Your Best Yoga

When I decided that I wanted to create my own Yoga Program I knew that I wanted it to align with a few core values. I wanted it to be inclusive, meaningful, motivating, inspiring and accessible – not a tall order or anything… :)

I truly believe that just about everyone can benefit from a Yoga practice, however, I know that a lot of people find it intimidating, out of their comfort zone, too difficult, or even too weird. I wanted to create a space where people who thought all of those things about Yoga  could come and experience it without any expectation besides trying your best. I wanted to create a space where people would motivate each other to do their best and celebrate even the smallest victories. I wanted to create a space that people could leave feeling great about themselves because they knew they did their best (whatever that looks like)! And finally, I wanted to create a space where I was inspired to show up as my best self and encourage others to show up as their best selves – both on and off the mat. This is what I hope the Your Best Yoga program will become and I hope you will join me on this journey as we create this space at Winakwa Community Centre this year.

Please visit the Your Best Yoga Page to register now and remember – just show up on your mat and do Your Best – it’s all anyone can do! 

Want a chance to win free passes for you and a friend to attend  the “Go with the Flow” class in November?! Leave a comment below or "Like" the Your Best Yoga Facebook page and leave a comment there this month, telling me what doing your best looks like, and I will randomly draw one winner on October 31st!! Good Luck! And just so you know…. For me, doing my best looks like – staying present during my practice, even when I’m really hungry and want to think about dinner ;)

Three Lessons from Prairie Love Yoga Festival

I attended the Prairie Love Yoga Festival this past weekend for the first time. Because of my schedule I only purchased two “one-class” passes as I had a workshop for my advanced teacher training on Saturday as well, but I certainly left with a whole lot of inspiring, motivating, juicy goodness – even without being there the whole weekend. Read on to find out what lessons I took away from this glorious experience. 

1. “What isn't true will fall away” – Ally Maz 

She is my new hero! I went to Ally’s talk called “Confessions of a Yogi in Business” on Saturday and left vibrating on a whole other level of inspired. She speaks the truth - her truth - and you can’t help but feel motivated to do the same. She said a few times in her workshop that “what isn’t true will fall away” which I really needed to hear. I have recently found myself fighting against some changes in my life. Change can be scary for a control freak like myself – lets be honest. But if I think about what Ally said, I can see the things that are changing – falling away – are not in line with what I am feeling is my truth right now. So I will embrace this change because what will be left after the rest falls away is the truth – my truth – and I am a-ok with that! 

Me & Ally and some of the gorgeous scenery at the festival

2. “Teach to who you want to come back” – Ally Maz

Ok – I promise this is not just a regurgitation of quotes from Ally, but this was a big one for me. As a Yoga teacher, I often find myself thinking at the end of the class – did everyone enjoy it, was it accessible for everyone, did it make sense to everyone, was it too “woo woo” for some people. Now, I know you cannot please everyone and I learned that early on in my Yoga career. However, when someone doesn’t return to my class, I often still take it personally, even if that student was maybe not best suited for the style of class I was teaching. I want to teach from my heart (see point # 1), and I want to teach people who connect with that – so if the person who was talking through the class because they didn’t “get it”, or was playing on their phone during savasana because they don’t know what the point of laying down for five minutes is, doesn’t return – it’s ok. It’s nice to have high numbers in your classes but if you’re not teaching from your soul because your trying to reach the most amount of people, then what’s the point?? 

3. There is no such thing as Yoga Music

Singing along with a group of Yogi’s to “Sweet Caroline” while holding a one legged balancing posture, or clapping along to Queen while in Utkatasana, really drove this point home for me during the “Get the Funk out” class I attended on Sunday. I think that at some point in my life I was told “we don’t play music with lyrics in Yoga because we don’t want to take people out of their experience”. So as I made my playlists for classes I would google “yoga music” or just download something from Deva Premal. Now I really do enjoy some of that music, but I was using it because I thought I should, not because I necessarily wanted to move my body and practice to it. So, after leaving the festival I had a strong urge to reassess my playlists and choose the music that I want to practice to (umm see point #1 AND #2). And if the group wants to break into song – I will encourage it, because BONUS Lesson – Yoga should be FUN and make you feel good. Period. 

PS... I picked up two more opportunities to bare my soul on the mat this week! I'm subbing the Yin Flow class at Yoga Centre Winnipeg Friday Sept. 18th @5:30pm & leading the in-store Lululemon Polo Park class Sunday morning @ 9:00am - hope to see ya there :) 

Yoga and Social Media

If you look up #yoga on Instagram you get over 14 Million results. It is everywhere on social media (#yogaeverywhere – 880000 results :)). Do you know how many of those posts include arm balances, deep and complicated backbends or hands-free head balances?  A lot.

Now, I understand that to a lot of people, seeing these amazing men and women in these amazing poses is inspiring and motivational. It may encourage them to practice on a day they weren't feeling like it or try that pose they were feeling frustrated with last week, one more time. I’ve certainly experienced that and I think it is wonderful and I hope people keep on posting! However, if I had a dollar for everyone who has ever said to me – “oh Yoga.. I can’t do that I’m not flexible enough”, or “I can’t do Yoga! I can’t touch my head with my toes or turn myself into a pretzel!” along with many other variations of “Yoga is hard and unattainable for me” – I’d have more than a few dollars.

I would like people to know that you can do yoga even if you can’t touch your toes. You can let those hands of yours rest on your shins when you fold forward from your hips – it’s still Uttanasana and you’re still doing Yoga. Yoga is not all handstands and backbends – however there are some major benefits to incorporating those types of postures into your practice when you’re ready. Yoga is about breathing and moving in a way that feels good in your body. It’s about connecting to your body in a way you may not have before. It is about having fun and relaxing! It certainly can be about sweat, work and creating some gorgeous postures, but it certainly isn’t about expecting someone to turn themselves into a metaphorical or literal pretzel.  So, in an attempt to show that to people, I am going to work on keeping my social media representative of my daily practice, and although some of the poses you may find on my instagram may not look as impressive as others, I promise the benefits are. Please feel free to follow along! 

Instagram: @sandrayogawpg

15 Things About Me

Since we are just getting to know one another, I thought it would be fun to provide you with some random facts about myself. Read on to learn a bit more about my thoughts on Yoga, food and binge watching Netflix :)

1. My Favorite color is pink and all the Yoga mats I have ever owned have been… Pink!

2. I have super tight hamstrings. Even as a Yoga instructor I struggle with flexibility and some days it’s more frustrating than others.

3. I have recently discovered a love for woodworking – specifically I have made a headboard and a coffee table.

4. I love doing home renovations and decorating.

5. I have fallen asleep during meditation. I think it’s because usually when my mind and body slow-down that much, I am in bed. Meditation is a practice!!

6. I love when people fall asleep in Savasana in my classes. It makes me think they feel really relaxed, safe and happy ☺

7. My favorite yoga poses to do are Triangle (Trikonasana) or Extended Side angle (Parksvakonasana).

8. I wish I could do more arm balances and I do push-ups to help with my upper body strength.  

9. I love to cook and am always looking for new recipes on Pinterest

10. I am working toward completing my 500 hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training

11. My guilty pleasures include chips and dip, cheeseburgers and binge watching Netflix – but I don’t really feel that guilty about any of them ☺

12. I LOVE reading blogs

13. I’ve tried surfing, wakeboarding and wake surfing – I’m not really great at the water sports, but I really like trying them!

14. I try to incorporate other types of movement (besides Yoga) into my week. In the summer it’s usually walking outside and bike rides and in the winter it’s usually swimming laps.

15. The first official Yoga Class I ever taught in a studio was on Halloween 2012. Afterwards, I went to get a burrito and the guy making it asked me if I was dressing up for Halloween. I was still on a high from my class so I blurted out that I had just finished teaching a Yoga class. He said “so you dressed up like a Yoga teacher for Halloween”. Best costume ever ☺ LOL

Namaste

Sandra