_edited.png)
By Sajeedah Jones
Deep Breath in. Exhale… Have you ever had the opportunity to do something that made you feel completely alive? By alive, I mean like that first sip of coffee in the morning, ALIVE. Or a night out dancing with your best girlfriends . One of those nights where everything just flows, making you feel like the universe is conspiring with you and completely on your side. Most of us have experienced that kind of alive at least once or twice in our life. That is how Yoga makes me feel.
Growing up, in Anchorage, Alaska, one of 7 kids, I was always pretty shy. My parents put us in sports because my Dad believed that the teamwork and skills necessary to play sports would help build confidence. He also put us in sports to keep us out of trouble. By sports, I mean all sports. We ran both long distance and sprints. We took swim lessons and danced Jazz, Ballet & tap and my younger brothers and sister played soccer as well. But the sport that brought us all together was basketball.
At the age 23 years old, in Rhode Island, I walked into my first yoga class ever. Baptiste Yoga to be exact. Which at the time, we had no idea, is a type of hot power yoga practiced in a room which is generally 90 -108 degrees. One of my close girlfriends from work invited me and neither of us expected what came next. Sure, we’d seen Carrie and Charlotte talking through an entire class on an episode of Sex and The City, but in no way did that prepare us for what was to come next..
We walked into the overcrowded room, inhaled the smell of mint and thick moist air and took a spot on our mat. For the next hour, or what actually felt like an eternity, changed my life forever. Deep Breaths in through your nose and out. Sweat pouring from every single crevice on our bodies. The challenge made me feel like I was back playing sports again but this time the competition was myself and only my neighbors deep breaths reminding me to keep moving on my mat instead of grabbing my bag and leaving. While at the same time, it felt like we were one large team. Breathing together. Moving together. I was alive.
My friends and I continued going every Sunday morning. We would get up and crowd into a room packed like sardines and take on our most challenging feat of the week. We whined about how difficult class was and how every muscle on our bodies was sore but we could not get enough. We actually looked forward to it. Every class, I’d always think about how similar it felt to being a kid playing basketball.
At 32, after moving to a new state, changing careers, and taking a year away from my yoga mat, I decided to get my Yoga certification. I had no idea where to start but I knew that my focus would be teaching athletes the benefits of Yoga. After completing a vigorous 8 week intensive, I was now certified as a RYT-200. I wasn’t ready to stop there because while this gave me a good solid foundation and taught me the history of Yoga and how to teach, I had a bigger vision to bring what I loved about sports and combine what I knew about Yoga together.
Immediately out of teacher training I was blessed with an opportunity to teach at the studio where I received my certification. I was not fulfilled so I started holding Yoga events on rooftops. I would hire DJ’s that would play R&B, Hip Hop and current music because I wanted people from all walks of life to want to try yoga. People who knew me would often comment about how alive and confident I was while teaching. I wasn’t the demure young woman that most people knew me to be.
Still not fulfilled, a year later after researching, studying & sleeping and breathing yoga and sports non-stop, I received a call that my local professional basketball team agreed with what I believed were the benefits of Yoga for Athletes and they were interested in having me come in to teach the team. I was a ball of nerves yet I was more prepared for this than anything I’d ever done. When the day arrived I crammed 16 yoga mats into the back of my Uber and I was on my way. I arrived at the team's practice facility and taught from a place that only my love for yoga and respect for the game would allow me to do. When I was finished, I crammed all of my mats into the back of another Uber and headed home. An hour later I received a text, “Amazing job teaching today. We look forward to having you back.” I felt alive…
There are many different types of Yoga and what I teach Athletes is completely different from what I teach in my vinyasa class or during yoga events. There are very specific reasons for this. The take away that I believe is the same no matter the type of Yoga, are the importance of the breath, mindfulness and the feeling that yoga provides. Many people have come to know Yoga as a workout or stretching when in fact it is essentially moving meditation. The way we breathe in yoga allows the mind and body to connect and when practiced in a studio, creates an incredible feeling of community.
The importance of deep breathing, I often liken it to, when we were kids and we would get upset. What would your parents say? Calm down and take a deep breath. At the time, it was silly and as a kid who is upset, taking a deep breath is the very last thing you want to do. As a Yogi this is one of the most important parts of Yoga, no matter the type of Yoga that you practice or teach. Pranayama is the life force. Breathing is at the center of every single thing we do as humans. Everything is connected to our breath. So if you can control your breathing, you can control yourself within an environment.
18 years from my first Yoga class and 8 years and several certifications later, the take away for me is this. As women, oftentimes, we are overlooked. Asked to do thing’s for free. Made to feel like there isn’t a seat at the table even when we may be the most knowledgeable person in the room. As long as you know and understand your value, If you are able to go into thing’s with the mindset to keep going no matter what, change the way you get there if you need to, but never the destination. That and having a strong group of Women that support you, uplift you and encourage you through laughter and positive words and affirmations. Seek out a mentor or someone who is doing what you dream of doing and reach out to them for advice. Take deep breaths along the way and do the things that make you feel alive.
About the Author
Sajeedah Jones is a RYT-500/Yoga Coach with a Specialization in Yoga for Athletes.
Find Sajeedah on Instagram @JustJonsie_ and follow her continued journey and work with others through yoga!