Yoga Is For Everybody? Not Quite...

This 2-minute quiz shows you if yoga is for you. Or what you should do instead.

Orange Is The New Black

Yoga | Yoga for Beginners

I spent some time studying yoga at an ashram. When I got there, everyone was wearing flip flops, baggy yoga pants, and colorful scarves. I stopped by the boutique and treated myself to a beautiful blue silk scarf decorated with purple and navy swirls in the shape of the Buddha, so I could fit in a little bit better. I wore my scarf draped over my shoulders while walking the grounds, and covering my head during morning meditation. I loved my new yoga scarf.

During my stay at the ashram, I went to visit a Hindu Tantric Priest. He was helping to guide the new students on their spiritual journey and offer insight into the future. I am skeptical to believe in things like Tarot cards and palm readers, but decided to keep an open mind during my time there. So I agreed to sit with him for a while.

His name was Krishnan Namboodiri. He was an Indian Priest who lived at the ashram and performed all of the beautiful rituals and pujas at the temple. He was always dressed in orange robes, and his eyes danced with the bright smile he always wore on his friendly face.

I went to visit him in his modest quarters by the Swami house. I gave him the standard offering of a coconut and citrus fruits before he started the session. He asked for my birth date and some other general information before reciting a chant and placing gemstones of various colors and sizes onto a chart. After reading the prophecy from the chart, he asked if I had any questions.

This was the point where people generally asked about love or money; if they were in the right relationship, or could expect growth in their investments. I was in a time of change in my life, so wasn’t looking for much. I didn’t have any questions.

From Prophecies To Meditation

With the time we had left over, he began to speak to me about a meditation practice. His instructions were simple and direct, but he repeated them to make sure I was going to follow them. “When you meditate,” he said in a friendly but serious way, “wear white or yellow, colors that will send vibrations into the Universe so you can absorb the positive energy.” He pointed to my blue silk yoga scarf. “Stop wearing colors that are sad. No more blue, grey, or black. Wear yellow, white, orange, or red.”

How did he know I only wore blue, grey and black? I didn’t have a yellow or orange item in my entire walk-in closet!

When I got home, I continued the meditation practice that I had adopted from my time at the ashram. I keep a white scarf on my meditation pillow and drape it over my head and shoulders when I sit in the morning in order to absorb the positive vibrations in the Universe. But I didn’t change my wardrobe. I didn’t feel comfortable wearing bright colors. I like to wear black and gray. But the more I studied what I learned from the ashram, the more I realized it was time to adopt more of the practices at home.

So I decided to take advice from the happy priest.

I stood in my closet and looked at my clothes neatly arranged on hangers. Everything was drab; black and grey with some hints of blue thrown in for color. I grabbed black tops, camisoles, Lululemon stretchy pants, pullovers, and shoes. I put them all into a bag and took them to goodwill. I exchanged them for bright colors; lemon yellow, bright white, sunset orange, grass green, and peach.

At first, the colors were intimidating. I naturally looked for something dark or neutral to wear. But without my cropped black boatneck sweatshirt to wear with jeans, I was forced to wear a teal tank with a yellow zip-up top instead. The results were surprising.

People noticed my bright colors and complimented me on my clothes. This made me smile in return, which made me feel happy. I became a more joyful person on the inside because of what I was portraying on the outside. I began to feel more energetic, playful, and open to new ideas.

Maybe I was absorbing positive vibrations from the Universe. Or maybe I was beginning to feel on the inside the happy and colorful way in which I was dressing on the outside. Perhaps I’m making more positive changes in my life which have absolutely nothing to do with the pink top and white pants I’m wearing today.

No matter the reason, I don’t think I will ever go back to wearing black. Because as everyone knows, orange is the new black.

Featured in New York Magazine, The Guardian, and The Washington Post
Featured in the Huffington Post, USA Today, and VOGUE

Made with ♥ on planet earth.

Copy link
Powered by Social Snap