What you put into Yoga and your intention for practicing it is exactly what you will receive for your efforts. Most of us, however, have no firm idea what we want from our practice. We know Yoga makes us feel good and we like that; so, we stick with it. There are many different definitions of Yoga and there are so very many styles, trends, fads and traditions of practicing Yoga.
My own practice began haphazardly. I bought some DVDs through Giam and trusted that the different teachers with their vastly different teaching styles were all on the same DVD for a good reason. There was no connection between the different workouts, not even between the workouts by the same teacher.
In 2009 I began to practice Yoga differently. I was preparing for Yoga Teacher Training at the Amrit Yoga Institute in Florida with Yogi Amrit Desai. What I found amazed me, I was learning a method for practicing Yoga. Some styles of Yoga are known for their ability to sculpt the human body and will have you sweating buckets in just a few minutes of practice. Others are very gentle and meditative. The method I was learning didn’t depend on buckets of sweat nor did it depend on being gentle, it worked perfectly in either environment.
I AM Yoga
This method, the Integrative Amrit Method of Yoga or I AM Yoga, was so simple but also so much more challenging than any other approach to Yoga that I had ever experienced. Practicing the Amrit Method of Yoga will be, if you stick to it, the most challenging thing you will ever experience. Many long time practitioners who begin to practice using the Amrit Method immediately notice that it is very different from the Yoga class at the gym or the local studio. Half or even more will not return because they don’t feel they get a good workout and that is OK. The Amrit Method can be used in a Power Yoga class but it is most effect and efficient when practiced slowly and almost effortlessly.
The benefit of using the Amrit Method is a very deliberate yet natural progression from mechanically performing postures and breathwork to experiencing inward focus and profound states of meditation to the experience of integration where mind and body function in complete harmony. This journey happens not only on the Yoga mat but in every aspect of life. This fundamental change in life brings with it the greatest challenge and the greatest ease. The challenge, which sometimes feels insurmountable, is to let go of who you believe you are in order to truly see yourself, majesty and warts and all. The ease comes from no longer having to put up a facade and having to believe the made up story of your life.
Do you have the courage to step into the unknown, to see yourself as you truly are? If you think you do, dive into my classes at Wasatch School of Yoga or, if you’re not quite ready to drink from the firehose, get a taste of Amrit Yoga through my community outreach program.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world . There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Jai Bhagwan!