Achieve Yoga-Butt

My first yoga class must have been painful to watch: I didn’t know what was going on, I couldn’t touch my toes (or even my knees for that matter) and I was horribly uncomfortable doing anything out of my element in front of strangers. I didn’t want to wear spandex, I didn’t own a yoga mat and I didn’t know what ‘Namaste’ meant.

I’ve always been a runner and cyclist, so before I began yoga I was tighter than most of my beginner students. I’m not even sure why I went back after my first time, but suffice to say it’s changed my life.

And you can too. Little by little, I progressed and inched my way into a well-developed practice.

When I tell people that I’m a yoga teacher and practitioner, everybody tells me “I can’t do yoga because I can’t touch my toes.” My reply to them is, “then bend your knees until you can.” Conventionally, yoga is seen in a couple different lights: a way to relax or reduce stress; a kick-ass work out at the gym; a way to find inner-spirituality; but my favorite stereotype of yoga is that everybody who does yoga is supremely flexible and if you’re not you shouldn’t go to a class. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Most people who practice yoga don’t even know what yoga really is. Yoga is a great workout. It’s also a great way to reduce stress, increase flexibility, and get the ever-so-famous “Yoga-Butt.” Although those things are huge advantages – and perfectly good reasons to do yoga – that’s not what yoga is really about. Yoga is a 5,000-year-old practice originating in India. Yoga is a Sanskrit work that means ‘Union’ – specifically finding Union with your deeper Self.

Yoga is a system of philosophy which helps one find connection with their inner most being – the thing inside you that makes you tick. Your soul, Jiva, Atman, consciousness, divine spark – whatever you’d like to call it. The purpose of practicing Yogasana, or postures, is to prepare the body to sit and meditate to find that union. It is also is a means of balancing the body’s energy, Prana, so that the conscious mind is more easily quieted in meditation. And the wonderful part of yoga is that even if you go to the gym and do yoga just to get a nice Yoga-Butt, you’re still getting all of these therapeutic benefits. You also don’t have to practice Yogasana to be a Yogi. For example, Gandhi is one of the most famous yogis in the world and never once did a yoga posture. He simply lived by Yoga Philosophy.

There are numerous styles of yoga that are all drastically different, ranging from calm and Zen to hard and demanding. There are yoga classes where you’ll chant and ‘Om’ and classes where they’ll play club music and make you do crunches. There’s a yoga studio in every neighborhood, yoga at the gym, yoga in the park, yoga on DVD, yoga in your workout program.

Where to begin depends on what you want out of your yoga practice. If you’ve never done any yoga and aren’t very flexible, look for some beginner classes at a yoga studio or your gym. If you want something that’s more like a work out, look for Power Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, or Bikram Yoga. If you like more Classical, true-to-the-original-teachings kind of yoga, look for Ashtanga or Iyengar Yoga. And if you love the philosophy/spirituality of yoga, try Jivamukti or Kundalini Yoga. When in doubt, ask around for guidance, start at a beginner level and work up; and try to learn under the guidance of a registered yoga teacher until you know how to properly align in your yoga practice – so stay away from the Rodney Yee DVD’s until you know what you’re doing.

My recommendation to everybody is to shop around, try a little of everything, and see what fits you right now. Enter in with an open mind, practice and before you know it, you’ll be touching your toes and balancing on one hand.

Namaste.

Alik Brundrett is an Ashtanga Yoga practitioner and teaches Guided and Mysore Ashtanga Yoga, Restorative Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga in Denver. He is also a Yoga Therapist, Ayurveda Therapist, Thai Yoga Massage Therapist, Reiki Master and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. Alik is the founder and owner of Urban Village Healer, a natural Holistic Medicine practice in the Denver Highlands that specializes in Integrative Asian Therapies and Naturopathic Medicine. Alik routinely travels the country teaching advanced yoga teacher trainings and holistic medicine trainings. For more information, go to www.UrbanVillageHealer.com, or Urban Village Healer on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/UrbanVillageHealer.