Yoga Is…

 (busting some myths that keep us from investing in our self-care and wellbeing)

One of the reasons that I wrote Demystifying American Yoga is an attempt to make yoga more accessible amidst a sea of flashy promises, inaccessible images, and dangerous myths.
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Pretty much every yoga teacher has heard the myths and excuses people make about why they can’t do yoga: I’m not flexible, it’s too slow (or too boring), I don’t have time, it’s too expensive—and many more reasons that I explore in my book.
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Because there are many different kinds of yoga—many different approaches, different practices, different goals—yoga’s diversity quickly squashes pretty much any excuse. But, we have to find the right kind of yoga, and that’s often the hardest part.

It’s easy to make excuses and sometimes these excuses reveal what’s under the surface, which are even better reasons to try yoga. Here are some of the most common excuses:

I’m not flexible—while flexibility is not a requirement for yoga, this excuse reveals more mental inflexibility than physical. Yoga can help foster both of these kinds of flexibility.

it’s too slow (or too boring)—I took Imke’s Vinyasa Flow Yoga class after not doing this style of yoga for a long time and it was neither slow nor boring!

But this excuse also reveals our inability to be in stillness, to be with ourselves without all of the distractions that our culture provides. Yoga helps us cultivate a relationship with our self and when we slow down, we help to renew and rejuvenate our mind/body/spirit.

We can choose a slow flow, like my Spiral Flow Yoga, or we can choose a yoga workout—both bring a variety of benefits. And there's so much more to discover at Spiral Goddess, and beyond!

I don’t have time—this is not untrue for many of us. We are expected to always be on the go, to be productive, to not waste time on things that don’t have an immediate, measurable impact. We spend time doing things for other people, sacrificing time for ourselves.

But yoga doesn’t have to take a lot of time and when we make time for ourselves to practice yoga, we might find that our ideas about time, our perceptions of time, and our priorities of our time shift. We might find that we make better use of our time and enjoy our time more.

It’s too expensive—again, not untrue. Some yoga is very expensive, perpetuating many other myths about who belongs in a yoga studio. But there are many affordable outlets for yoga, including online videos and other resources.

And at The Spiral Goddess Collective we offer Accessible Pricing options as well as scholarships. So, here, yoga is not too expensive.

However, this excuse also reveals the edge of what we value—what we choose to spend our money on speaks to what we value in ourselves and in our world. When we choose to invest in ourselves by buying (and attending!) yoga classes, we reap many rewards in the short and long term. When we practice regularly--on and off the mat, in and out of the studio--the benefits are even more profound and impactful.

When you choose to invest in classes and workshops at The Spiral Goddess Collective, you are also investing in your community and providing the opportunity for others to benefit from yoga as well.

Strength, flexibility, balance, emotional regulation, pain management, better sleep, a nervous system reset, better circulation, authenticity and so many more benefits can be found through a regular yoga practice. If you aren’t sure where to begin, just reach out and we’ll help you find the kind of yoga that will inspire you to keep investing in your self-care and wellbeing.