7 things I’ll never be able to do because of yoga

I’ll never be able to go to a gym again.

Taking a yoga class or practicing on my own is such an adventure. It is literally different every time, even if you’re doing the same physical movements. You can’t say that about reading another issue of “Star” and waiting for your 20 minutes on the stairmaster to end.

Plus, a vigorous yoga class stretches & strengthens your muscles and works your cardiovascular system. All things you’d look for in going to a gym.

I’ll never be able to separate my mental and physical wellbeing.

Sure, yoga can be a great workout. But it also asks you to take care of your mind. It asks, constantly, the question: What is the Truth? and doesn’t let you squirm away from it. The great part of being a truth-seeker is that you can’t easily lie to yourself. And that creates a great deal of mental well-being.

I’ll never be able to force myself through an untenable situation.

Yoga asks you to be present. Not just in yoga class, but all the time. I used to push myself and push myself to do things that I hated but I thought I should do. With my new sense of presence, I also got a new sence of IDGAF. In a good way, of course.

I’ll never look at a small, windowless, sweaty room as anything less than a sanctuary.

I’m not against gyms. I used to be a gym rat. But there is nothing transcendent that happens there. In the yoga room, you are allowed to be yourself, to love your body, and to take an adventure that leads one to a moment (or lifetime) of peace.

I’ll never truly see anyone as separate from me and my actions.

Yoga is the technology we use to remove the illusury veil that everyone is separate. We are all connected. Just ask chaos theory. Even math knows we are all connected in a web. Be it the force, chi, prana, The Great Mother (thanks Avatar), God, call it what you will, we’re all entangled in this together.

I’ll never not appreciate the feeling of lying on a hard wooden floor.

Normally, lying prone on a hard wooden floor in a group of sweaty strangers with a wee quarter inch of rubber padding you is not the most enticing image. But at the end of a challenging yoga class, there has never felt like a sweeter spot.

I’ll never not be practicing.

You can try really hard to keep  your yoga practice restricted to the mat. But it’s near impossible. Yoga is a lifestyle practice, that from dawn until dusk, being creative or being restful, buying groceries or petting the dog, one can never stop practicing.