So, I talked about how I started actually taking interest in yoga eight years after stumbling upon my mother in the midst of her craziness. That made me 16, a time in which I believe it is safe to say, most females would not wish to re-live if they had the choice. Ironically, this was a time that my parents seemed like the biggest pains in the asses alive. It was the year I got my license and drove around smoking cigarettes like a chimney and made elaborate plans to escape from my house with my friends after my midnight curfew.
Although I was not the healthiest I have been in my life (it didn't help that I was dating a chain smoker/pot head either), excercise was important to me and I noticed the yoga classes at the gym I belonged to. My friends wouldn't go with me, but for some reason, maybe it was my subconscious mind drawing me back to my eight-year-old curiosity. So I went.
I went to "Centergy," a class that could also be called Yoga on Crack, or maybe steroids- I am not sure which one. In other words, I started practicing yoga as a way to stay fit and as a form of excercise. I think this may be the sole reason why many people that young even consider yoga, that is, due to lack of self-evolution and small-mindedness.
I am not sure if I could ever have experienced anything spiritual or mentally cleansing in that class. It was in a glassed-in aerobics room at a Gold's Gym with techno-like music. How can anyone truly relax and feel peaceful when there are bodybuilders grunting and treadmills humming just on the other side of the glass? There were out-of shape- men riding the fine line between middle-aged and elderly, who unknowingly cut the cheese at least a handful of times throughout class. There were bleached-blonde housewives and a teacher with a microphone and headpiece. But I went back every week.
At that point, I obviously hadn't exactly grasped my mother's deeper and more spiritual reasons for delving into the world of yoga. I just had absolutely no idea what my yoga practice would transform in to over the next six years of my life... in to what is now. So, that's ok. That is where I started yoga and in my 16-year-old brain, I just wanted a good work out. What's the harm in that?
Whatever can get someone started practicing is a good thing. And no one, especially a sixteen-year-old girl, is going to immediately feel the mental, emotional and spiritual benefits that a consistent practice can and will offer anyone who is willing to try.
Although I was not the healthiest I have been in my life (it didn't help that I was dating a chain smoker/pot head either), excercise was important to me and I noticed the yoga classes at the gym I belonged to. My friends wouldn't go with me, but for some reason, maybe it was my subconscious mind drawing me back to my eight-year-old curiosity. So I went.
I went to "Centergy," a class that could also be called Yoga on Crack, or maybe steroids- I am not sure which one. In other words, I started practicing yoga as a way to stay fit and as a form of excercise. I think this may be the sole reason why many people that young even consider yoga, that is, due to lack of self-evolution and small-mindedness.
I am not sure if I could ever have experienced anything spiritual or mentally cleansing in that class. It was in a glassed-in aerobics room at a Gold's Gym with techno-like music. How can anyone truly relax and feel peaceful when there are bodybuilders grunting and treadmills humming just on the other side of the glass? There were out-of shape- men riding the fine line between middle-aged and elderly, who unknowingly cut the cheese at least a handful of times throughout class. There were bleached-blonde housewives and a teacher with a microphone and headpiece. But I went back every week.
At that point, I obviously hadn't exactly grasped my mother's deeper and more spiritual reasons for delving into the world of yoga. I just had absolutely no idea what my yoga practice would transform in to over the next six years of my life... in to what is now. So, that's ok. That is where I started yoga and in my 16-year-old brain, I just wanted a good work out. What's the harm in that?
Whatever can get someone started practicing is a good thing. And no one, especially a sixteen-year-old girl, is going to immediately feel the mental, emotional and spiritual benefits that a consistent practice can and will offer anyone who is willing to try.
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