Vishen Lakhiani and Cecilia Sardeo answer questions about Mindvalley's Yoga Quest, a 21-day guided program for all levels with mat and off-mat practice. Three sessions a week or daily 30-minute sessions can produce quick changes in body awareness and neurological function. After the Quest, you get access to ZenWord, a larger yoga library.
Chapters
Cecilia, we have a lot of questions from people who want to know more because they're super excited about this. But one of the first questions is, how is the mindvalley Yoga Quest different from other online yoga courses out there?
It's very simple. Vishen you will finally experience what true yoga really is. So you won't only do your workout, you will also do the work in and you will experience yoga on the mat and off the mat. You will really be able to work on all of four dimensions of your being at once.
And a reason for this is because mindvalley didn't start out as a yoga company. We started out as a company focused on mindfulness and meditation. So the spiritual essence, it was a key part of what we wanted to retain when we designed this. You see, in India, my family is from India. In India, yoga is not just about flexibility or the physical body. There's such a huge focus on wisdom, on spirituality, and that essentially is true yoga. And so we wanted to make sure that whatever we are teaching, what was not about just looking good, right, or having incredible Instagram pictures, it was about the whole of yoga and all its many benefits for your emotional states, your spirituality and your mind. And I want to add one more thing. It's the way this has been constructed that also makes it different. You are not joining a yoga portal with a hundred different videos. You're going through a journey with a tribe of committed individuals and you're going on this journey together for 21 days. And we start together, we end together. Now, following that, we do have a vast yoga library that you can subscribe to and get access to yoga programs and poses and courses and yoga solutions for the rest of your life if you want. But otherwise, this starts off as a 21 day journey. Now, the third question is, is this quest for beginners or do I need to be fairly intermediate or experienced?
This is open to any level and beginners are absolutely welcome. If you've had past injuries, I do recommend that you consult your doctor first and you make sure that you can actually practice yoga on the mat.
Now, in an ideal world, how often should I be practicing yoga?
There is no right or wrong here. Consistency is key. So I would suggest that you try and practice at least three times a week after you finish your yoga class, because by then you, you will have built up your yoga daily routine. And I do also suggest that you try and practice 30 minutes. If you only have 30 minutes, don't skip it just because you don't have a full hour. It's not necessary.
So this question is, is yoga suitable during pregnancy?
Now, Vishen, this is a tricky question. It is suitable for pregnancy, so much so that we have prenatal yoga and postnatal yoga. But my suggestion is that if you're pregnant, considering the many variables that are involved, you first consult with your doctor and then you decide together whether you can do it or not.
Now, this question is interesting. Some people call yoga a religion. Is that true?
Absolutely not. Yoga is not a religion. It's a spiritual practice. But the word spiritual here has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with your connection to the universe as a unique expression of the whole.
And your connection to yourself as well. Absolutely. Now, how soon will I see changes in my body?
You will see changes almost instantly. And the reason is that you will still start connecting to your body like never before. You will start noticing parts of your body that are calling for your attention that before you were just neglecting because you were not aware of them.
And you also got to understand this. Some of the changes you're going to see are neurological. This means there is no change in the shape of your body, but there's a change in what you're able to do with your body because your brain has been trained to move your body in different ways. For example, you might see a posture improvement, you might see a flexibility improvement. You won't see it physically in your body, but you will feel it in your ability to do certain things.
And over time you will also see the benefits.
But it will take you, as you said, you lost 44 pounds in yoga. Now what happens if someone misses a day of this quest?
Absolutely nothing. If you miss a day, just pick it up from the next one. It's fine as long as you try and practice your yoga off the mat. So if you can't unroll the mat on a given day, just don't worry about it. But at least try and practice the philosophy part of it that you can practice at work, you can practice when you are driving, you can practice while you are eating. And we'll dig more into that inside the class.
And one of the other things is you actually get this accessible to you on your computer or on your TV too, if you have an Apple TV device. So you can actually load this up on the big screen using the mindvalley Apple TV app and watch your yoga classes there. And finally a big question is, what happens after the 21 days? Right. Well, one of the things that we have available is a full on yoga platform called ZenWord it's really affordable. It's a monthly, a small monthly subscription fee. It has thousands of people involved in it. And after the 21 days, you can simply choose to join ZenWord. And it'll give you hundreds of hours of additional yoga training that you can choose to bring into your life and practice anytime. And you're also part of a community of thousands of committed, amazing, incredible, beautiful, supportive people who are there to help you on this journey. So yoga truly becomes a way of life.
