You don’t always know what it will look like…
About six months ago, I went through some pretty big life changes… moved to a city I had never even visited before… started a new job… turned a new relationship into a long distance one. I should preface by saying that for the past few years, my yoga practice has been my sanity. No matter what I was feeling – happy, stressed, anxious – I could find what I was looking for on my mat – a few quiet moments to revel in something good, think through a problem, or completely forget about everything outside the studio.
Needless to say, I was somewhat thrown off when, with so many changes happening in my life, I seemed to steer clear of yoga. I couldn’t seem to get excited about finding a new studio. I had excuses for why I couldn’t even attend free classes around town. Sure, during this time, I rolled out my mat in my tiny apartment and flowed through a few suns, or I would take my mat down to the park to practice inversions, but I would find myself laying on my mat minutes later. Laying there, eyes soft, mind quiet, breathing steady.
About a month and a half ago, and with just slight hesitation (probably because I had not moved through a full 1.5 hour class in a while!), I began taking classes. Laying in savasana at the end of class, I realized something… something more than just how sore my body would probably be the next day. I realized that while I may have stepped away from the asana portion, I never abandoned my practice. It just didn’t look like what I thought it would look like. At a time when things seemed somewhat crazy in life, I needed quiet, I needed stillness. And now, feeling more secure in my space, I’m ready to amp it up on the mat. It’s just the way these things work – it’s an ebb and flow.
In reality, the thing that draws me to yoga is the idea of staying present, to thoughts, to the breath… and ultimately to life. And the beauty of the practice is that it always welcomes you back, no judgement.
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The Teachers
Julia Romano has been teaching at Yoga District for 3 years. She received her teaching certification in hatha and vinyasa flow through Yoga Alliance, and her classes focus on coordinating breath with body movement to promote flexibility, strength, and peace of mind. She strongly believes in yoga as therapy, so catch one of her Dharma Flow or Reboot classes when you need a healthy dose of self-care.
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The Next Step
The Yoga District 200 and 500 hour teacher training certification programs, registered by the Yoga Alliance are unique in their emphasis on diversity of teaching styles studied, personal attention, and trauma sensitive yoga. It's no coincidence that Yoga District is regularly voted the leading studio in the nation's capital, and that most of its classes are taught by graduates of its training program. As a full time yoga school, small group trainings are led up to eight times a year by a dedicated faculty including Jasmine Chehrazi, contributor to the Harvard Karma Yoga Project teacher training, teacher training faculty at George Washington University, Yoga Alliance Standards Committee Advisory Board Member, Yoga Activist Founder, and Yoga Service Council Advisory Board Member. So take your practice and community involvement to the next level by joining a training. There's a reason why our graduates call the training "transformative."
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