Before my teacher training, yoga poses were so important to me. Power flows, and Bikram poses were what I focused on the most. All I cared about what “mastering” different arm balances. But I wasn’t carrying yoga off the mat. I wasn’t pushing myself past the four restricted corners of the mat. I still became upset in traffic. I couldn’t stand waiting in line. My child’s incessant commentary was irritating. I would regularly raise my voice to the ones I love. 

“Yoga is a way of life, and it’s teachings should penetrate every aspect of your being- from your actions to your speech to your thoughts.” 

-Yoga:The Essence of Life

I was obsessed once I started to learn more about the 8 limbs. We had lectures about the history and philosophy of yoga. We learned about the 8 limbs, only ONE of which is the asanas or poses. The other seven limbs are a beautiful guide to all the ways that people can bring yoga off the mat and into their daily life. 

“What do you mean by off the mat?” and “I’d like to learn more beyond the poses.” are the 2 things I hear most as an instructor. So over the next 8 weeks I will break down each limb for ease of understanding what I mean when I say “yoga off the mat.”

I look forward to sharing how much more in depth yoga really is with you. Yoga is my way of life, it transformed how I view things, how I react, how I speak, how I think, how I cope….for me yoga became more than the poses. I hope that it can be that for you. 

Namaste-

Jessica