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Most Of The Yoga You Do Is When You’re Not In The Studio

Most of the yoga you do should be outside of the studio by theyogimovement.com

June 26, 2017 By Monica Stone 2 Comments

Most of the yoga you do is when you’re not in the studio.

One thing that I love about my job is all of the people I get to meet. I talk to people all day, and get to learn about their goals, successes, and struggles. Since I’m recruiting, most of my day is connected to LinkedIn, and just like I’m looking at their profiles, they’re also looking at mine. It’s not uncommon that we get on the subject of yoga since that’s listed on my profile.

How did you go from yoga to recruiting? Why did you get out of the freelance world?

One of the conversations I had recently really stood out. The lovely lady I was speaking to told me she was also a certified yoga teacher. We started sharing experiences about our training and practices.

I told her how I used to be so obsessed with the practice. I practice yoga to quiet my mind, but at the same time, I was obsessed with the postures. I would get so angry at myself if I didn’t practice one day, or even if I practiced a different style other than Ashtanga.

She said to me, “I had a yoga teacher that said, Most of the yoga you practice should be outside of the studio.”

I really liked how she (or her teacher) phrased that.

We all know it’s true. We know yoga isn’t about the postures. We know it’s about inner peace, forgiveness, non attachment, love, gratitude, acceptance, etc.

Most of the yoga you do should be outside of the studio

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Yoga doesn’t even have to be practiced as yoga postures. You can learn it in any form, and it just has to be practiced daily. And, it can be practiced daily in different ways.

And, practicing yoga daily doesn’t mean that life or difficult situations automatically become easier. In my experience, it can be more difficult because you have to really look yourself in the face and admit your faults. You have to own up to everything. You have to face your past and let it go. You have to forgive people that you said you never would. You have to become really vulnerable. You have to dedicate your life to becoming unattached. You have to face your biggest fears. You have to let go of things or ideas that are holding you back that are no longer serving you. It’s not easy to commit to living the yogi life, but it is way more rewarding.

Yoga teachers and practitioners are still human.

Sometimes I get the feeling that there’s this image of yoga teachers being these superhuman enlightened beings. We still experience sadness, anger, fear, and all of those challenging emotions. We still make mistakes. We might even have road rage. Yoga helps to get through those difficult times with a little more grace than before.

I’m able to breathe through it. I have little mantras or dialogues that remind me that this will all pass. When I feel anxiety going to sleep, I practice focusing on one point. I focus on the feeling of my inbreath and outbreath, and when I get distracted, I bring the focus back until I calm down. It works!

I’ve been slacking on my asana practice, and I can feel the effects. My stress is higher. I’m more distracted. My body hurts.

I’ve let a lot of things get away from me. But, my years of practice have taught me how to still practice daily. I still use my breath, awareness, and knowledge of meditation to calm the stress in my chest or tightness between my shoulder blades. I use my breath to slow down when my mind won’t stop and I try to find a solution. Sometimes I find that I can’t sit and breathe for a long period of time, so I make myself do a few sun salutations, or alternate nostril breathing instead. Or, maybe I just take a walk to clear my mind. 

I create awareness and ask a lot of questions. Why am I angry right now? Why am I comparing myself? Why am I saying these mean things to myself? Why am I thinking mean things about another person? If I can stop to ask myself these questions, it always turns into something positive. How can I be grateful for this? What did I learn from this? How will this help me? How can I be more accepting of myself and others? Just asking questions always calms me down because I realize my suffering holds no truth and is self created. It’s my battle, and no one else is to blame. 

When I started my new job, my life became way more busy. I was working overtime to learn a new skill, and just wasn’t managing my time that well. A lot of things fell away. I’m not mad at myself for it because I love what I do. I needed this time to focus and adjust. Even so, missing daily yoga from my life feels empty, and is completely noticeable. 

Practice is important, but being kind to yourself is important too. It’s not yoga to beat yourself up – especially about yoga.

I’m ready to get back to my daily practice, whatever that may be. I still practice Ashtanga, but I like to attend classes where I learn other styles. I love to just practice in the presence of a a room that flows with acceptance and love. 

Over the past two weeks, I’ve received emails from people telling me that they checked out blog, and they loved it. My subscriber lists, Facebook group, and YouTube views keep growing, and I’m not doing anything about it. It’s made me really miss it.

I’m excited to get back to this community online and offline. I was nervous to post this honestly. For the last month, I’ve been excited to start blogging again, but didn’t know how to start. It felt so foreign to even login to my WordPress account. I haven’t looked at my analytics in forever. 

You can’t move forward until you get out of your comfort zone.

You just have to start. You just have to do it.

Filed Under: Philosophy

Monica Stone

About Monica Stone

Monica is a lover of all things yoga, a vegetarian, an avid tea drinker, and never gets sick of soup and noodle dishes. She teaches yoga, practices daily, and runs a Spiritual Book Club in Orlando, FL. She likes to challenge the strict rules of yoga, and makes it accessible for everyone - especially people who suffer from daily life and work stress.

« Practicing Ashtanga Yoga With Shoulder Pain (or Injury)
How to Get Out of a Rut & Back to Your Old Self Again! »

Hi! I’m Monica

Monica StoneWell hello there! I'm Monica. I'm a yoga & meditation teacher (and junkie). I teach yoga practices that are quick and effective for the busy person who just needs a few minutes of quiet time in their day. Click around and you'll find quick meditation tips for calming the mind to simple stretches to relieve stress and tension. If you are sick of being intimidated by yoga or just confused by all of the different styles out there - then this page is for you. Yoga helps me daily & I know it will help you too! I'll show you how! Welcome to The Yogi Movement :)

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Testimonials

  • Jaime ShearerJaime ShearerYoga Student Since 2012

    Monica is dedicated to her own practice and the true path of yoga - the one of personal experience - which makes her an outstanding teacher. She is warm and easy to talk with, and she allows the student to have their own experience on the mat. She explains postures and breath in ways that are understandable so that the student "gets it." She makes yoga real and tangible in ways that truly serve the student. Work with Monica. You'll be glad you did.

  • Jacob AbercrombieJacob AbercrombieYoga Student Since 2011

    have always wanted to try yoga, but was always nervous. Monica took that fear away and made me feel like i was the only one in class with a room full of strangers. She is able to work with multiple students during the same move and still make it a personalized class for one.

  • Serena JonesSerena JonesYoga Student Since 2010

    Monica has been a highly influential teacher to me. She creates a safe environment for learning and practice. I have always felt grounded in her classes, and she pushes me beyond my own expectations. She inspires and motivates! I can't imagine my life without sharing a path with her!

  • Angela OrofinoAngela OrofinoYoga Student Since 2011

    Monica is a caring, wise, thoughtful, and talented yoga instructor. She has an in-depth knowledge of the philosophy and spirituality of Ashtanga yoga. My previous yoga experience had mostly just been at my local gym. Luckily, last year I found Monica. She has been guiding my practice at least once a week since then. As a newcomer to Ashtanga yoga, Monica made me feel comfortable and had the patience to teach me the basics. She also encouraged me to start an at home practice so that I was able to obtain a deeper understanding of Ashtanga. Monica is always encouraging and lets me know in subtle ways when she feels that I am ready to move deeper into my practice. I feel that the growth in my practice over the last year has been tremendous. Not only do I notice the change in me but others around me do as well. I am so grateful to have found Monica!

  • Sasha TamarSasha TamarYoga Student Since 2012

    I’ve come across many a yoga instructor over the years, but Monica stands out as genuinely amiable, as she glows with an infectious inner light, and highly devoted to and passionate about her practice. Her dedication to Ashtanga as a lifestyle is very clear, and creates for a contagious motivating force. Every time I’ve practiced with her, she eagerly transmits her devotion and passion of Ashtanga and meditation to everyone in class; she makes the most fledgling beginner feel at home, and simultaneously challenges the more advanced students. While I only practice Ashtanga with her, I know she provides therapeutic yoga sessions as well as meditation. And, if her methods of guiding students out of the Ashtanga vigor into the more meditative savasana are indicative of her meditational techniques, I’d recommend her to anyone

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