This morning, I was in my early morning yoga class and I was thinking I should really do an episode on yoga, and talk about why I love it so much. How it really centers me and also just helps me feel physically stronger.
Before I get into yoga and the benefits and how it makes me feel, I just want to share a little bit about my personal yoga story. I feel like some people might feel intimidated by going to yoga. You know, these are all stories that we tell ourselves like, I'm not strong enough, or I'm not very flexible, or I bet someone of my shape or size can’t do yoga. And I really want you to just
attempt one class, because you just never know. There are people in my yoga class that are all shapes and sizes. Some are very flexible, some are not very flexible. And the yoga community in and of itself is very accepting of others. You may feel like you're not hippie enough or you’re not that in tune with mindfulness. But really, we all have to start somewhere and you can't compare your beginning to somebody's middle or maybe somebody's story where they've been doing it for years and years.
A little bit about my yoga story. The first time I tried yoga was right after I was in college. I was working at a nonprofit and one of my co-workers really loved yoga. Personally, I had never really liked exercise that much. So I thought you know, I've always been kind of flexible, maybe I should try a yoga class. I remember it was a series of classes through Parks and Rec because I didn't feel comfortable going to a yoga studio. I thought that was only for experienced and expert yogis. I decided to try this intro to yoga class at the Parks and Rec and just see where it goes. And mind you I was young, I was probably 22 years old. I honestly struggled with keeping my mind in the moment. And that is a central tenet. A very important part of yoga is to leave all of your stressors, to leave all of your things that you're working on, or all of your daily life outside of the yoga studio. To come in, to focus on your breath, to attempt to keep your mind in the moment and on the movement. Instead of worrying about things that you should be doing or what you're going to have for dinner, or all those things that your mind wanders about. I remember going through those classes and thinking, I just don't know if I can do this. My mind is constantly wandering. Now I've made a lot of progress since then. I'm not going to say that I don't often get distracted but I'm doing a much better job of picking up those thoughts that can consume you and putting them aside while I'm practicing.
So, back to my story. After that first series of classes that I did in yoga, I didn't necessarily come away thinking, Oh, I love this, I have to do it. I thought, I don't know if I can be good at this. And so then I didn't do it for a while. When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, I did some prenatal yoga, and that really helped me stretch and feel good and helped me figure out ways to deal with this growing baby in my belly. That was really helpful. Then it wasn't until my oldest daughter was maybe about two that I started incorporating yoga more regularly into my daily practice. I went to a great yoga class at our gym and I really loved the opportunity to take a break from life. I had a little one that was not the easiest baby and it was really a great way for me to take a break and she was in care at the daycare center at the club. So I felt very comfortable that she was being well taken care of while I was having a chance to take care of myself and my mind.
Then a few years ago, a studio opened up near my home and that is now where I practice yoga regularly. COVID, of course, took a big pause there so I tried virtual yoga, but it is not my favorite. When I'm at home I am much more distracted by the things around me. Occasionally, if I sleep through my alarm, and I can get into the virtual yoga instead of having to be late to a class I will do that but it is not my favorite way of practicing.
That word practice is something that I truly love about yoga. It is a practice. It is very individual. Every person that is at the class is practicing at their own level. They are working on their own mind and body through that practice. And the reason why I absolutely love my studio is because the teachers really pull something out of you. Not only are they guiding you through their practice, but they're helping you think about why you're there, why your practice is important to the rest of your life and also how together we can practice as a community and help build one another up and also be a bigger part of our larger community.
I got more serious about my yoga practice this year in January, and started going three to four times a week. And then I was going on a vacation and I was going to be in a swimsuit so I wanted to, you know, do my best, so I added in extra weight training on top of my yoga. I was doing these four day a week weight training programs through Peloton which I love and what I found from that was that by lifting heavier weights, and becoming stronger, I could do more in my yoga practice, which made me so happy. So now I have to keep continuing with the strength training, and then keeping up with my yoga as well.
I love to be able to do things in yoga, but my body is 44 years old and there are things that are hard for me even as much as I do yoga. It's still very hard for me to get down into a squat, it hurts my knees. I'm tall. I don't necessarily have knee problems, but I carry my weight on my thighs and my hips and that impacts my knees and it just makes it harder for me to do things. I really loved being stronger because I was seeing that I can actually do more in my yoga practice. I also wasn't as exhausted through my yoga practice.
One thing I will say that I absolutely love about yoga, and I find this no matter what kind of class I take, whether it's a hot class or a flow class or a gentle class, is that I can leave that class and I feel just like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel like I can tackle the day without the stressors of the everyday overcoming me.
It's so much more than exercise, in my opinion and in the practice that I do. It really helps center me.
If you haven't ever tried it, I encourage you to let those fears go, to really embrace something new, try something new. You'll find that the yoga community can be super supportive and welcoming. At least where I practice it is and that it can be good for both your body and your mind.
If you have some sort of physical limitations, definitely talk to the instructor or if it's a yoga studio, go in and visit and see what they can offer you. Because even if you have some physical limitations, there's probably a class there that will be well suited to what you can do. I know that a lot of studios have chair yoga, or they stay just on the floor, or they're only standing.
There's all these different options when it comes to yoga. So you don't have to think about it being super intense, 115 degrees, hot yoga. It's not always like that. There is a fit for everyone. One of the other things that I absolutely love about yoga is that you're concentrating on your breath and you're taking these really deep breaths. If you think about it, through the rest of our day, we typically take very shallow, short breaths. And so I think that's part of how it really helps my mind. It helps my body just taking the time to breathe. I see it as a meditative practice too if I go to yoga. I don't always do my meditations because I feel like I've had a full hour plus of meditating during that period.
Hopefully my experience of yoga might encourage you to try something new. Find something that will help stretch your mind and your body. And maybe it could be your new favorite exercise, slash meditation, slash mindfulness exercise, slash self care, because really it does all those things for me and I know so many of my friends as well.
I always close out the podcast with the saying Namaste, a common yoga phrase, which means the light within me sees and honors the light within you. Have a great day and thank you for listening.
