When I was a junior in high school, my friend recommended that I try out Hot Power Yoga at CorePower Yoga studio. She said the combination of exercise and sweat was the perfect medicine for both her physical and mental health. I decided to try it out and since then I have been hooked.
Each yoga class begins in savasana, a pose with absolutely no movement as you lay still on your mat. In those quiet moments before class, I sit and reflect on my intention for class. Some of the best intentions have been given to me by my teachers. Some of my favorites include:
"Compare, despair."
“Doubt everything. Find your own light.”
"Clarity, peace, strength."
By setting an intention, you create a focus point. This focus point helps you and guides you throughout class. You create meaning for your focus point as you reach for each pose one step further. My yoga mat has felt every intention I have made in each yoga class I have experienced. My yoga mat has helped me reach those intentions each class.
As I complete each yoga pose, my yoga mat holds me up. Finding stillness and focusing on your breath is much easier said than done. When I cannot focus I turn towards my mat and use it as my focal point throughout class.
At the end of each yoga class, we end with the same pose that we began in: savasana. During savasana you end where you began, just you and your mat. Throughout this time, I think about if I completed my intention for class. I think about how I can begin to incorporate my intention into my life and the actions that I need to take in order to take my intention off my mat.
My yoga mat has been the start of so many positive changes in my life. It is where I begin and it is where I end my classes. But in life, it remains as the beginning of positive change. This is a thank you to my yoga mat.
