Sharing your practice with family

Does sharing your practice mean being side by side ? or can your practice be sharing your intention ?

At the commencement of my yoga teacher training, part of the practice was to incorporate other individuals to the practice. Being too scared to go to others outside my home, I dedicated it to those inside my family.

I learned that sharing my practice as far as I had come in the training, I had to take yet another step back in teaching. Sharing my practice did not mean expecting someone’s anatomy whom was younger or stronger be able to practice beginners’ asanas with ease.

Sharing my practice meant, practicing what I was teaching, not just asanas and cues, but the philosophy of yoga, including The 8 Limbs of Yoga.

The 8 Limbs of Yoga.

1. Yama ( moral discipline)

2. Niyama (observances)

3. Asana (physical postures)

4. Pranayama ( breathing techniques)

5. Pratyahara ( sense withdrawn)

6. Dhrana (concentration)

7. Dhyana ( meditation)

8. Samadhi ( enlightenment)

The 5 Yamas.

1. Ahimsa (no harm - physical or mental)

2. Satya (truthfulness )

3. Astray (non stealing)

4. Brachmcharya (right use of energy)

5. Aparigraha (non greed)

As well as encoding The 5 Koshas.

1. Anamaya Kosha (body, DNA, nerves, muscles)

2. Pranayama Kosha (energetic filed, functioning human system, aura, chakras)

3. Manomaya Kosha (mind, emotions, feelings, fears)

4. Vijananamaya Kosha (wisdom, values, believes)

5. Ananda Maya Kosha (bliss, higher nature, mind)

In Yoga Philosophy, the world is conceptualized by two realities called Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is the higher state of consciousness.

Prakriti is said to be creation, our observances in reality, through the material world, nature, matter, and sources, the changeable and not infinite.

Implementing awareness of the philosophy of yoga into practice was more than remembering cues, leading someone gently into a pose or creating a meditation practice, it meant to be someone beyond myself at that moment, for someone else.

To me, being an instructor, was more than just sharing my practice with family. It meant, I had to be mindful of The 8 Limbs of Yoga all in one moment.