At some point in life, we all have had got the inspiration to follow a healthy habit. Maybe that might be of following a healthy diet or hitting the gym or doing yoga. With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the world, the fitness studios and gyms were shut for almost a year. Working out at home became a new normal. Yoga being the underrated form of exercise gained immense momentum during this time. The true essence of living a healthy and peaceful life is the outcome many beginners felt while practising yoga.
One name that has promoted yoga on a global level is Eylin Pérez. She is a yoga instructor and a student hailing from Lima, Peru. With having experienced power yoga for the first time during school, she was always fascinated with its practice. However, she went on to pursue a career in medicine and then tried her hand in the culinary industry just to realise her calling to become a yoga instructor. In her career, Eylin overcame a lot of challenges on physical, emotional and spiritual levels and she credits yoga for bringing a change in her life.
Amidst the pandemic, the practice of yoga has helped in building a strong physical, mental, emotional and spiritual system. Combining breathing and meditation along with yoga has helped in rejuvenating a person’s mind and soul. For the ones who are learning yoga, Eylin Pérez has some valuable tips to share for all beginners.
1. Begin with acceptance and no expectations
The word yoga means ‘union’ in Sanskrit. In simple words, it means the unity of all aspects of your life on all levels. Living in the state of yoga has no separation of thoughts and a person’s present state. Eylin says that one should take a moment to appreciate their body and be grateful for their breaths. Along with it, the yoga instructor stated that expectations of any form should be released. Practising gratitude is the key. “One should not have expectations of body flexibility in the initial weeks or months. Good things take time”, said Eylin.
2. Be ready to embrace the change
Many studies have suggested that yoga and meditation takes an individual to a completely different world. A world of calmness and peace. A world to know the self better. During this process, a person must be committed to the goals, and the readiness to embrace the change is of utmost importance. Pérez suggests that to experience the change, one can try by inculcating a new habit in their daily routine and follow it with sincerity and honesty.
3. Understand yoga in the truest sense
Before beginning with the yoga practice, it is important to understand the core of yoga. In other words, gaining in-depth knowledge about yoga and asanas is very significant. Yoga is not only about body flexibility or moulding the body in different shapes, but it is about taking attention to breathing patterns, finding the inner-strength through meditation and gaining wisdom. Therefore, one must not only focus on losing weight or gaining muscles while practising yoga. It shall eventually happen when yoga becomes a lifestyle of a person boosting their overall development.
4. Practice and learn basic yoga poses and asanas
The saying “Practice makes a man perfect” is apt when you are learning yoga. When you are ready to embrace a physical change through yoga, start practising different asanas and poses. For the asanas, one must not jump into the complex ones but start with the simple ones by learning them through tutorial videos online or under the guidance of a yoga expert. The point to remember in every asana is to keep the back straight. Moreover, learning the asanas have seen a drastic improvement in human body postures.
5. Focus on long-term goals
They say habits die hard because they have short-term effects on an individual. Focusing on long-term goals sees a change in the habits that might not be appealing initially. For instance, Eylin revealed that chewing on the nails might calm down the nerves during that moment. But, while practising any asana, the pain in any body part is the gain for a long-term result. Hence, she concluded by saying that a beginner while practising yoga must focus on its long-term gains, and not the short term pains.