The perfect antidote to the stresses of modern life, yoga has a way of grounding us while at the same time setting us free. After just a few sessions with a skilled professional, your body will begin to grasp the basics, like a budding flower that naturally knows what to do in the sun. You’ll leave class with steady breathing and a relaxed spine. And as you re-enter the day, you might slide your shoulder blades down your back and lift your heart to the sky, adapting the graceful movements you just performed on your mat to the “real world.”
In time, your regular yoga practice might evolve into a lifestyle of peace and gratitude. You’ll stand up a little taller. Breathe more deeply. Be more honest with yourself and others. When you lean down to pick something up, you might make your way into Forward Bend and linger there luxuriously for a moment. When reaching for something high on a shelf, you might kick a foot out behind you and find yourself in Dancer’s Pose. When waiting for the bus on a crowded city street, you might transport yourself to a quiet forest with an improvised Tree Pose. You might offer friends or strangers an unspoken Namaste as you weave in and out of the day’s encounters.
Nurture this evolution by actively bringing yoga off the mat and into your everyday life. The following tips offer ways to apply a physical yoga practice and mindset to the real world—upon waking and going to sleep, at school or at the office, on the road or in the air, and in relationships. No matter where you are, may your mat always await you in your mind, and may yoga’s teachings guide you to peace and balance, inside and out.
