Yoga Is Not Just For The Flexible
This week we spoke with our brand new Greek yoga blogster Ismini Dres! She has over 400 hours experience with Hatha, Vinyasa & Ashtanga CYT and is currently living in Oxford, England.
Ismini has always had a passion for health and fitness, as she used to dance and play sports (tennis and volleyball mainly) when growing up. However, she developed and struggled with an eating disorder during her teenage years until her early 20s. Her health was at stake at one point and it inspired her to explore meditation and yoga, which she ended up falling in love with and finding inner healing.
In our blog today we will get to know Ismini a little bit better and we will discuss with her the misconceptions about yoga. Furthermore, we will try to come closer to truly understanding the practice and the benefits of yoga.
”Yoga is not just for the flexible. About moving away from that misconception, and coming closer to truly understanding the practice and its benefits to us all.”
In a world heavily influenced by social media, yoga has been portrayed more and more to be this strange combination of contortion, acrobatics and gymnastics. How many times have you searched ”yoga” on Instagram and a thin, fit looking white blond woman popped up in a posture you can only describe as a ”pretzel”? And how many times after a search like that have you thought to yourself ”Gee, I am not a thin white woman, maybe I am not even that physically fit and I can definitely not touch my toes, nevertheless get into a pose like that. Maybe yoga if not for me?” Yup, if you are nodding your head while reading this, you are not on your own! I never enjoyed yoga when I was younger. I thought it wasn’t challenging enough, yoga practitioners seemed to be a part of a clique that was not very diverse and inclusive and it was overall pretentious- *gasp* there, I said it! Let’s discuss how my opinion completely changed and how I fell in love with yoga – after I gave you a bit of insight into my yoga’s background and me.A Little Bit on Yoga’s Background
Yoga originated in Ancient India and it is thought that it has been around since 3000 BCE. The word ”Yoga” in Sanskrit derives from the root ”yuj”, which means to join/unite and it was a combination of physical, mental and spiritual practices – with the goal of achieving the state of ”Samadhi” of pure awareness.The postures – or also known as ”asanas” – were practiced in order to prepare the body and mind for meditation. It wasn’t until yoga was brought to the West that the practice and ”asanas” were seen as a form of exercise and it has now become a worldwide phenomenon and ultimately, also this very successful business (including yoga brands/clothes, studios & online platforms, certifications etc.).
Thus, yoga was not practiced with the goal of achieving an ”asana” while wearing $100 worth leggings on a $80 branded yoga mat, however yoga was practiced at an individual’s own comfort, with the goal of becoming a better and more enlightened person.
Thought Number 1:
”You do not need to look a certain way in order to practice yoga.”
A Little Bit on My Background
I am of Greek American decent and grew up in Glyfada – the soutern suburbs of Athens, Greece. While growing up I was a very outgoing and active kid who was involved in dance, tennis and volleyball from a young age. I was also very close to my family and friends – if you have watched the movie ”My Big Fat Greek Weeding”, then you can sort of understand what my family life was like.During my teenage years I started to develop buliminia nervosa, an eating disorder, which then had a severe effect on my health, lifestyle and personality. I started overexercising and I had to break a sweat and burn a certain amount of calories during a session in order for that effort to be considered exercise in my mind. I also altered my eating habits, excluding many types of food from my diet, calories counted like crazy, purged food that was considered as ”bad”. The whole disease just distorted ultimately the way I perceived myself and the world around me. Soon enough, I tried therapy for the first time, which didn’t really work as I wasn’t ready to do the work and I tried yoga – which was rejected due to not being ”calorie burning enough” and ”pretentious” (which was how I viewed the practice from the media). Also, I have to say that I was never exposed to yoga other than through social media originally, as no one in my family practices it and for some religious Christians, it is thought to go against Christian teachings and beliefs.
Still in this whole haze of confusion, at the age of 17, I moved to England to commence my undergraduate studies. It was a great time to reinvent myself as well as to work on my studies and health. During my first year of university however, I was overly focused on blending into the new environment and culture, as well as trying to get used to my subjects being given in the English language, that I did not have time to focus on myself. I was still overexercising and had issues with my eating habits. As the years went on, I found a different therapist who was incredible (if you are reading this, an immense thank you for your help, Katherine!). I took the decision to quit the gym completely in order to tackle my addiction to exercise. I was in such a need to find some inner healing that I did start attending guided meditation classes at a Buddhist Centre that was in my neighbourhood (another thing I was not exposed to back in Greece) and that gave birth to my curiosity of exploring yoga. Needless to say, this time around I fell in love with the practice.
I started off not being able to reach my toes or do the splits, watching 20 minutes of YouTube videos which I found incredibly hard. The same yoga I shunned before, was now becoming this beautiful thing I was working for on a daily base completely for myself – not looking at categories burned during practices – focusing on trying to breath during the pose and on the instructions of the teachers on YouTube. Practicing alone was great (and I still prefer it to this day due to the ability to a better focus inwards), but I had this thirst to learn more things in a class setting. So I turned up at a studio near my house with my newly bought yoga mat from Amazon and a pair of old baggy leggings and I fell upon Ashtanga yoga. I am not going to go deep into how hard that first class has been, but it matched my energy levels and did pass the calorie burning test. So I stuck with it. In time something that did start off as a physical exercise, became more and more a meditative and soul healing activity – which lea me to exploring different types of yoga and to even become a teacher myself.
Thought Number 2:
”You do not have to be flexible in order to start with yoga.”Thought Number 3:
”You can practice yoga anywhere. As scary as a class setting might be at first, there are many benefits of undertaking an in-person class. It is great to be part of a community and it is very useful to know more about practicing poses safely with a correct alignmentAvoid Focusing Too Much on Your Instagram Feed
Always keep in mind that social media on the whole does not showcase snippets of real life, generally speaking. What appeals the most in those settings is not always what is most accessible for all types of practitioners (beginners, people with disabilities, more mature yogis) – and the motive behind some posts is sometimes vanity instead of self-expression and education. If what you see online puts you off doing yoga, try to separate that ”Instagram yoga” from the real deal.Yoga is accessible for all, poses can be modified to be practiced correctly or props can be used as well (blocks, blankets, chairs) and yoga can be practiced anywhere as long as you have enough space for your mat.
Mind and body connection and breath awareness is key in yoga, things you can also focus on – even off the mat. There are also many different types of yoga to experiment with. Some being more dynamic, some more relaxing, some more focused on the rehab from injuries and some more spiritual; so take your pick!
Do you think yoga is not inclusive and mainly practiced by thin white blond woman? Think again! Yoga as we know came from India and since its spread to the rest of the world; tons of men and women with different bodies, ethnicities and nationalities practice yoga today. If you don’t see them online as much, it is due to a problem that seems from our society and not from the practice of yoga.
Thought Number 4:
”In my experience, ‘Yoga people’ tend to be the most open minded and understanding people I have ever met and now I have many yogi friends myself. Most of them are also searching for their inner healing or ways to better themselves and as a result they can be some of the best role models and influencing people you may have in your life. You would be surprised about how welcoming yogis are when you approach them or when you reluctantly enter a yoga studio.”Lastly, do not forget that yoga is here to help us to become better versions of ourselves, inwards and outwards. Thus, avoid staring at your iPhone screen and before you catch yourself saying once again things like ”but I am not flexible or fit enough…”, roll out your mat and try your own version of yoga. Yoga is for everyone and it adapts to you; you do not adapt to fit the perfect postures you see online or in your mind.
Read more about Ismini at @yogismini. You can visit her Sportacy trainer page and get in contact over here. If you are already training with Ismini you can write her a review on her trainer page as well!
If you liked this article a lot you can download the designed article in a Pages form over here: Yoga Is Not Just For The Flexible.