitness. It was a way for me to handle my anxiety, or I thought it was. Every time I felt anxious, I would work out. When I was twenty-one, I had a parent who was diagnosed with stage four, advance cancer. My anxiety took over my life; not even a workout or three, would reduce my anxiety. Reading the newspaper one day, I found a free meditation class. I went faithfully to the weekly meditation class for a year. The leader of the meditation group recommended for me to take a yoga class. I thought that it would be a great way to get a workout and reduce my anxiety.
I took my first yoga class at a gym. After the class I was thrilled about the workout I had. I continued to go and I would push myself in the class physically. The more I went, the more I would push myself because I was looking at the other people in the room. I was looking at how strong and flexible they were and I wanted to be like them. The more I pushed myself, the more back aches, hip and knee pains I got. Instead of healing my body through yoga, I was only hurting myself as I tried to keep up with the class.
After a few months of attending these types of yoga classes, I attended my first studio yoga class at Central Mass Yoga. I went faithfully once a week. The instructor in class would say “listen to your body.” My first thought was, that’s not practical, my body can’t talk. The more I heard that phrase the more I understood what it really meant. It meant that the body tells the mind if something does not feel right and to stop and to come out of it. The more I listened to my body the less injured I got and the less I looked around the room.
Two years later I enrolled into a yoga teacher training program. I wanted to learn more about yoga as well as be able to help others like me, who suffer from anxiety. One family member said to me “Are you sure you can do it? Are you strong enough and flexible enough to become an instructor?” It caught me by surprise. I had been so in tuned with learning about myself in my own practice; I had stop thinking about mastering the postures.
I may never have flexibility or upper body strength and that’s okay. I have learned more about myself and about my body than I ever would have imagined. My anxiety has decreased because I am more conscious of my breath and use certain postures to help decrease it. I learned to focus on myself. I always like to give this advice to my students. The next time you take a class and find yourself trying to touch those toes; say to yourself, what am I learning about myself and my body?
If you are experiencing anxiety, a wonderful posture to help release it, is Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog). Adho Mukha Svanasana calms the nervous system, which therefore, calms the mind and the body with every breath.
I have devoted my teaching to help others to decrease their anxiety. I have three workshops in the next two months devoted to those who suffer from anxiety.
Reiki Circle- Sunday February 21st 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Meditation Workshop- Sunday February 28th 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Yoga for Stress & Anxiety- Saturday March 19th 11:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Namaste,
Kayla Beth Robillard
