A Year of Yoga

About a year ago this time I took a BIG step for me. I signed up for a yoga class. It may not sound like such a BIG deal, but to me, for some reason, it was HUGE! Now, looking back, I know why.

For a long time, I had "Yoga" as one of my goals, desires and dreams. It seems like it would have been such a simple action to sign up for a class and cross this one off my list...but I did not...for a long time. When the time did come, I still had an internal struggle with it.

I found a yoga class offered at our parks & rec for a reasonable rate, and I figured out I could work it into our family schedule. But I almost stopped myself because it was a six week class, and I knew I would miss a week. Realizing that if I held back like that all my life, I'd never get anywhere, I went ahead and signed up for the class. Plus, the week I was going to miss class, I was to be attending Jack Canfield's "Breakthrough to Success" seminar, and my hubby promised me there would be the opportunity to do yoga there. So I'd still get it in. OK - I handled all my own objections and signed up.

When the day came for my first class, I was prepared. I had bought a yoga mat, and arrived to class on time. And an hour later, my life was completely transformed.

The main reason I held back for so long on taking a yoga class was that I didn't know how to do it, and I was afraid I was going to look silly or hurt myself or that other people were going to think badly of me for how I did yoga. Boy, was I wrong!

That first night, I learned that yoga has one main rule - if it hurts, don't do it. Now, I push myself and get in uncomfortable positions in yoga, but I never ever do something if it does not feel good for my body. There's a difference between stretching and hurting, and I've been able to easily find that distinction. That's a second thing I learned from yoga - how to listen to my body. It's incredible! The third thing I learned was how to turn off my mind. This alone was worth any amount of money! I used to have so much trouble falling asleep at night, because thoughts would always race through my head - things to do, things I failed to do, things that were bothering me, etc. So when I experienced my first relaxation in yoga - I knew I had been given a blessing. I was able to quiet my mind, and just be. It is amazing!

So needless to say, I recommend yoga to any and everyone! Somewhere in my first few months of practice, my instructor, Mina, mentioned that "Yoga provides whatever you need. If you are tired and need to keep going, it brings you energy. If you are excited and need to be calm, it brings you that, too. Whatever you need, yoga can give you." And every day that I practice yoga, I find this statement to be true. Yoga gave me the ability to focus on me and forget about what other people are thinking. I used to hold back so much, worried about what other people think. Now, I know I can't worry about what other people think. I can only be myself and when I am, I am not wondering if someone thinks my butt looks big in this pose or my armpits are sweaty in that pose. I'm aware of myself, completely, and practicing yoga has given me that self-awareness.

It's also given me a new opportunity now. Mina has opened a new studio - SoulBodyYoga.com and asked me to teach kids yoga classes. I've taken a couple trainer courses and loved what I learned. It's a new adventure for me, and I'm excited to share what I've learned with kids. I think about all that would be different in my life if I had found yoga at an earlier age - but then I wouldn't be where I am. So I'm thankful that my journey brought me to yoga when it did, because it was just the right time for me. I pray that you will find yoga when the time is right for you, if you haven't found it already.

Namaste.

Cyb