organic yoga
I have been practicing yoga on and off for fifteen years and while I’ve tried many styles and taken different classes, I find myself returning to a style I call organic yoga. There are a lot of people using the term but for me it speaks to a practice of yoga emanating from my body’s natural rhythms and needs of the moment.
If I were to attend a class outside of the home I lean toward hot yoga or Bikram yoga. I attended a hot yoga studio for several months last year and found it both healing and rejuvenating. If the studio were more conveniently located in relation to my home I’d like still be going once a week. However, studio yoga will never make up the bulk of my practice. I prefer the quiet of our second floor loft space where I am bathed in natural light and can slip into the sliver of quiet I have managed to keep hidden in my mind.
My organic yoga practice does not follow a rigid style or schedule. I do tend to begin with the same movement each time – a padahastasana series – because I know from experience that it’s the right opening sequence for me.
From there I will often wander into several balance postures or, alternately, go straight into a downward facing dog. What comes next depends on the experience of the current posture. The flow from one position to another is less a conscious effort than a reaction to the way I am feeling in the moment. I allow myself to be deeply in tune with my body and let it tell me what it wants and needs next.
This method has been the most rewarding for me throughout the years and will always be something I give myself. I enjoy the opportunity to become lost in self awareness, especially given that most of my time tends to be about the awareness of others.
The problem with this approach to yoga is that I may sometimes lose out on new yoga experiences and postures. As with anything, it’s easy to get comfortable with what you’ve always done and forget to set new challenges for yourself, without which you cannot grow and growth is essential. This is why I expose myself to different yoga experiences from time to time and keep my own practice open to new ideas. I then incorporate whatever feels right into my organic yoga practice.
Yoga is something I find to be a deeply personal experience, when done right. Unlike spinning classes and marathon clubs, yoga is something I excel at without the encouragement and company of others. When it comes to weight lifting, do put me in a room with people who are stronger and more capable than I. Their excellence is fuel to my fire. For yoga, though, I prefer an individual and self directed undertaking.
That’s me – what about you? What, if any, yoga practice works best for you? I’d love to know. As I said, I embrace new experiences and your thoughts just might be something my next organic yoga session is looking for.
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I started one of Shivea Rea’s creative core CDs about 4 months ago. And now I don’t feel right if I don’t get my yoga in every day. Like you, I prefer to do yoga alone, and I don’t hesitate to stray from whatever pose she is leading and just do something else that feels better at the moment. I have two other CDs of hers, but I haven’t really felt the need to try anything new yet. Nice post!
I have a few videos I use as well – especially when I need a kick in the pants to get off my butt. Most of the poses I use in my organic practice come from two books I bought years and years ago. I remember when I first started doing them and had to stop to look at the book, pose, look at the book, pose. Not exactly the right effect! And I’m pretty sure I was holding my breath half the time because I was thinking so hard.
I am a different person when I practice yoga regularly. I completely agree when you say that you don’t feel right if you don’t get your yoga in.
Thanks for commenting, Katherine. Nice to see you over here!
Loved this post. I’ve wanted to give Yoga a try for quite some time and without ever having done it, I feel like it’s a personal inner strength quiet thing to do and I’ve always skipped out on it because I don’t have the quiet. lol
It definitely is a personal inner strength activity and I always come away feeling far more grounded in myself which makes everything else in my life work better. It is difficult to find quiet in a house full of people and when I’m first starting back into yoga after a break I need quiet quiet quiet. After a while though I can get into it even if there is a bit of noise as long as I am alone while doing it.