"If you just go with the flow, no matter what weird things happen along the way, you always end up exactly where you belong." — Tom Upton (Just Plain Weird)

I soooo love yoga. I really, really do. There are not enough words to express how much I have fallen in love with this wonderfully, beautiful practice. I never imagined how much something so seemingly external could have such a great internal impact on me. I mean, I’ve done all sorts of exercises before, I loved hula hooping a lot, I thrive in the water while swimming…but all of those never tapped into what yoga taps in to for me.

Just when I thought I had found all there is to love about yoga, and that I had found the perfect yin and yang balance (yin yoga and ashtanga) of my personal practice, I fell into yet another dimension of the practice: the wonderful flow (yes, I have to use this word haha….and coincidentally it is the name of the shala I practice it in too!) of vinyasa.

I say fell because as always, I did not consciously plan to try it out (in fact, when I first read about vinyasa being more flow-y and dance-y, I kinda wasn’t to keen on it….after all, I can’t dance for the life of me, right???). One day, however, I went to attend my usual ashtanga class but since it was a one-on-one, my teacher asked if I’d be willing to change things up a bit for that evening and so there…I discovered vinyasa.

Oh the joy!!!

After that chance encounter with vinyasa, I gave it another shot and, well, fell even more in love with yoga as a whole. I then decided to finally try another class with another teacher in another studio and haven’t stopped since then.

I must say, however, that if I were asked to pick which one I like best, I would have no answer.

On a physical level, I cherish the stillness and quiet that Yin brings, I welcome the challenge and discipline of Ashtanga while taking comfort in it’s routine, and I embrace the enjoyment and motion of Vinyasa.

On an emotional point of view, they all tap into different things and make me feel differently after each practice, and that was exactly what I had set out to do when I decided to start doing yoga regularly: to find that peaceful contentment and unity of mind, body, heart and soul. What I do know, however, is that depending on where I’m at emotionally and mentally that day is where my practice must be.

On a mental or mindfulness perspective, in Yin I have learned to confront silence and and allow discomfort to sit with me for a while, knowing full well that in time it will pass. Through Ashtanga I learned to challenge notions and to stretch (literally and figuratively!) past what I think are my limits, believing that with every breath, every moment, it will get easier. In Vinyasa, I learned to welcome spontaneity, to not cling so tightly to the familiar and just allow myself to go where the wind blows.

If several months ago, when I first discovered this practice, I wrote about the yin and yang sides of my practice, tonight I change it up a bit, and open up some space for more by saying

ashtanga is passion, yin is love, vinyasa is joy
ashtanga is excitement, yin is calm, vinyasa is cheer
ashtanga is challenge, yin is surrender, vinyasa is contentment
ashtanga is body, yin is soul, vinyasa is heart

So maybe that doesn’t make my yin and yang image “balanced” anymore (cause when we say yin and yang we automatically think two, right?), but perhaps that fine line in between the yin and the yang, that’s where my vinyasa lies.