Do you yoga?

September in National Yoga Month.  It's also my daughter's birth month.  My fitness journey began the moment she was born, so I've been thinking a lot this month about how far I've come and how much I've changed.  About where I want to go.   Yoga has been a HUGE, HUGE part of my journey.

Its so funny, the reasons that people give (both the active and the sedentary set) for not doing yoga.

Yoga makes me sleepy.
I want to sweat during my workouts.
I'm not flexible.

i started doing yoga from P90X, but it wasn't until I went to a class taught by a friend of mine that I really became a Yogi.  It isn't about how flexible you are.  It isn't about how much you can or can not do.  Its about honoring your body and where you are in it, embracing and loving every aspect of it.  Its about being present in the moment.

I could spend hours and hours spouting about how much yoga has changed my life.  If running is for my body, yoga is for my mind.  It has helped keep me healthy over these past 4 years.  It has helped keep my mind grounded and has helped me remember how to stay sane in the chaos that is my life.

Something that many people do not realize is that yoga has an incredibly healing component as well.  I've had pain and injuries that have been alleviated through yoga.  I'm so blessed that my friend, who specializes in therapeutic yoga, came into my life.  Any time I find myself in pain, she is able to give me a couple things to do on a daily basis that help my body heal itself.  That is an AMAZING thing.  Its easy to become frustrated when you start to feel pain. Before yoga became a part of my routine, I would either push through pain or back completely off so that my body could heal.  Now I am able to acknowledge pain, think about its causes, and come up with a management plan that does not hinder my training.

So it made me laugh when the USAT published this article, "Why Yoga Can Benefit Endurance Athletes".  My response was WELL DUH!  But I forget not everyone is "enlightened" in that regard.  That is the incredible thing about yoga.  You are never too young, too old, too fat or too thin for it.  My kids ask to do yoga all the time when their muscles get achy.


With all of the the things I've achieved on the fitness front, the first time I popped up in wheel definitely rates right up there with all-time highs. For a girl who was neither flexible nor had any upper body strength, it was a pretty cool achievement.  Forget the list of things you are or aren't when you think about why you CAN'T do yoga.  Let me assure you that you can.  I could not even reach my toes 3.5 years ago. 

(Pardon the chaos going on in this picture. . . gives you an idea of my every day life, and the fact that you can't see my hands.  Totally did this with a timer!)

Spread your wings this month and give yoga a try.  Find a great studio.  Look for free community classes in your area.  Your body and your spirit will thank you!

What's your favorite thing about yoga?  Or what fears do you have that was keeping you from giving it a try?  Take those fears and kick them aside after you post them!