Why I created MoTiYoGaChi
At the age of nineteen I started teaching
exercise classes at the YWCA. Being a young mother, I realized that the affects of regular
exercise went beyond the physical benefits visible to the eye.
For many years I have educated, counseled, motivated and encouraged others to make
exercise a priority in their lives. I would tell them that exercising regularly
was critical for my emotional and mental health.
I was a better mother because I had taken time out for myself in a
way that benefited my physical body, but more importantly my attitude
and self-esteem were strengthened in the process. What could
possibly be more important than that?
The more life-experience stress I had, the more I understood how
stress plays a significant role in why some people do everything 'right'
and still have difficulty losing fat weight. There are many
more factors that contribute to health and fitness than most
people in the Western part of the world want to believe!
Westerners tend to believe the body is separate from our mind
and spirit and tend to deal with looking at and dealing on a
physical level with the body.
Eastern cultures understand the intimate connection to the body, mind
and spirit. Many Easterners practice Yoga, Tai-Chi or
Chi-Kung daily to stimulate, rejuvenate and heal their internal
organ functions, eliminate blocked energy, and increase their
life force energy or "chi". They also believe that a
flexible body promotes flexibility in the mind; and illness
and disease can be eliminated by creating and maintaining
strong chi. These Eastern practices have been
around for thousands of years because they work!
I discovered that what our Western culture is missing
is recognizing this body-mind-spirit connection and honoring it through movement.
For we are not our physical body occasionally seeking spiritual nourishment in times of
need…we are spirit having a physical experience!
Keeping this in mind, I wanted to create a workout that would mingle
Eastern with Western. This is how Motiyogachi came to be. A
lot of thought went into creating a class that would work the body's
physical system, energize the spirit and calm the mind.
"The Beginning…"
Syena
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