Outdoor Yoga

As you all know I've spent some time this summer on an island off the Main coast.  That means I've been away from "my" yoga studio for some time.  I thought this would really decrease the quality and quantity of my yoga practice this summer.  I thought that it would be a sabbatical of sorts for me and I'd pick up my training in the fall.  (Kind of like how I run in the winter but its not the same as the spring, summer and fall months.)

I mentioned previously how my yoga studio owner offered a MP3 audio download of a typical class and I bought it and loaded it onto my iPod before coming out to the island.  I spread out my mat on the front deck and loaded the iPod up onto some speakers.

I really thought the practice was going to be very different from that which I have inside the studio.  I was right in some ways and wrong in others.  The purpose of the type of yoga I practice is to focus inward, on your breathing.  Its about how you feel, not how you look.

So while there is no teacher on the deck with me to adjust my position, I have learned not to care.  I'm out on the front deck, where all the neighbors can see me, the dogs can run by and my own family is sometimes in the yard.  I have learned to turn inward and focus on my practice more completely.  I no longer care if my shirt is riding up, or my hair is falling out of its ponytail.  I'm there to practice and reap the benefits that yoga has to offer me.

I do look around a little bit more than in a studio.  The birds, trees, flag and sun all entice me and they give me energy that I don't get from the hanging lights of a studio.

So while I will love getting back to a varied practice and getting back to a studio environment, I am loving my new studio, "Front Deck".  I used to think that yoga wasn't something I could do with me when traveling and now I realize that like running, its something I can do wherever I go and enjoy the scenery and energy of a new place in a way that I otherwise would not.