Jacob Sheftic Yoga Blog

       Why Yoga may be considered a ritual. I think my practice may be seen as a ritual for many reasons. the first being that i enjoy setting up my room in a certain way before i practice. I enjoy dimming the lights and burning some incense to set a certain type of atmosphere. I also enjoy making sure the room and house in silent usually I will practice in the morning before most of my house wakes up.      While I do my yoga at certain points I enjoy holding a position and diving into my thoughts and try to do some positive visualization as I hold the pose. To me i think that qualifies as a ritual because I do this every time I do yoga. As well as at certain points I try to focus on relaxing my body and muscles and enjoying the sensation of relaxing my body   Overall I think that my yoga can be described as a ritual due to the many things I do every time i create the right setting to practice but also by the mental a physical state I put my body into as i start to practice  

      I think there are quite a few things that make my yoga practice space a special place. For the most part I practice yoga alone in my basement. Providing a very quiet space to practice. I Also enjoy lighting incenses to help create a more relaxed vibe in my basement. I use yoga as a chance to not only stretch out and help my body feel better but also as a way to escape the hustle of my everyday life and meditate and relax.      As far as practicing alone I enjoy it for many reasons but mostly because throughout my day I am surrounded by friends or family constantly. As much as I enjoy their company I seem to hit a point everyday where I need to decompress and be with my thoughts for a few hours. This is where  yoga comes in. Once I hit this point I will usually take a step back and try to head to my basement for an hour or two and decompress and do some yoga to help stretch out.