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Why Yoga is My Home

Yoga | Yoga for Beginners

“Yoga is your Home.”

I recently heard this phrase from my yoga instructor. Her overall wisdom continues to inspire me, and every now and then, she shares something so simple, yet so powerful that it stops me in my tracks. This was one of those times.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, yoga has indeed become my home, a personal dwelling where I can explore my internal world.

Dictionaries describe a ‘house’ as “the physical structure within which one lives, such as a house or apartment”. A house is a residence for human beings. A home, however, holds a deeper, more personal meaning.

House vs. Home

I’m fortunate enough to currently share my house with my husband, daughter, and dog. In this modest house we live in, we must set time aside for housekeeping tasks like wiping up spills and organizing toys.

And let’s not forget such mundane joys as cleaning coffee grounds stuck to the pot or that momentary panic when wondering if someone took the dog out in time. These are just a few of the things on the endless to-do list of a modern family.

With all of life’s complexities, all the physical cleaning and scrubbing, it’s easy to forget about the internal housekeeping. Internal housekeeping is necessary for us as humans to function properly, not only in our family life but in society as well.

Our true essence lies within, and when we fail to look inward at ourselves, we risk self-destruction by way of self-neglect.~Shelly Gill

We must stop and focus on the meaning of internal housekeeping. We must realize that our bodies do more than simply house our organs and those other things that keep us functioning physically as a human beings.

Returning Home

When I return to my yoga mat, I am home. My body and breath meet, and I’m free of external distraction. When I have attained a state of mindfulness, allowing myself to simply be, these are the things that I notice:

My Breath: Is it smooth and rhythmic, or jagged and stuck, caught in the worries and frustrations of the day?

My Body: Are my muscles relaxed or tense? If I’m tense, where am I holding the tension? What do I need to let go of within myself, and what is within that isn’t serving me?

My Ego: Am I aiming to achieve the perfect pose or am I accepting myself as I am? Am I truly present in this current moment?

My Mind: Am I focused, or is mental chatter consuming the healing silence?

Health and happiness are an inside job. Take the time to return home to your mat, and in the words of my teacher, “do your yoga.”

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