Yintention
May of 2012 was the first time I went to Paul & Suzee Grilley’s Yin Yoga Teacher Training at The Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, CA. https://paulgrilley.com/
I still remember like it was yesterday when Paul told us to come into Saddle Pose and he walked over to me and asked, “What do you feel? Is that how you get a stretch in your quadriceps?”
This was shocking to me.
Up to this point I felt joy in practicing Yoga poses “correctly” and getting approval from the teacher.
Paul taught me how to pay attention to what I am FEELING and create my own Saddle Pose that is customized for me and me ONLY. Who cares what I look like? What is the intention of the pose? What am I trying to get out of this pose and this Yoga practice?
This experience change my whole Yoga world… how I practice and how I teach. Well actually, it changed my whole life because I believe this is how I approach my life now.
I can’t pay attention to how I am perceived or judged, although it is hard to completely tune it out of my head and it is still a work-in-progress. I have to pay attention to my intention and be honest with what feels right for me.
So, I wanted my first blog post (in English) to be about my intention.
My intention for writing this blog is … yes, of course to give you information that I find to be helpful and informative that is Yoga related… but most of all I believe my intention for writing this blog is to share my honest thoughts and feelings because I often feel like I SHOULD act like a calm and peaceful vegan Yoga teacher that meditates and chants for an hour every morning. I would love to be that Yoga teacher but at this point in my life, I am not.
Ever since I fell in love with the practice of Yin Yoga and the actual practice of relaxing, I noticed that being honest is one of the best ways for me to feel relaxed in my body and being.
So, to continue the Yin Yoga practice off the mat, I plan to let go of the SHOULDs and be honest with what I write in my blog.
Just like my customized Saddle Pose that sometimes changes day by day, I will feel out what I want to write and just be honest in my blog post by post.
Thank you for reading my first blog post (in English)!