I was extremely fortunate and grateful to have spent this past week in a yoga retreat with Paula Tursi and Vidya Sykes http://reflectionsyoga.flexibilityapp.com.
We spent the week practicing yoga in its complete form (the 8 limbs of yoga as compiled by Patanjali) and I feel so balanced and inspired to practice all 8 limbs with more consistency. Most of us think of yoga as the "sport" of yoga... We think of the crazy shapes that people contort their bodies into, stretching, and relaxing and often forget or just simply aren't aware of the bigger picture of a yoga practice. These poses are only one of the 8 limbs of yoga, called asana, or posture. The remaining 7 limbs of yoga are the yamas, the niyamas, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.
It can be overwhelming to feel like we have to practice everything everyday. We set up overly ambitious goals for ourselves sometimes that aren't realistic to achieve, setting ourselves up for failure. Even though I feel really inspired to practice all 8 limbs, it is not realistic to tell myself I will spend all day doing that. This is not what yoga teaches us. The most important part of yoga is consistent practice. That can mean asana one day and pranayama the next day. It's just about what you need in any given moment. It can be as simple as doing 9 rounds of a simple sun salutation. It can be closing your eyes and feeling your breath for 5 minutes.
To learn more about the 8 limbs of yoga, I recommend the book "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali."
Happy practicing!
Namaste
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