It's OK to go easy.

Did you know that OK is the most recognized word in the world? Coke is the number 2, but that's a blog for a different day.  So, it is OK to do "easy" yoga.  It's OK for your yoga to not be super sweaty or feel really hard, and you know what you can still be practicing great yoga.  Many already yoga fans and yoga teachers are nodding their heads "yes" right now just as many (especially yoga avoiders) are shaking their heads "no."

So no matter your stance, just sit back for a moment and read on.  Our yoga can be gentle and accomplish many things.  If you are a go hard or go home exerciser, yoga of the gentle variety might be just what you need.  It might take you out of your comfort zone and challenge you in a different way.  This type of yoga could very well be the key to making all of your other exercise stronger, better, and more fun.  A body that works hard needs rest to heal and strengthen.  And there are not many of us out there saying "I'm flexible enough."

A gentle yoga class or practice can give our bodies permission to rest and move gently.  We can work on range of motion and bringing fluidity to our joints.  We can rest and listen in to what our bodies are really saying.  Pretty much most of us want our backs to feel better and for the tension to leave our necks and shoulders.  Gentle careful mindful movements can get things going in the feel good direction.  A gentle practice can keep us going so that we can go hard again another day.

If we are a person dealing with injuries, lack of current exercise, or other ailments, some gentle yoga can get us started on the road to recovery or just to feeling better in our bodies.

If we have no limitations and we are mostly drawn to gentler yoga, that's not such a terrible thing either.  But we may need to on occasion challenge ourselves to move more, and that will be the topic of a future blog post.  Think yin and yang, two halves that make a complete whole.  We want to be as complete of a person as we can and both types of yoga can help us.

The following video is from a few years ago, but it's some gentle, easy feel good yoga.  The video also stars Lissa the dog and the sweetest (some what large) cat named Lloyd who died a few months ago, and boy does my home practice yoga miss him.  So lay on down to practice and remember that it's OK to go easy.  I'm Audra, the ordinary yoga, practicing easy with you.

click here to see video on youtube