Who Should Practice Yoga?

Yoga is for everyone, every fitness level, every flexibility level, every age, every body.

The Yoga and Wellness Collective is committed to bringing yoga to everyone in the Dearborn community.

Here are some words of advice from one of our teachers, Katy Hinz, who teaches Monday evenings at 8 p.m.

"As a yoga instructor, I often hear from people "I can't do yoga, I'm not flexible." Or "I'm so busy, there's no way I could get to class all the time." Or "I'm too young/old/tall/short to do yoga."

Here are some of my favorite tips to make yoga accessible to everyone.

• Take 3 minutes to stretch. I do this about once or twice an hour (my co-workers can attest!). Stand up, take a break, bring your arms over head and open up your body. Take a forward fold, a seated chair twist, or maybe even a gentle backbend. There's not much that can't wait 3 minutes for you to recharge.

• Make pose modifications. Whether you are practicing in class, or at home, poses can be easily modified to accommodate your level of strength and flexibility. We are all different, so our poses and practices will be different. If you're not sure how to modify a pose, ask a certified yoga instructor. And most importantly - if it hurts, don't do it.

• Breathe with awareness. Find a quite place (sometimes this means hiding in the bathroom!) and take 2-3 minutes to breathe with awareness. Close your eyes, place one hand on your low belly, and one hand on your chest. Follow the breath as it fills up your low belly, expands through the ribs, and then fills the chest. Follow it as you exhale, lowering the chest, contracting the ribs and pulling the low belly in. Repeat this 10-20 times as often as you wish. Feel better already?

• Connect with the present moment. In addition to stretching and breathing, yoga is about becoming mindful of yourself and your actions -- tuning in to your true nature of being. As often as you can, mentally step back from what you're doing. Notice the sounds, smells, and sights around you. Feel your body's connection with the ground or the chair your sitting in. Notice that no matter the worries and concerns that you have in your mind, if you step back and notice what's really happening in front of you (not in your imagination), peace is always available.

• Change your perspective of what's possible. So often we can see ourselves as a certain type of person -- inflexible, not athletic, over-achiever, able to do anything. Drop this idea of who you think you are, and what you think you can do. Open up to what is actually happening. Maybe you *can* get into that challenging pose today - you're stronger than you thought. Or maybe your body has limitations, and you may never be able to get into that headstand. Guess what! It doesn't matter! Wherever you are - it's perfect.