Find YOUR Yoga to Find Your Bliss

Me, working on "Monkey God" this morning in the studio. I recently realized that I practice this pose because it makes me feel young. It's just fun! And, as a more advanced hip opener, it is definitely part of me finding that blissed out zone in my own practice.

It’s possible to get what feels like an absolutely amazing workout from certain types of yoga. These types of yoga emphasize strength, balance and the movement (or “flow”) between postures. The Power Yoga taught at Every. Body. Studio is this type of yoga. 

However, there is a fundamental difference between yoga and “working out.” This is why we are a “fitness AND yoga” studio. It’s important to recognize and understand the distinction between “fitness” and “yoga.” While both our fitness and our Power Yoga classes usually produce sweating, heavy breathing, an elevated heart rate, and eventual muscle fatigue, our Power Yoga classes do that “extra” thing that all yoga classes do as well. 

What’s that yoga thing? Yoga — EVERY kind of yoga — seeks to unify body and mind through the breath. So whether you’re doing slow, quiet restorative yoga or flowing quickly through sun salutations to the upbeat music of a lovingly-curated playlist (lol! I take GREAT care with my playlists!), the goal of yoga is to “yoke” — to join your body and mind through the breath. Thus, there is a meditative element to yoga that is not emphasized (or may not even be present at all) in other fitness classes. 

Also, yoga opens all the energetic pathways in your body. This isn’t some woo-woo, crunchy, hippie-tastic metaphysical belief — yoga actually, anatomically opens PHYSICAL pathways for blood, oxygen and lymph to flow more freely through the body. How does it do this? All those crazy postures — moving your spine in every direction it’s capable of moving, lengthening limbs and opening up joints in ways that just don’t happen in our normal, everyday, screen-infested, mostly-seated, driving-everywhere-we-need-to-go lives. 

So, between the meditative element and the energetic pathways opening up inside of you, a yoga class usually leaves you feeling very relaxed and at the same time, energized. A lot of times you can even feel slightly euphoric. This is commonly called feeling “blissed out” or finding that “yoga bliss.”  This makes a yoga class just as good for your mind and emotional state as it is for your body. 

Many people think they hate yoga because they simply haven’t found the type of yoga that works for them. If you find yourself in this boat, I would urge you to keep seeking. There are so many different types of yoga, it’s just impossible that there isn’t ONE that will work for you. And in your seeking, it is probably easiest to start with the speed at which you’d like to move in a yoga class. If you’ve mostly taken slow-moving restorative yoga classes and did not enjoy them, try a Power Yoga class (at Every. Body. Studio! heehee). If you’ve only tried fast-moving yoga classes and did not enjoy them, try a restorative, gentle, or yin yoga class. Within this rough difference of speed, there are also hundreds of variations so just keep trying things out. At Every. Body. we truly believe that ALL YOGA IS GOOD YOGA. When you find YOUR yoga, your yoga bliss won’t be far behind! 

May you love yourself.
May you respect your body. 
May you be grateful.
May you be free. 

And, May you find YOUR yoga! 
xo-JodiAnn