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A little after a year of practicing yoga, I decided I wanted to take my practice further and do a 200 hour teacher training. Going into the training I wasn’t sure if I wanted to teach but was excited to deepen my practice. I thought that maybe if I could have the opportunity to teach someday I could really connect with people.

I played soccer for years, tried running, boot camps, etc.; then I tried hot yoga. At first I didn’t love the heat, but then I started noticing how I felt after class; cleansed, stretched, and strong! I also really connected with the music. The music for me was what made me feel during class. Music has always been a huge part of my life since I was little and finally I found it in something that was good for me – physically and mentally.

A quote by Alan Watts sums up the way I feel about music, “Life is like music for its own sake. We are living in an eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present.” I noticed that a lot of songs I connect with have some sort of emotional tie to my life. Whether that be the beat or the lyrics. I always found myself making playlists for people I loved, to share with them the sounds I felt. I think subconsciously I wanted to do this for my own yoga students when the time came. We all know the benefits of yoga (or maybe we don’t, here are some from yogajournal.com):

• Improves your flexibility
• Builds muscle strength
• Protects your spine
• Betters your bone health
• Increases your blood flow
• Drains your lymphs and boosts immunity
• Drops your blood pressure
• Makes you happier
• Helps you focus
• Improves your balance
• Maintains your nervous system
• Releases tension in your limbs
• Helps you sleep deeper
• Gives your lungs room to breathe
• Prevents IBS and other digestive problems
• Gives you peace of mind
• Gives you inner strength
• Builds awareness for transformation
• Benefits your relationships
• Guides your body’s healing in your mind’s eye

I really believe that you could experience most, if not all, of these benefits by coming to a hot yoga class at the RAC. If you come to one of my classes, I promise to put the energy into the music playlist that I would for someone I love. I really enjoy that part of it. Because maybe you too can feel something different from a song that maybe you hadn’t felt before while practicing yoga!

By: Chelsey Peacock, Enlighten Yoga Instructor