The most important part of a yoga class is the breathing. We breathe all day every day but we never really stop and feel that breath or become aware of our breath. So, the biggest gift of yoga is becoming mindful of this breath. We step on our mats and bring all of our focus and all of our attention to this breath. This focus connects our mind and our body and magically stops the mind from spinning. If we’re only focused on the breath, then all the other stuff that floats around in our head all day stops; there’s no room for it when we’re connected to the breath.

The beauty of yoga is that an instructor is standing in front of the room, leading the class from one pose to another, and the only thing we have to do is move and breathe—there’s nothing for us to think about.

Moving from pose to pose in an asana practice is a moving meditation. Once the mind stills, we are present—right here, right now in that moment. The magic of yoga is that it just happens—we learn to breathe and ultimately become fully present in the moment. That is the part of yoga we can practice everyday off the mat.

Mia Bostic is the owner of Sangha Yoga, 418 Bridge St., New Cumberland. Visit SanghaYogaPA.com.