I’ve been pretty consistent with my yoga practice this past summer. Taking a donation based yoga class in New York City makes it easy to decide to get off my lazy butt and stretch it out, even if my wallet is empty.
It gets really hot in the studio, to the point where my sweat slides of my face or chest and onto my blue yoga mat. So people get comfortable enough to expose as much of their body as they can. Most people wear sports bras with yoga pants or shorts. But during one of my classes I noticed that the yoga instructor of the day was walking around – with her microphone headset telling us the next poses to do – and she was wearing tight black underwear, the bottom of her butt cheeks exposed. And you know what, she was rocking it. She was so comfortable and didn’t once fix her underwear to show less. Not that yogis are focused on looking at the people around them, but this yogi was.That teacher gave me the idea to do the same. To take my black underwear that look like really short shorts (but were obviously underwear) and set my mat at the back of the room so I wouldn’t flash anyone. I felt so much more liberated while doing the more difficult poses. I would stretch farther, I didn’t feel too sweaty, I felt less restricted, and so much more comfortable.This changed my whole yoga experience. There have been moments when I felt less motivated to travel to the studio and get my yoga on. Now, I’m excited to go to yoga class so I can stretch as far as I can with my tiny black bottoms.
Sometimes, it takes just seeing one person do something, and it can introduce you to a new habit that will change your experiences for the better.