What is Yoga, to me (Payton)

Simply, yoga is a connection between body, breath and mind.

Yoga is appreciation for your body and how it can move.

Yoga is the journey of discovering yourself. Yoga is choosing to lead with love in situations that challenge you. Yoga is the quest for a deeper meaning of life. Yoga is a safe space, sometimes the only one for some people. Yoga is a playground where you are free to express yourself through movement that feels good to you. Yoga is being kind to yourself and giving yourself grace. Yoga is realizing that we are all connected.

Yoga is the bond I formed with seven other women all on the path to be yoga instructors. Yoga is the first time you nail a headstand and feel on top of the world. Yoga is falling out of a headstand time after time and trying again anyway. Yoga is healing your inner child that never felt good enough, or athletic, or passionate about anything. Yoga is the commitment to make yourself a better person, and the world a better place.

Yoga is your connection to the earth. There is a reason yoga has stuck around so long – because it truly has the power to change your life, if you let it. Through this training and my own growth, I’ve found an inner peace through yoga that I didn’t know was possible. I see the world differently and recognize that we are all connected – and that all we will ever need lives inside of us already.

Yoga is healing.

Yoga is powerful.

Yoga is life changing.

Yoga is knowing that you can make a positive impact on the world, even if it begins with small ripples. Becoming a teacher is a ripple for me.

I hope to share the gift of yoga to people who have preconceived notions about it, or are scared to try. To be able to open someone’s world up to yoga the way mine has been, would be the greatest outcome.

Through this training, I’ve deepened my practice and understanding of yoga but the same is true for myself. This has been a self-growth journey that I didn’t anticipate when signing up. I’ve learned how truly important the relationship you have with yourself is – and prioritizing time spent on growing that relationship and nourishing your soul. For so long, I viewed yoga as a means of exercise, or maybe an hour of self care. But I am walking away with so much more. Yoga isn’t something I’m interested in just teaching in a room for an hour. Yoga is something I want to live on and off my mat each day.

This was written by Payton, a recent graduate of the NS Root to Rise Teacher Training. You will see her teaching currently in an upcoming community and happy hour class and will also will be leading an upcoming new class called “Heat Wave” Friday nights 5-6pm starting this May!