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Getting more out of your yoga practice doesn’t mean you must practice 7 days a week or be able to do advanced asanas (poses) like one arm handstands. You get the most out of yoga by practicing in a mindful, conscious and fully present way. You maximise your yoga experience by treating your yoga mat as a laboratory where you research and investigate what your body and mind are doing and feeling.
But, how exactly do you do that? You do it by simply getting into a pose and noticing and feeling any physical and emotional sensations that arise. After noticing then you engage your muscles and your mental focus to stay in the pose. Once in this space, you can start to understand how the asana is working for you, if you can and should go deeper and how to do it in a way that works for your body. You deepen your yoga practice by finding an equanimous state where there is a balance of strength, energy, stability and flexibility that allows you to be engaged yet relaxed in each pose.
A good yoga practice should not only foster physical attributes but mental and emotional attributes too. All three attributes are necessary to bridge and connect body and mind, which is the aim of the practice.
This August at H-Kore, our YogaKore focus is on Muscular Engagement and stability. Waking up muscles to create stability as we hold asanas. This will be reflected in our core attributes as:
Physical Attributes:
It is all about muscular energy. We will be bringing energy from the extremities into the midline by hugging muscles in and lifting, rooting down our hands and feet to anchor. We’ll be engaging the core to create containment.
Mental Attributes:
Shifting focus from the external world to our internal landscape. When you think about engaging and pulling muscles in, you naturally turn your attention from the outside to the inside. As focus comes inwards you are connecting with your center; the core of your being.
Emotional Attributes:
Drawing in of all the senses allows for full immersion into our deepest self. Turning inwards allows us to contemplate and connect to what we are feeling. With contemplation comes awareness and self-reflection.
Does that sound like something that you would like to work on? Come practice with us at our Quarry Bay studio!