Yoga and Me - Paperblog

Christy Turlington photographed by Steven Klein for Vogue October 2002.
The truth is I have been trying to find an angle to work in a post about yoga for a while now. I've not written about yoga before and as it quite an important part of my life I have wanted to write about it over and over but I have struggled with how it would fit in with the whole ethos of my blog. I write about personal style, fashion and lifestyle, yoga seems so far removed from all of that to be honest. But when I look at these pictures of Christy Turlington taken for Vogue in 2002 I kind of think... oh well, I'm just going to jump right in!

I guess you could say I have a deep and meaningful relationship with yoga. I find that my life is so much more chilled when I have a regular practice. I love the feeling I get when I am in what I like to call the "yoga zone", which is me in yoga class practicing my asanas with my eyes closed, while all the while listening to the guidance of my amazing yoga teacher Angela. I love that certain poses challenge me from week to week, and how each time I practice, I get more accomplished with other poses.

Yoga can offer up an unexpected challenges too depending on what's going on inside my head or with my body. Sometimes this might be as simple as not being able to fully extend into pigeon if one of my hips is particularly tight, or if my shoulder is playing a game of "no, you're not gonna get there tonight Heidi".
Each class offers up the same wonderfully fulfilling mind, body and spirit benefits of yoga but it also allows me to be open to receiving and accessing insights that being in tune with my mind, body and soul offers.

I always feel like I'm really living in the moment when I practice yoga, do feel that way too?

Here are a few perspectives from other yoga enthusiasts on the practice of yoga.

“I was interested in cleaning my body on a deeper level. Yoga really purifies your organs and blood. You feel that. You feel that circulation of energy. But the real lesson yoga gives you is learning how to be present.” - Christy Turlington

“Yoga is a metaphor for life. You have to take it really slowly. You can’t rush. You can’t skip to the next position. You find yourself in very humiliating situations, but you can’t judge yourself. You just have to breathe, and let go. It is a workout for your mind, your body and your soul.” - Madonna

"Like music, yoga is a journey -- one that is long enough so you keep developing, and keep learning. I don't see an end to it." - Sting

"Yoga is for everyone. I do an hour-and-a-half a day. It restores you. [...] People say: ‘Oh no, it’s all right for you, but I haven’t got time.” It’s a false notion. We can all make time. There’s only one you – you’re only given one body, not a load of bodies." - Trudie Styler"Yoga gave me relief like nothing else; it made me a better person and a better mother." - Michelle WilliamsI just love this one from Gwyneth Paltrow: “Ashtanga yoga has completely changed me. I try to do it every day, and the effect is amazing. It’s not just during the hours that I’m practicing. It’s about how it filters through into the rest of my life. It makes all the other bullshit dissipate. Who I am has emerged, and everything else has gone by the wayside.”

What's my favorite pose? Child pose, for it's restorative qualities. I love how you can be holding a pose, sweating, breathing, really feeling it and then you get to go into child pose afterward. You don't get to do that in a gym work out, right?
Namaste.
Heidi
Sources: US Vogue, Mindbodygreen.com, Self Magazine, fuckyeahyoga, devilwearsprana.