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I’m starting with the big reveal: You already know how to do Yoga. You’re probably wondering how, when, why, and more. I will spend the rest of the book trying to explain, describe, and give examples of how you’re doing Yoga, and you don’t even know it. On this book’s back cover, I asked, “Can you breathe in and out?” Then you can do Yoga. One Yogi suggested I don’t write that because people will think Yoga is as simple as breathing. I’m saying that breathing is a huge part of yoga, and if you are breathing, which I’m pretty sure you are, you Can do Yoga.
The word Yoga means to join or unite. Ask yourself this: What are you joining or uniting when you breathe? You add oxygen to your blood when you breathe air into your lungs. If you breathe in through your nose, you create nitric oxide in the nasal passages, which increases the amount of oxygen that joins with the blood. Let’s explore this idea with a brief activity, but first, note how you are feeling. While sitting or standing, breathe through your nose, filling your lungs, and exhale the breath through your nose again. Breathe slowly like that for a few breaths. Then add humming as you exhale through your nose. Humming increases the nitric oxide in the nasal passages. Now, you’ve united your mind, vocal cords, nasal passages, lungs, muscles, and circulatory systems. If you participated in the breathing activity, ask yourself again how you feel. We’ve added our emotions to this activity; surprise, we’re doing Yoga. Visit our Facebook page and share your thoughts on this first activity! But what does this have to do with solving problems in your life, increasing your health, and healing your body? How can simple breathing connect you to the Divine Spirit within you, or, as I’ll discuss in later chapters, how does breathing build spiritual wealth? I want to share a story of a profound experience with breath. During my 27th year as a middle school health and physical educator, I taught rollerblading to 36 6th graders. To give you a visual, imagine a gymnasium full of rowdy 11-year-olds, some sitting in the bleachers refusing to participate, others still putting the safety gear on, a few skating successfully, and the rest of the group trying. A student asked if I would re-tie his rollerblade. As I agreed, he slipped, and his skate slammed into my shin. At the same time, a student said a shelf broke in the skate closet. I turned to see the skates piled on the floor. With ten students asking for various degrees of help, I stepped into the closet and said, just give me a minute! That moment felt like an eternity. I was super stressed out and not happy with my career. I was two years away from finishing my PhD; could I do it without a salary? The answer was no, but I looked at my school keys and saw myself dropping them off in the office on my way out the door, saying you deal with those kids! My next thought was about how I had been teaching and practicing Yoga. Wait, let me try this and see if it helps. Step one is to bring awareness to my body and breath. And then the aha moment arrived. I was holding my breath! I need to give you more perspective on the situation. That year, the schedule was such that we had the most challenging students on the same day. I even wrote a song titled “The Slow Decline of the PE Teacher on a B Day.” I was also scheduled to have six classes in a row with my lunch and planning at the end of the day. The story above happened during the 6th period on a B Day. It was mid-year, and I was so burned out with teaching. I remember saying aloud that I was holding my breath until lunch on those days. Back to the story. I noticed at that moment that I was barely breathing. I took a slow breath through my nose, then two more. By the third breath, I thought what I almost did would have been a big mistake. I was empowered and said to myself, I CAN do this! I turned and, like having a superpower, got everyone the help they needed, fixed the shelf, and put the skates back up. I finished that class feeling more joy than I had in months. Nothing had changed except that I was breathing and aware of it. I realized how the breath could connect me with the divine power within and get me through impossible situations. Not to mention the physiological effects of oxygen in the body. I was sure at that point I needed to share Yoga with everyone because it was so simple and necessary. I was getting closer to understanding the magic of Yoga.
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I grew up in the 1970s and ‘80s—Generation X. My dream life was played out in a perfume commercial, bringing home the bacon, frying it up in a pan, and, of course, being a sexual diva. Mother, career woman, wonderful wife, perfect home. That sums up my dreams up to age 40. Can you relate?
In my 40s, I was slapped with the cold, hard reality that I had failed in almost every category of that dream. I was dissatisfied with life, divorced, and childless. The ideal family didn’t pan out, and I felt alone and inadequate. I was searching for something, but I didn’t even know what. I was studying religion, starting a business, earning a Ph.D., thinking about plastic surgery, and looking for my libido. Are you still with me? I read about abundance, manifesting, mindful eating, meditation, Buddhism, spiritual hygiene, intuition, the I Am, divination, and Yoga. But how was I going to do all of that when my health was failing and I could barely get out of bed? My physical pain was a mystery, and I couldn’t find answers from doctors. I saw the pictures in magazine articles and the yoga studio I passed by regularly. I even went to a class or two. When I felt the icy cold demeanor of a 20-something yoga instructor who couldn’t be bothered, I said, “I can’t do yoga.” I’ve tried it, and I don’t want to. I can’t do the poses, fit into yoga pants, or wear a midriff top, and I don’t have time for an hour-long class. That was my life before I found out what real yoga is! My 50s have been a decade of can, full of healing and accomplishments. I’ve discovered so much about the power within me to thrive while navigating life. Throughout this book, I share how I turned can’t into can in many aspects of my life. You’ll learn what can help you do the same! You’re in the right place if any of my stories sound familiar. Now is your time to learn what yoga is and understand the ancient wisdom that applies to our modern-day life for real women who grew up before cell phones, computers, online dating, and more. You’ll discover what you believe, what motivates you, the power within you, and how to be more satisfied with life. Yoga is more about you than poses. If you’ve ever said, “I can’t,” keep reading! Let me put my story into more perspective. In 2015, I was stressed out from work, burned out from doing online PhD courses, and barely able to walk. I had a chronic knee injury from high school sports, and I had several surgeries. From all the trauma of trying to get pregnant and probably the emotional baggage that I had carried with me, my hips felt like concrete blocks. I went to an orthopedic doctor, and he sent me to physical therapy. I was in constant pain, and the physical therapy wasn’t helping. One day at the physical therapy office, I picked up a yoga magazine. At that point, I had rejected yoga. Along with my religious beliefs and what I experienced in a few classes, I said, I can’t do it! But at that point, the pain was telling me to try. I saw an ad in the magazine for an online yoga class subscription. When I got home that day, I went onto the website, and in a last-ditch effort, I decided to sign up. I started doing yoga in my spare bedroom, and what happened next was unbelievable to me. I tried several types of yoga classes and settled on Yin Yoga with a specific instructor that I preferred. As I was participating in the classes, I didn’t have anybody watching me saying, “No, that’s not the way to do it.” The poses were on a beginner level, so I could relax and focus on my body for the first time in a long time. At the end of each class, we had Shavasana, a time to let your body catch up to the effects. That was when I felt the magic of Yoga happening. Think back to a time in your life when you felt relaxation, joy, and happiness. Maybe you were confident in your actions or felt connected to loved ones or a community. Have you had a time when nothing else mattered? At that moment, did you accept love for yourself? All those things are effects I felt from Yoga, and I’ve spent the last 10 years searching for why and how. After researching, exploring, and practicing, I've discovered more about the magic of Yoga, why it happens, and how to get there. I hope that you’ll be able to find that magic and develop your yoga practice during the practice sessions throughout this book. So, let’s get started! As I sat in meditation this morning, I looked at my vision board and searched for the pain in my body and the answers to the questions I had been asking. What is the magical factor in yoga, and what do I want to share with my readers to help them realize that they can and should do yoga? The magical factor in yoga is the connection with the divine presence within you. So many people are afraid to connect with anything spiritual. Ask people to share their spiritual experiences, and you’ll find that not many want to share. I’m unsure how, but we have become a society void of connection with the spirit that drives us. Maybe we are so distracted with our busy lives, our lives of staring at the screen, that we have covered the light trying to shine through.
Most people think of the poses or physical movements as yoga. I admit that when I searched for answers to my physical pain back in 2012, I thought of the movement of yoga as the healing factor. When I had a healing experience with yoga in 2017, again, I thought it was the movement. After studying ancient yoga, I’ve realized that the movements may not have had anything to do with the healing. The pain was my awakening to my spirit that wanted to be seen, heard, and nurtured. Yoga was the path to awakening my body, breath, and consciousness to my divine presence. As you read this blog, you will see the discovery unfold. When you read the real-life stories of how yoga impacted the people in this book, I hope you will awaken that divine connection within you. You already have the spirit within you. It’s there waiting for you; it is you. You are the magical factor in yoga, the healing power and strength to go through daily life awake and present. Namaste: The divine light in me sees the divine light in you. |
AuthorDr. Lisa Clow Archives
January 2025
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