It started as just a class here and there; a bit of a break from the gym, perhaps, or a way to stretch sore muscles after a run. But before you know it, you’re waking up at 6am to do sun salutations before work and calling a lie-down a ‘spot of shavasana’.
Does this sound familiar? Chances are you’re just as addicted to yoga as we are. How can you be sure?
1. You’ve replaced morning coffee with morning sun salutations
It used to be that you couldn’t get going until you’d had that morning mug of coffee, but now you’d happily skip the caffeine for an invigorating sun salutation before work. Without that early yoga fix you’re snappy and inefficient – people know not to talk to you until you’ve run through some asana. Then had some coffee.
2. You do Tree Pose whenever you’re waiting in a queue
Why waste time just standing? Whenever you’re stuck waiting around you might as well whip out a Tree Pose – practice makes perfect, right?
3. You take your yoga mat on holiday
Because really, it’s not a holiday without yoga. You tried going away without your mat, but you couldn’t go a week and ended up using a hotel towel on a tile floor. Not good for swift flows and the hotel weren’t best pleased either! Now you know it’s best to just be honest with yourself and bring your mat along.
4. You get fidgety when you haven’t practiced in over 48 hours
It feels like your skin is crawling and you start getting weird twitches. It takes you a while to figure out what’s happening until it suddenly clicks: your last class was a couple of days ago. Without that regular yoga fix you get edgy and start to imagine all kinds of aches and pains.
5. Your supply of yoga pants is taking over your wardrobe
Seriously, you went into your favorite yoga shop the other day to treat yourself to something new and for one confused moment thought you’d walked into your own room. You have so many lovely, soft and stretchy yoga pants in your wardrobe that you can barely find your normal clothes – and really, why would you want to?
6. You’ve cancelled plans so you can do yoga
Yes, you love going out with friends, but that 2-hour workshop starts at 7am the next day so maybe you’ll skip it just this once. You now say something along these lines every Saturday night. And you’re only a little sorry.
7. You think yoga is the answer to everything
Your friend gets bad PMS? Try yoga. Your co-worker has a sore neck? There’s a great yoga pose for that. Meteor heading for earth? How about some vinyasas? OK, so we’re just kidding about that last one, but it’s definitely a fact that every woe someone comes to you with has one answer: yoga.
8. You sent a WhatsApp message to everyone you know when you mastered Crow Pose
This is a yoga milestone, come on! Of course they wanted to know!
9. You have a studio spot – and no one else can use it
You have spent hours scouting out the perfect spot for your daily classes – close enough to the front that you feel part of it, not so close that you feel on show, far away from the doors and the shoe racks. Your fellow yogis respect it, thankfully.
10. You hero-worship your yoga teachers
You saw one of your favourite yoga teachers in the supermarket once and felt so star-struck you had to hide behind the bananas. Then you thought about what the coolest things to put in your basket were so they’d be impressed if you bumped into them.
11. When you need to pick something off the floor, you do a Downward Dog
No bend-and-snap here; picking up a dropped pencil is the perfect excuse to launch into a Downward Dog. In fact, your favourite yoga poses start to get integrated into almost every aspect of your day-to-day life (see number 2).
12. You start to say ‘Namaste’ instead of ‘thank you’ or ‘goodbye’
And why not?!
It’s time to embrace your addiction, yoga friends!
Namaste.
The yoganum family
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