Jane in Mountain Pose

As promised, a bit more about yoga. Remember, Jane comes to this from the perspective of the newly converted. Yoga has been part of her life for about six months. She will try not to insist that everyone *must* try it or lead an increasingly worthless life, but she will admit that it has changed hers, body and soul. No exaggerating.

Yoga is good for flexibility and core strength, no doubt about it. Good, that is, as long as the one doing the flexing and strengthening realizes personal and comfort limits and respects the body's voice. Nobody should ever force themselves or anyone else into a position. Ever. Go gently, modify when needed and remember that just because someone two mats over is twisted into astonishingly impossible shapes does NOT mean that you need to do the same. Yoga is all about the person on your mat and that should only be you. Draw your focus inward and commune with your own body. In other words, no peeking around the room to see how your downward dog measures up.

The thing about yoga, though, is that there is far more than body movements going on. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism (this is an ancient Indian religion, not to be confused with Jane-ism) define yoga as a "spiritual discipline". While the body is moving the breath is flowing and the combination of the two creates something deeply powerful. Jane realizes that yoga is a hot trend these days, but that's simply because of our world's tendency to "discover" things that have been around for years. Thousands of years. It's accurate to say that yoga is gaining in popularity but even more accurate to say that it's regaining. Jane admits to jumping enthusiastically on the bandwagon.

Okay, so increased flexibility, good posture, an improvement in core strength, better lung capacity, reduction of stress, improvement in concentration and mood, lower heart rate and blood pressure. Quite the list, yes? There's a hard to measure benefit, as well, and that's what happens when you take time away from your busy day and devote an hour or even less to yourself. Let's say forty-five minutes. Read over that list again. Worth it? Jane thinks so.

Jane also likes the connection. Not with other yoga enthusiasts, though that is nice, but with the people who practiced the same positions five thousand years ago. When Jane is standing in Warrior One, feeling the strength of the earth rising through her feet and her own power shooting from her fingertips, she knows that others over so very many years, have felt the same. The earth's power, their power and hers mingle. The energy is theirs. The energy is hers. The energy is yours, too. All you have to do is reach for it and breathe and bend and flow.