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Hero Pose to begin a yoga practice

Happy Monday All! It is a very busy travel week for me and then school begins for the girls, so I will be a little light in activity this week and then diving in head first to my own new schedule which is very exciting!

I had a really big jolt last week that reminded me life is short and we need to be happy with where we are in all things. I really want to focus on being happy doing all the things I am doing in life, and feeling joy and excitement are important to me. Feeling good in my body is also important, and lately, I realize, while I am active, I seriously MISS the joyful connection of Yoga.

I want to include a yoga practice in my daily life, and so, I have asked Sue, of Couscous and Consciousness to help me take baby steps back into a consistent daily practice. You see, I have been an all or nothing kind of girl when it comes to most things, and have realized that the middle path is best for me in the long run, so I have worked to find moderation, hence the whole premise for this blog!

I connected with Sue over food, which is pretty typical for me! Sue and I share similar thoughts on food and passion and I have really enjoyed reading her blog, and the more I did, the more I wanted to share HER with you! She is located in New Zealand where she is a yogini and food lover. This article will help you to get to know her better and see what, from experience she knows is most important mentally for you to love yourself better. Please join me in welcoming Sue to A Moderate Life, so you can get to know her better and understand why, when I wanted to reintroduce a Yoga practice into my life, she was the one, ALL the way around the world that I turned to for help!

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At our yoga school, Yoga Tapas, we begin every one of our classes by spending some time sitting and doing some breathing in Virasana – the Hero Pose. This is a poignant reminder to me every time I come before my students of the courage it takes for so many of them to keep coming back to their mats.

I frequently tell my beginners classes that, contrary to what they may believe, they don’t require much in the way of strength and/or flexibility in order to develop a yoga practice – those are things that will come with time. What they do need is faith, courage and determination.

Every student at some stage hits that class or point in their practice when they think “that’s it – I quit!” This is usually the time when they need their yoga practice the most, but most listen to that self-destructive little inner voice and quit. The brave ones carry on – these are the students who keep coming back (no matter how hard it is); these are the students I teach; and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do so.

Why is it so hard? Well, there is no doubt, that yoga can be a physically demanding practice and many students have physical obstacles to overcome in the way of illnesses and injuries. We also have numerous students who suffer from emotional and psychological obstacles such as various phobias, anxiety, ADHD, severe depression and bipolar disorder, stress related allergies and more. Through our yoga practice we begin to reconnect the body, mind and spirit – a process of self-discovery, self-awareness and eventually self-acceptance which is not always an easy journey, especially for students who have much self-doubt to overcome along the way.

It is tempting when you come into a class full of students and sit down on your mat to listen to that little voice that is telling you that “everyone else in the room has totally got their act together and can breeze effortlessly through a class, while you on the other hand are a total loser and shouldn’t be there – you better quit real quick before everyone else finds you out”. That sneaky little voice does not want you to discover that everyone else is actually feeling exactly the same way you do to one degree or another, and it will do anything it can to get you to quit before you discover your true potential, because once that happens you won’t listen anymore.

I applaud everyone of you who hears the voice and keeps coming back to your mat despite it. You are my heroes.

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Thanks again Sue! I SO want to be one of those who keep coming back! I will be sharing this journey with all of you as I take my baby steps back to being a yoga practitioner, which will bring me such joy and help me to listen more fully to the lovely inner voice that tells me I am perfectly wonderful!

If you haven’t already entered my Kelly the Kitchen Kop Real Food for Rookies Online Course Giveaway, Please do so immediately as the entry deadline is tonight! This article is a part of Monday Mania.

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