I know I told you all my next blog would be about “My path…” but I realize most of that story is already written on my website bio page.
What I really want to talk about today is one of the most significant benefits I have found in practicing yoga: Getting quiet and listening. You might be asking “What does this mean?” I am planning to tell you!
The first time I started learning about yoga, it was the mid-seventies. I was 15 and hiking in the Desierto de los Leones near Mexico City with Francisco (my friend) and David (my brother). David was interested in learning about yoga because he heard a lot about it when he hitchhiked through California. Francisco said he knew some yoga and began showing us standing postures and breathing techniques. At the time I thought it was pretty weird.
Almost 15 years later I heard about a yoga class at the University of Texas. What I remember most was learning how to breathe. I honestly had never learned how to take a deep breath until then. Also, I began to learn how to notice my breath and how my body moves when I breathe. After six weeks the class was over, and I went on with my life.
Several years after these first yoga classes, I was pregnant with my second child. Sciatic pain began to be a problem, and my midwife suggested I take a prenatal yoga class. This was the mid-nineties, and there was only one prenatal teacher in Austin, Shannon Potts. It may be hard to believe, but there were only a very few yoga teachers in Austin. Yes, Austin was a small city.
When I took this class, I fell in love with yoga and all the asanas (poses). I can say it not only cured my sciatica, but practicing yoga and learning to relax was key in helping me have a very easy labor and delivery. In my experience, it was 100% more effective than any Lamaze birthing class.
Caroline’s easy birth (Caroline, of course, is my daughter) brings me back around to the whole reason I am writing this blog post. Yoga has taught me how to relax, breathe and listen. Through focusing on my breath and “watching it” I am learning how to be more in tune with my body. I am honoring myself and pausing before I go too deeply into a pose and hurt myself. I am noticing a differences between my right and left side. Instead of working long hours until I make myself sick, I catch myself before I get a backache, sore shoulders, or bronchitis.
Through this practice of listening I have learned to get in touch with my heart. I listened when my heart said, “This is what I want to do.” I heard my heart say this in a yoga class three years ago. Because I listened, today I live a life that makes me infinitely happy and satisfied. My goal is to help as many people as I can find “their calling.” Fill out the contact form, and we can set up a time to discuss how you too can have a life beyond your wildest dreams.
1 thought on “Getting quiet and listening”
I love the idea of someone helping me find my calling through using my body. I’ve spent 63 years using my head, my “thinker”, and I pretty sure it doesn’t work 🙂 ……. I love your yoga classes Sylvia! They are physically challenging (for me anyway) and spiritually inviting. Perfect. Especially the ones on a rooftop in Oaxaca!