Mandy Ingber's YOGALOSOPHY: Let's Play Yoga!

This is the man who keeps the baseball diamond impeccable. DO NOT WALK ON THE GRASS.

I was so honored to teach yoga from the pitcher's mound at Fenway Park this weekend. Having been uncoordinated as a child, I was never chosen for team sports. On top of that, I went to a school so small (less than 40 children from grades 4-10) that we didn't have enough players to really participate in team sports. I was not confident since my hand-eye coordination was nil, and so never really learned to play. While my pals were engaged in these activities I was dancing and practicing yoga. Lo and behold, the universe opened up for me this weekend when I practiced yoga from the pitchers mound in the baseball diamond and the oldest ballpark in the U.S.A.

When I was a girl, and my dad was practicing yoga in the living room, encouraging me to do the same, I never imagined that yoga would merge with the mainstream. The Boston Red Sox Foundation has created an annual event: Fenwa Yoga to bring awareness and participation for their programs, which includes team sports for inner city children to improve self-esteem through baseball, scholarships for excellent students with financial hardships, as well as programs for veterans and young cancer patients. I was blown away to find that they run these programs internally. No wonder the Red Sox fans are so dedicated. I found this strength of character to permeate the entire event.

My part, was easy. Show up and play the field! Since yoga was a part of the lifestyle when I was a child, I see yoga as play. No need to be perfect in a pose. No need to be the most advanced, or to have amazing hand-eye coordination. Yoga is not a team sport in that each of us has our own little island, our yoga mat, and we can each do what we can and simply play by making shapes with our bodies. We are a team in that we work together to create a common goal of self-care, unity and dedication to being our best selves. I am my best self when I am at play!

So take the time this week to play yoga. Forget about attaining the perfect pose, or being reverent. The universe loves the light of a child, and if you are anything like me, you are a child at heart.