Practice is a Breeze, Non-Judgement takes Practice. Blog by PranaYoga Teacher Jenny Young

I love practicing yoga outside.  It seems that poses can be held with a little more ease and a little longer when the mind is focused on the beauty of the grass, the grace of the passing breeze and the majesty of the trees.  This weather though is hot hot hot!  The sweat begins to pour standing in tadasana.  Listening to the hum of the cicadas and the lazy pants of my dogs, I am transported back to a lesson learned in my youth; 

move slowly, respect nature and learn from neighbors.

My family moved to rolling hills of the Piedmont in rural Virginia when I was nine.   We were northern transplants and came with a preconceived distain for the slow moving, drawling pace of southerners.  Fast talking and fast walking we guffawed at the extra syllables added to random words and impatiently waited and rolled our eyes as it took forever for people to move and finish sentences. We were filled with superiority.   We expected to maintain over an acre of lawn with a push mower, create a glorious garden at the top of a hill and renovate a house all in the 90 and 100 degree heat. 

Well, it is easy to see where this is going.  Within the first month, we found we had to mow almost everyday to keep the rapidly growing grass below mid-calf.   We were becoming intimately introduced to blood sucking insects; incessantly small chiggers that charged in red waves up the legs, opportunistic tics that dropped from trees and a flying barrage of mosquitoes and horse fly’s.   The faster we charged ahead, the more we were beaten back by the suffocating humid heat and abundant nature. The garden was half-weeded, dry and bedraggled.  The house’s paint was half-stripped and we were hot, itchy and confused.

Then... not so much through wisdom but through fatigue, we began to walk a little slower.  We took time to pause at midday and listen with respect to our slow talking neighbors and sometime during that summer, our words stretched from short staccato bullets to longer luxurious releases of breath.  “You” transformed to “youall” and sentences began to hover and slow in the thick heat.   We were learning the lessons of the heat and the lessons of non-judgment.  Our pre-judged neighbors were now our role models.  I still am working on the lessons of non-judgment but the lesson of heat I remember.  As I move though my practice, I move a little more slowly, find time to pause a little more often and find gratitude in the lightest breezy.   At the end of my practice I can even here an extra syllable in the Namaste'.  

Jenny started yoga for her daughter in 2010 but stayed for herself. This is when powerful healing began to transform her body, mind, and spirit, not necessarily in that order. Through a regular asana and sitting practice, studying with phenomenal teachers and soaking in the love of the beautiful yoga community, she has begun to discover a quieter mind. She became RYT 200 certified through Prana School of Yoga and Health in 2012 to deepen her own practice and to share the gift of yoga with others. As a teacher, she sees each student as beautiful. She strives to create a supportive environment in which each student can safely experiment in uncovering the beauty and joy that reside within the heart of each of us.Teaching: Yoga Basics, Restorative Yoga, Meditation 101 Workshops, All Levels Yoga