May - a month of play!

As kids it is part of our innate interest to play, to explore, and to imagine. Play consumes a large portion of our time whether it's with our parents, guardians, friends, or schoolmates. Most of the time we are encouraged to play or to take a recess and adventure through the possibilities of fun. Somehow, someway, along the journey of growing older, that push to play has become shoved so low on our priority list that we forget to do it. Instead of being encouraged to play more, we might be encouraged to work more, to do more, to be more. But, that essence of youth and playfulness is still there. It doesn't just fade or go away when you turn a certain age, instead it gets forgotten. The beauty of yoga is that it can reignite that passion to play, the ability to explore the unknown, and to nourish our inner child's. 

According to Oxford Languages, to play is to engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. Yoga can most definitely be a serious practice, but it can also offer elements of play, exploration, and fun. When we look at the word yoga, it translates as union or 'to yoke'. Yoga aims to unite our beings through body, mind, and energy connections whether it be with breath work, physical movement, or energetic awareness. When we unite our being together through our yoga practice we can also explore the energy of play. We can play with our physical poses (Asana) practice, by trying new poses, playing with inversions, balancing poses, or new pathways of moving our limbs. We can also play with our breath and explore different styles of breathing (Pranayama). We can play with our energy body, by shifting our attention onto an intention or point of focus. There are a plethora of ways to play within the realm of yoga and there is no right or wrong way to do it, there simply is only what feels right and works for you. By adding more play into our practice and into our lives, we can invite in a lighthearted, youthful, and fun energy that cultivates more positive feelings and sensations. 

No matter how you practice, when you practice, or where you practice, see what it feels like to include more elements of play into your yoga both on and off the mat. 

Come play this month at Vibe Yoga <3