21/06/2021
Happy international yoga day! This is a day declared in the UN 6 years ago to help promote the gift of yoga from India to the world to promote wellness, health and growth.
I wanted to share an inspiring image for this years theme “yoga for wellness”. The idea is that yoga can help everyone stay well in this extended Covid era.
But all I could find was images of very slim, able bodied and mostly white women performing sometimes extreme poses in remote or exoctic locations.
……Hmmmmm not very inclusive.
In fact, June 21 was chosen specifically because it is the longest day of the year and is celebrated as a day of joy and abundance and light…..unless you’re in the half of the world where it is the shortest day of the year and it’s dark and cold and wet.
….Hmmmmm not very inclusive.
It’s a shame because despite the very narrow image presented on Instagram of yoga, it is indeed suitable for literally E V E R Y B O D Y.
I’ve taught babies through to 100year olds and just about everything in between. I’ve taught the super strong and fit and those recovering from injury, illness and surgery. I practiced yoga the day before I gave birth, during the birth and the day after. I’ve taught those with emotional trauma, mental health issues and physical challenges and I’ve used yoga to help me through all of them myself.
You see the beauty of a yoga practice is that it meets you where you are at and invites you to connect with your body, open your mind and embrace your spirit. It challenges you look at where you are at then observe, question, accept and rejoice without judgement.
Often people tell me they can’t do yoga because “I’m not flexible” or “I can’t sit still” or “I’m not XYZ…” I like to tell them that if you can breathe, you can do yoga.
Over the 22 years that I’ve been practicing yoga, my practice has constantly changed, adapting to my lifestyle, body, needs and goals. I don’t practice every day but there isn’t a day that yoga hasn’t made my life better. It has changed who I am, the way I look at life and how I treat myself and others. It has broadened my mind and opened my heart in so many ways.
I am not in the best physical shape of my life at the moment, I’m fact it’s probably the worst it’s ever been, but I have never loved my body more. Yoga has taught me to appreciate every breath, rejoice in each day and accept myself with grace and humility.
So although I find many aspects of yoga and modern yoga culture to be challenging, today I celebrate International Yoga Day and the Winter Solstice by reflecting, nurturing and connecting.
May all beings be safe. May all beings be well. May all beings feel loved.
🙏💗🌈🙏💗🌈🙏💗🌈🙏💗🌈🙏💗🌈🙏