Dedicating yourself to yoga practice

At the beginning of each yoga practice, no matter what type of yoga, what intensity or how long the practice will last, I dedicate my practice to someone or something. It is a small way that I try to throw a little positive energy out into the universe. I consider it good karma. A version of "you reap what you sow." And it takes the focus off me, me, me, and puts it to a higher purpose.

Suddenly, my yoga practice isn't all about strengthening my quads or making my back more flexible. It is about letting the practice take me where my dedication leads. It is a very strange, sort of mystical thing that happens on my mat. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a skeptic about most things. But I have found that it works.

A more concrete example of this is, say, if I walk into the bank in a dark, ugly mood, then I will get only the corporate-required amount of friendliness in return. But if I walk in smiling and happy, I am greeted warmly and leave with a lollipop. The same thing used to happen when I was teaching group classes. I would walk into the studio in the occasional bad or stressed-out mood, and it would affect the entire class. They would pick up on the negative junk that I was giving out, and their practices would suffer for it. I had to learn to leave my problems at the door and let the studio act as a sanctuary for me, and especially my students. It was a place to escape the endless mind chatter that yoga is meant to calm. There is a very famous quote often referred to in yoga classes. It translates to: "Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind." Or, more simply put, yoga takes your mind off the endless to-do lists, the worries and the general yuckiness that clouds our minds, and lets us relax for a while.

I can think of nothing that is better to do with that ease of mind than to try to share it with other people. It doesn't mean I go around hugging everyone I see. It doesn't mean that I walk around in a constant state of bliss. I am still a regular person, with all of my regular faults and moods.

But for however long I am on that mat, I am generating a powerful calm for myself and for whomever or whatever I choose.

I wasn't sure that it worked (although I kept trying) until my dad got sick a few years ago. I would get on the mat and tear up a little as I dedicated my practice to his health. I would picture his heart and picture it healing. I would imagine him playing catch with me in the future. I put the picture clearly in my head and went about my yoga practice. And he started getting better. I give a certain amount of credit to the doctors and the medications, but he wouldn't have gotten better unless he wanted to, and I would try to send strength to him with every practice.

When I talked to him on the phone, I would tell him I was doing this, and, to my surprise, he didn't think I was totally insane. He thanked me and asked me to keep it up for a while if I could. Because I couldn't be with him in person (he lives several states away), I would try to send some strength out into the universe for him to grab onto. And grab he did. Now, I sometimes dedicate my practice to peace in the Middle East. I have, thus far, been unsuccessful.

I know how this sounds to a lot of people. It sounded that way to me not so many years ago. But I am now a firm believer in it. I try to practice the positive-energy toss all the time, and not just when I'm on my yoga mat. Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I fail. But every time I talk to my healthy dad on the phone, I am more and more convinced.

And I remind him that he still owes me a game of catch.

Suzanne Gannon is a yoga instructor in the Charleston area. Reach her at suzygannonyoga@yahoo.com.