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My journey to yoga has been a long, and reluctant one. I’m naturally inclined to physical activities that push me. Running has been one of my best friends for over 15 years now. I like to sweat, and I like to push my body as far as it will go. Yoga always seemed too ‘easy’ to me.

My first foray into yoga happened because I was experimenting with classes my gym was offering me. In those days we lived in the city and a gym membership was a great option for stormy days when I didn’t feel like pounding the pavement. One of the classes I tried was a mixture of yoga, pilates and tai chi.

It was love at first class.

An introduction to mindfulness

And of course, what looked easy, turned out to be much harder than my daily run. It required strength, balance and perhaps most importantly, a depth of mindfulness that I most definitely had not been practicing. These classes were my first introduction into mindfulness.

And after the first few ‘fumbly’ weeks, I got the hang of it.

It was different from my running addiction. I didn’t feel ‘addicted’. I felt amazing after each class, AND during it. Unlike the many times I’ve forced myself through another mile or high-intensity training class. Yoga is different.

Fast forward a few years and we moved to the ‘sticks’. With no big-city gym options nearby I utilised the power of ‘google’ and stumbled across Adriene Mishler.

(For those that haven’t heard of ‘Yoga with Adriene’, it’s a an incredible You Tube channel with hundreds of free yoga classes, run by the vivacious and talented Adriene. I highly recommend her yoga classes, suitable for all levels).

Since then my yoga journey has blossomed. I love the freedom of an at-home-practice. Sometimes it’s annoying having the kids or the dog try to join me, but 90% of the time it’s just pure sacred bliss, regardless of who is watching or trying to join me.

And there are things I didn’t anticipate when I started my yoga journey. I didn’t realise how instrumental and important yoga would be in helping me cultivate the slower life I craved.

How exquisite the breath can be

For as long as I can remember I’ve felt an intuitive ‘knowing’ of how important deep breathing is. For equally as long, I’ve been a short, shallow breather. Breathing mindlessly, as though it’s not the most vital thing I can do for me body.

However, knowledge about something doesn’t automatically translate into practice.

I needed yoga to begin to practice breathing properly. To practice the breathing breathing into, and through my entire body, not just my lungs. I needed to begin to practice breathing like my life depended on it.

And I had no idea how exquisite something as seemingly simple as breathing could be. Taking a long, deep, mindful breath feels luxurious and healing for me.

Breath is life.

It’s not about the poses

Before starting yoga, I had heard of downward dog, and the crow pose. I’d seen video’s and admired those who could bend their bodies into these impressive shapes.

What I didn’t realise was that yoga is not about the poses.

Yoga is all about the flow. It’s about the connection between the mind and body and the flow of life that happens moving through each pose.

It’s about the whole experience. From the moment you agree with yourself to begin your practice, until the end of your shavasana (and really beyond that). The flow from beginning to end is more important that any one pose.

The hardest pose

I’d love to be able to do the crow. Or the peacock pose. I’m actually very flexible and so some poses come fairly easily to me. There’s plenty of poses I’d love to ‘master’ and tick off the list, and all-in-all my body is reasonably malleable to the poses.

Except one.

There’s one that gets me every time… Shavasana.

I always thought something like the peacock or crow would be the hardest yoga pose. It’s not. For me, the hardest thing about yoga is the bit at the end where you have to lie still.

Back at the gym in the city, I would always slip away as everyone else was closing their eyes and settling into shavasana. I didn’t see the point in ‘wasting’ 3 minutes lying still!

I’ve come along way in my journey to slowing down since then, but stillness still evades me. Even knowing what I now know about stillness and its healing powers, I struggle.

But I will keep trying. And it gets a little easier every time. Each shavasana is sweeter and more than the previous one.

The delight (and importance) of cultivating stillness

There’s a stillness that’s deeper (or perhaps parallel) to shavasana. I feel like it’s that pure stillness that you don’t actually have to be physically still for. A mental, emotional stillness that you can carry with you, even through your busy times.

This is the kind of stillness I want more of.

Someone in my family recently asked ‘what would your superpower be’. Some chose being invisible, some chose knowing it all, and in the moment, I chose bionic joints – so I could run as much as possible :p

But after giving it some more thought (I want to be sure about this, especially if I only get one choice!), I think I would rather choose the superpower of stillness.

To be stoically still in a chaotic, frantic world IS a superpower.

Still in the face of busy and overwhelm.

Still in the face of noise and rush.

Still, despite my inner world. Still in my inner world.

Stillness. Exquisite stillness.

What now?

You might want to start your own yoga journey. Check out Adriene’s YouTube channel here.

If you are looking for more mindfulness and stillness in a busy world then you are welcome to join the community here.

I send one letter a week via email, and daily inspiration to live slower and simpler over on Facebook & Instagram. You can also connect with like-minded individuals in the Facebook community.

You deserve the slower life you want. Start today.

Image credit via Unsplash Yayan Sopian