This is our ninth annual “Grow Your Yoga” 30-day on-and-off the mat challenge.
Every year, we share a “Grow Your Yoga” intention for our 30-day challenge.
This year, our focus is water; last year it was climate change.
We seek to connect our practice with positive change.
The essence of “Grow Your Yoga” is to make the broader tones of our six pillars heard right down deep, so that we can not only support our shared intention, but support our own.
We are after all, only as strong in community as we are as the individuals that make it up.
Our six pillars are:
- Be Healthy
- Be Accessible
- Live Green
- Be Community
- Live to Learn
- Be Peace
The six pillars were created with the guidance of yoga philosophy.
Although the words are not in Sanskrit, each pillar is a salute to the teachings of the Buddha, the fundamental ethical guidelines outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra, and the vastness of yoga teachings in general.
The six pillars keep us true to the fact that yoga as a tradition is a vast sea, and the postures are merely a drop in that sea.
The six pillars are our way to be sure we are always honouring the breadth of yoga, rather than simply taking the posture, or asana, part out and saying, “OK, I’m done here.”
One thing every Modo Yoga teacher shares is a vigorous 500-hour, 11-month training.
One of the core teachings of this training is providing anatomy and physiology learning that allows for each teacher to bring repetition and variation (and healthy accessibility) to each and every class.
One of the key lessons in Live to learn is to explore, first in our own anatomy, how every posture looks a little different for everyone.
Teachers lead students to listen to their own bodies and make decisions for themselves on the mat.
You’ve probably heard a teacher say “listen to your body.” Have you ever broken the norm and just lay down on your mat because you had a killer long day?
It feels strange at first, but then it feels kind of awesome, right?
During “Grow Your Yoga,” we take this listening a step deeper as a collective.
We encourage each other to ask ourselves – am I shaping the life I want to live? Is my life reflecting who I want to be as a person, or as a yogi?
During “Grow Your Yoga,” we use our 30-days of dedicated practice to ask ourselves: “Am I listening to myself?” “How Can I be healthier?” “How can I reach out and create a change that I know I am capable of creating?”
We open a dialogue to challenge ourselves in community to be, all cliché aside, all that we can be.
So, that’s what we mean by “Grow Your Yoga.”
We’re talking on Instagram and Facebook; we’re gathering at studios; we’re fundraising on CrowdRise and we’re having a lot of fun along the way.
If you’re not near a studio, you are welcome to join the Modo International team.
Thank you for broadening our collective practice of this amazing tradition! If you are participating, have a great challenge. Maybe we’ll surpass $150,000 in community!
— Hope to see you around, Jess