My first blog!

Hello fellow bloggers!  Welcome!  For those of you who do not know how clueless I am when it comes to technology, this blog is a HUGE accomplishment.


My intention for this blog is to share with whomever may stumble across this page my path with yoga and anything that might relate to yoga...which, conveniently for me (see ya writer's block!), is everything!

This intention raises the age old question, "What is yoga?" 
....Fellow RYTS (Registered Yoga Teachers), all together now.. "Yogas Citta Vriti Nirodhah" Yoga Sutra I-2.  Translated, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali states that "the restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga". 

But what is yoga to me?  For me, yoga is life.  Everything, at all times, is yoga.  Yoga literally means "to yoke", to bring together.  For me, every second of every day is part of my yoga practice.  Yoga is the breath that moves in, out and around me; it is my asana practice, the classes I teach, my relationships with others and most importantly with my Self.  Yoga is joy, knowledge, connection, integration, satisfaction, ananda ("bliss"); however, it is just as much pain, suffering, confusion and challenging.  If it were not dualistic, it would not be the infinitely powerful force it is.  Yoga is about finding that light within and acknowledging the infinite potential of your Self and that light.  Yoga is prayer, meditation, relaxation and stress relief.  I have been fortunate enough to have been brought so low at times I didn't believe I was meant to make it through.  Yoga has been the path back to the light and gives me the tools I need to find the good in all things.  Yoga has been the anchor in my life, either consciously or subconsciously, since the very first class I took my junior year of high school.  What keeps me hooked to this ancient practice is the continual learning process about myself, others, yoga and life in general.  Yoga has taught me just how incredibly precious each breath we take is and that the joy truly is in the journey.  Knowing that I get to share yoga with the world for the rest of my life makes my inner joy fountain bubble over in abundance (note to reader- my words may be cheesy but they are always heartfelt!).  Yoga is life, and boy do I LOVE it! 

What is yoga to you? I am new to this blogging thing, but I would to keep a continual dialogue answering or commenting on this question...let's "yoke" them all together! :)

In light and love, Ainsley