Why should you do yoga?
1. Yoga is not a competition. It is self-practice and self-improvement.
No matter running, working out or cycling, I was very conscious of my failures and successes. When running, I would pay so much attention to the running device, as if the more steps I took, the better I will be. While working out or cycling, I would habitually compare myself with others - should I have done one more squad? Or cycled one more kilometre? However, when I am practising yoga, I just need to pay attention to my body, focusing only on myself and work according to my body capacity.
2. Yoga is a rejuvenation.
In the past, a mention of “sport” will strike fear in most people - natural rejection, afraid of sweat and injuries. Perhaps, it is the rejection of exhaustion and the tiring feeling after the sport. Thankfully, yoga is different. Yoga can be considered a sport and it is much more than that. It is more relaxing compared to other sports. For example, if you would like to run, you can just warm up and start running. For swimming, you could just change into your swimsuit and jump right into the water. Yoga is not the same - a 60 minutes class consist of 10 min meditation, 10 min warm up, 30 minutes postures practice and another 10 min for relaxation. To put it simply, yoga is a well-rounded sport.
3. Yoga gives me peace and yet excitement.
When we are doing other sports, we usually would feel excited. Excitement started, excitement subsided. This kind of excitement may last for a long time. A yoga practitioner would feel this: no matter what had happened before we started practising yoga, or how anxious we were, once we stepped on the yoga mat and starts meditating, we would automatically feel calm and peaceful.
4.If you have the desire for yoga, yoga studio is everywhere.
In the old days, rain would have stopped me from going to the gym; winter would have stopped me from swimming. Some of these sports are limited by the weather.
When I started yoga, I realized that as long as I am calm and at rest, I can just simply rolled out my mat and practise at home. I could also meditate for 10 minutes in the office to reduce my stress. Since then, yoga is part of my life - my mind and my body.
5.Yoga is acceptance, compatibility and detachment.
When I was practising my dancing, my teacher told me to stop running, because dancing is about being graceful & fluid, running will make you muscular, hence, not suitable for a dancer. On the other hand, yoga teaches us about acceptance, acceptance of ourselves, acceptance of things and at the same time, the acceptance of other sports.
Yoga does not contradict with other sports. In fact, it is compatible with all kinds of sports. Ever since I practised yoga, my body becoming flexible, a stretched muscle helps to prevent injuries during my run. Yoga focus on postures, therefore, when we dance, our body feels light and it is beautiful.
6. “Yoga is in you” - yoga is not a normal sport but is a self-practice, a lifestyle and life attitude.
What determines your outfit is not your wallet, it is your body. What determines your attitude is not your personality, it is your position. What determines your class is not your education, is your life experience. Slowly you will realize, the result is not important anymore after you walked through the process. Even though you have fixed a goal and it is great that you have a clear direction, you would have forgotten the purpose after half of the journey and started enjoying this pathway. Who knows? This journey may bring you to a greater achievement than you have imagined!
