About Anna
>> Anna began YINterning for YUJMU early in 2019 and is our current Yin Yoga Training Teaching Assistant at select venues. Learn more about her in her own words below. >>
Since finding the practice of Yoga, I haven’t questioned its presence for one second. In a way it hasn’t even crossed my mind that it could ever vanish from my life again.
Over the past years I’ve been fascinated by the concept of compressing the experience of life into one activity. I have noticed that through enduring challenges in one short term activity, one is able to take a step back and obtain a new, clearer sight to contemplate the big picture. By the same token, it’s as if you were given the chance to compile a miniature draft copy of life, which spreads a whole new layer of confidence over you. Confidence to go out and rise to the big challenges.
Running initially brought it home to me. With hindsight that sport has had a major impact on the way I came upon Yoga and Spirituality—in more ways than one. It has introduced me to the role that the mind plays in a seemingly purely physical activity. On a run you go through different phases: There are times where you feel like you are flying; like you are invincible. Then there are times where you hit a wall and everything inside of you is telling you to quit. However, as long as you keep running, it’ll pass—as everything will.
Surmounting challenges on a small, compressed scale, physically as well as mentally, has gifted me a new outlook on the challenges that come with being a human in this world.
I like to think that Yin Yoga has directed me to an even deeper understanding of that idea. Without physically imitating any kind progression, it somehow makes you feel it. The practice has lead me to find movement and fluidity within the stillness. And equally it has represented a much longed-for pause button, that gives me the time to learn to truly listen to my body and mind.
