Guest Post: Yoga in the House

Good morning to you….woot! the weekend’s here!  For anyone who missed my guest post on the lovely Jenny’s blog earlier in the week, I thought I’d give you a healthy does of yoga this morning with this post.  Enjoy!!!

Hi Bloggies, how’re you doin’ today?  This post is not brought to you by your regular homegirl Jenny, but instead by me, Averie.

Gaba Pindasana

When Jenny asked me to do a guest post, I was flattered!  I have so much love and respect for her that’s it’s not even funnnny!  So it’s with great honor that I get to grab a few minutes of your time on her bloggie.

I know that Jenny is into yoga and so am I, and was thinkin’ that maybe a few of you are, too.  I have actually been a registered yoga teacher since 2001.  I was pretty young when I took the plunge into yoga and it’s changed my life over nearly the last decade.

Marichyasana A

I went to my first yoga class in the year 2000 wanting to tone up, keep my weight in check, get some exercise, pretty much your standard reasons someone wants to join a gym or even try yoga in the beginning.  After being so sore after my first few classes, I was hooked.

I was also terribly embarrased of my skills in the early days because my arm strength, frankly, sucked.  And, although I have always been a runner and I thought my legs were in pretty good shape…again, no.  I can’t tell you how many classes I would leave with trembling quads and shaking knees.   But these early challenges actually just inspired me to keep going, keep practicing, and stick with yoga.

Marichyasana D

As I did, I learned that yoga is not just about what you can do.  Asanas, or the yoga poses, are just one aspect of yoga and although I can do all kinds of rock star poses now, it wasn’t always that way.  And to top it off, I used to spend more time looking around the room wondering what everyone else was doing rather than paying attention to what I was doing.  Yoga’s all about looking inward, finding yourself, finding what is gonna work for you, not just on the mat, but off and in life.

My yoga practice positively spilled over into all aspects of my life…my relationships with others, with my then-boyfriend at the time, with how I viewed myself, with how much more I respected others, and the amount of compassion I had for myself.  I cannot say enough good things about the mental and emotional benefits of yoga, not to mention all the physical stuff.  The physical poses will all happen in time, just stick with it.

Urdhva Dhanurasana (Full BackBend)

Which leads me to a few things I am frequently asked about yoga…
What kind of yoga do you practice?  
I practice mainly ashtanga yoga, which is considered the grandfather of the more physical styles.  From ashtanga, other disciplines like power yoga, vinyasa yoga, flow-based yoga evolved.  Most ashtanga studios are about 85 degrees F which is warm, but not like Bikram warm.

Do you ever do Bikram or Hot Yoga?
I am not a huge Bikram fan as I believe most of what you do in a Bikram studio is sweat solely due to heat rather than the actual intensity level of the yoga.  Basically, that tt was only the heat that made you feel like you were dyin’.  With ashtanga, you will always get a phenomenal physical workout in, as well as the mental boost.   No disrespect towards any Bikram lovers, that’s just not what floats my boat quite as much.  And that’s the beauty of yoga and life…you gotta find what works for you on make your path your own.

Is yoga a Religion?
No.  Yoga evolved from India where many people are Hindu, but yoga itself is not a religion.  You will also find many yogis have chosen Buddhism as their calling but again, not part of yoga.

Do I have to become a Vegetarian or Vegan if I wanna do Yoga?
No.  However, many yogis practice ahimsa, or non-violence/non-harming, and they choose not to eat animal flesh.  But again, the beauty of yoga is that there should be no judgment, and so go eat a cheeseburger if that’s what floats ya boat!

My personal path is one of high raw all vegan diet.  I have come to this place, in a nutshell, because I feel better on mostly raw foods and without animal product in my diet, however, this has been a work in progress, not something I arrived at…yesterday.

My blog showcases high raw all vegan eats (except for the Cool Whip laden desserts I make my man!) and I like to create recipes from my head and just rock n roll however the spirit moves me in the kitch.  I also love chocolate and sweet treats, so there’s an abundance of yummy-ness goin’ on.

I would love it if you stopped by my blog and I am totally open for any and all yoga questions!  Feel free to email me directly at loveveggiesandyoga@gmail.com and I will do my best to answer all your questions.  

I’ll leave you with a few parting shots of me in some yoga poses…again, I didn’t have these mastered in days, but in years.  Yoga is lifelong.

Astavakrasana Variation

Tolasana, Scale Pose

Astavakrasana

:)
Averie

Tip of the Day:  Give yoga a try, you’ll probably fall in love with it and it will probably change your life for the better!

Thanks to all of Jenny’s aweome readers for indulging me, and thanks to Jenny, you rock woman!
xoxo
Namaste!!!!