Why Do You Practice Yoga?

Since I can't speak for others, I would like to share a little bit of my thoughts on this topic. 

If I were looking for a good workout, I would go to the gym. It's easier, and it's cheaper, unless you need to belong to the deluxe kind. Or unless you are the type to look for the Groupon, Living Social, Lululemon and by-donation deals to keep you going for a long time.

If I were looking to relax or to be pampered, I would get a massage or do a spa. Or see a feel-good movie or enjoy a glass of wine with a friend. In this case, however, yoga might be cheaper.

If I were looking to get limber, I'd get on the floor and stretch in the comfort of my own home. It's free.

If I were looking for validation, assignments, a way to understand why things in my life are not going the way I hoped, I might see a therapist or join a self-improvement program.

If I am looking to find a discipline that will help me put myself as the point of reference, see clearly and from a broader lens, know what I want (as distinguished from what others expect of me), see others in their best light, strengthen my ability to respond to what calls at me daily rather than being pulled to my bed for another nap, and give me the courage to become bigger than I currently am...

...then I practice yoga. And when I am looking for a fast acting one, I practice Kundalini Yoga. As regularly as I brush my teeth.

Yoga is mental, physical and spiritual hygiene, and when I don't treat it as such, my mouth gets really gross...

Yoga is not for the weak. But it is often used as a soft-addiction or temporary fix.

Love, Savitree.

"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." --Audre Lorde