My Love/Hate Relationship with Yoga
Let me start this entire blog post by saying that I resisted yoga for the LONGEST time because I was afraid that I was going to fart. Or maybe someone else would fart and I wouldn't be able to contain myself. Or I would get the laughs and ruin everyones zen.
It just wasn't something I was interested in. I enjoyed running and lifting weights. I liked fast paced, loud music, get it done type of workouts. Not the slow, hold a pose forever, breathe and think kind of workout. But I did enjoy a good pair of yoga pants. Usually under a nice fuzzy blanket, on the couch, with coffee in hand.
But I was in LOVE with my gym, Delta Fit Camp. And I LOVED my gym rats. They were all staying after class to try this new yoga class with one of the DFC coaches. This coach was my idol. Like, I wanted to be her ( I still do). She was a beast in the gym. She was beautiful and confident and cultured and fun. She had this amazingly strong body and she just exuded everything I wanted to be. So, I figured I would try it out. My first class was horrible. I was groaning and moaning, sweating, and I couldn't stay in any pose for long. My mind was drifting everywhere else and I thought this was the most ridiculous form of exercise. But I went back because everyone else was doing it. I realized that she was teaching a power yoga that focused on strength and my mindset started to change. I was like "hey, maybe this will help me get a stronger core and stronger shoulders to help with weightlifting".
Over time I started to go more consistently. I worked to get into poses and challenged myself. But I still looked at yoga as something that I just did because my friends went, and the yoga instructor was awesome. I loved yoga because it made me take a break from what was going on in the world and it slowed me down. I hated yoga for the same reason. I continued to go to yoga because I knew it was good for me. But, while in those held poses I was usually thinking, in the back of my mind, about all the things I needed to get done, or what I was going to make for dinner, or the new shoes I wanted to buy....basically anything but breathing and letting go. It was so difficult to hush my mind.
It wasn't until this past summer when I realized I needed the mental support that I could achieve through yoga. I kept hearing this term "mindfullness" being thrown around and I decided to make my summer 2017 goal to learn how to meditate. It was not easy. I struggled big time. I began with 20 Days of Meditation with Deepak Chopra, but I just couldn't keep up with it daily. When I set aside the time to really focus on the meditation and do the mantras...it was amazing. It left me wanting to learn more.
I went to a restorative yoga class at some point in the summer. I hated this class the first time I went because it was SO slow. We just held poses forever. Again, slow paced is not my style. But I was learning. At the end, in savasana, our yoga instructor took us through this visualization. We started on a busy street, then went through a door, and down the steps....and then things got hazy. I came to when she said the door opened back up and the street was now empty. Woah. What the heck just happened. It was like I fell asleep, but I didn't. It was this ultimate relaxation that I had never had before in my entire life. And I wanted that more.
This is where things got more serious for me. This is where I learned what it was to reach a different dimension, or level or relaxation. This is where I realized that my mind can do amazing things. This is where I realized that my entire journey with working out, yoga, and the oils came full circle. My mental health is just as important as my physical health. I realized it was okay to not be perfect, to just be at peace with who I am.
Don't get me wrong. I still hate going to yoga sometimes. Some days my body hurts or I am just not mentally into it. Some days I want to go to the back of the room and hang out in child's pose the majority of the class. Some days I do my entire yoga practice with my eyes closed to pretend like nobody else is there. This is what is so cool. It doesn't matter if you sit in child's pose the entire time, or if you can't get into a pose, or if you fart.....it happens! And it is all accepted!
You guys...you don't have to be skinny, or in shape, or flexible, or young, or whatever you think you may need to be in order to do yoga. Those are silly excuses. This is the most accepting place. EVERYONE is welcome, and EVERYONE can do yoga. I mean, I just did yoga with my 75 year old parents on their living room floor last weekend. If they can do it, YOU can do it.
Get your butt to a yoga studio and get started. Have a good, and open, mindset and just let go. You can do this.
But I was in LOVE with my gym, Delta Fit Camp. And I LOVED my gym rats. They were all staying after class to try this new yoga class with one of the DFC coaches. This coach was my idol. Like, I wanted to be her ( I still do). She was a beast in the gym. She was beautiful and confident and cultured and fun. She had this amazingly strong body and she just exuded everything I wanted to be. So, I figured I would try it out. My first class was horrible. I was groaning and moaning, sweating, and I couldn't stay in any pose for long. My mind was drifting everywhere else and I thought this was the most ridiculous form of exercise. But I went back because everyone else was doing it. I realized that she was teaching a power yoga that focused on strength and my mindset started to change. I was like "hey, maybe this will help me get a stronger core and stronger shoulders to help with weightlifting".
Over time I started to go more consistently. I worked to get into poses and challenged myself. But I still looked at yoga as something that I just did because my friends went, and the yoga instructor was awesome. I loved yoga because it made me take a break from what was going on in the world and it slowed me down. I hated yoga for the same reason. I continued to go to yoga because I knew it was good for me. But, while in those held poses I was usually thinking, in the back of my mind, about all the things I needed to get done, or what I was going to make for dinner, or the new shoes I wanted to buy....basically anything but breathing and letting go. It was so difficult to hush my mind.
It wasn't until this past summer when I realized I needed the mental support that I could achieve through yoga. I kept hearing this term "mindfullness" being thrown around and I decided to make my summer 2017 goal to learn how to meditate. It was not easy. I struggled big time. I began with 20 Days of Meditation with Deepak Chopra, but I just couldn't keep up with it daily. When I set aside the time to really focus on the meditation and do the mantras...it was amazing. It left me wanting to learn more.
I went to a restorative yoga class at some point in the summer. I hated this class the first time I went because it was SO slow. We just held poses forever. Again, slow paced is not my style. But I was learning. At the end, in savasana, our yoga instructor took us through this visualization. We started on a busy street, then went through a door, and down the steps....and then things got hazy. I came to when she said the door opened back up and the street was now empty. Woah. What the heck just happened. It was like I fell asleep, but I didn't. It was this ultimate relaxation that I had never had before in my entire life. And I wanted that more.
This is where things got more serious for me. This is where I learned what it was to reach a different dimension, or level or relaxation. This is where I realized that my mind can do amazing things. This is where I realized that my entire journey with working out, yoga, and the oils came full circle. My mental health is just as important as my physical health. I realized it was okay to not be perfect, to just be at peace with who I am.
Don't get me wrong. I still hate going to yoga sometimes. Some days my body hurts or I am just not mentally into it. Some days I want to go to the back of the room and hang out in child's pose the majority of the class. Some days I do my entire yoga practice with my eyes closed to pretend like nobody else is there. This is what is so cool. It doesn't matter if you sit in child's pose the entire time, or if you can't get into a pose, or if you fart.....it happens! And it is all accepted!
You guys...you don't have to be skinny, or in shape, or flexible, or young, or whatever you think you may need to be in order to do yoga. Those are silly excuses. This is the most accepting place. EVERYONE is welcome, and EVERYONE can do yoga. I mean, I just did yoga with my 75 year old parents on their living room floor last weekend. If they can do it, YOU can do it.
Get your butt to a yoga studio and get started. Have a good, and open, mindset and just let go. You can do this.
I. Love. You.
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