Reignite Your Passion for Yoga
Are you in a yoga funk? Maybe you’ve been unfocused in class, or haven’t even been to class in a few weeks or months. I’ll be the first to say, the holidays can have that effect on people. I just got done taking a week and a half off from my regular practice to allow the stress of the holidays to dissipate. I tried to maintain gratitude for my body as I took a 10 day hibernation, but when I came back to the mat for a mindful vinyasa I struggled to keep my usual positive attitude.
Yoga doesn’t so much release actual “toxins” as much as it releases mental toxins. Negative thoughts, stagnant energy, harboured shame or grief; these things affect your body in a very tangible way. In that vinyasa I could not seem to put my self deprecating thoughts to the side. I fought my own mind as these built up toxins poured out of me onto the mat.
I remember fumbling through class, unable to connect my mind and body, my wandering eyes frantically searching for someone feeling the same as me, but there is no solace in comparison.
I forced a smile as I layed in savasana, trying to feel grateful for my performance. I couldn’t help the negativity seeping in. While I knew this feeling had no place in my practice, I couldn’t shake it. I left the studio that day feeling demoralized, which is not a good place to be right after a hiatus.
Two days later I returned to the studio for a challenge, doing my best to put my last class behind me. Emma Peterson, a sculpt instructor and personal trainer, was instructing her notably intense “Hot Sculpt.”
I had not been to this particular class since July, when I began my journey. Actually, in my own ignorance, Hot Sculpt was the first heated class I ever took… It was grueling to say the least. In that very first class I left the room 3 times, I chugged my entire water bottle and pretty much just layed in child’s pose as Emma instructed increasingly difficult circuits. Fear was holding me back from attending again.
Though I was scared, it was a strangely exhilarating experience. It felt very full circle, as I began my practice with this class and now I carry my practice into 2025 with this class. I stayed up the whole time, gaining more and more confidence with each reverse lunge. The heat barely phased me. I stayed focused on my breath and tuned into the muscles I was working. It was an amazing feeling to come back to this class months later and feel just how much I had improved. This confidence boost is exactly what I needed to get me going!
Pushing yourself beyond what you are comfortable with will change your practice instantly. It is when we are uncomfortable that we grow the most. It is when we are afraid that we most need a challenge. As Emma said to me that day, “When we ask for strength we are not given strength, rather we are given opportunities to feel weak.”
Stop… and start it over again.
We are in a constant state of starting over again. Every evening we stop. Every morning we start it over again. Everytime we leave the mat we stop and everytime we step onto the mat we start it over again. Whether you are 3 years into daily practice or 2 months into a well-deserved break, come back to the mat and start it over again. It is in new beginnings that we find the most growth.
To book a Hot Sculpt Class with Emma Peterson check out our “Class Schedule”!
JOIN THE CHALLENGE!
Join the Hollywood Market Yoga Community by participating in the New Year-New Energy Yoga Challenge. Take on 30 Classes in 40 Days with a team of like-minded yogis at your side! Any membership or class pass is valid. No membership? Don’t worry. We have a Challenge Special Package that includes 40 days of unlimited yoga, two 30-minute nutrition coachings with Emma Peterson, one 30-Minute Rossiter session with Kindra Lundie and a free T-Shirt all for $189 at our local yoga studio nestled in the North End of Boise, ID. Learn more about the Challenge here.