For me, yoga has been evolving and life changing in ways I hadn’t expected.
Since the age of five, sports and exercise have been a huge part of my life. Always extremely active, I’ve always been involved in soccer, track, softball, volleyball, running, weights, exercise classes, and anything else to keep me strong and fit. It wasn’t until much later that I realized the importance of giving as much attention to my mental/emotional health.
In 1997 when I moved away from my hometown and away from my usual means for fitness I decided to try out a yoga video, mostly as a way to relieve stress. Over the next several years I stayed involved in yoga on and off when I could find it at different gyms I belonged to. I began to enjoy it more and more as I found yoga that challenged me and gave me a great workout.
It wasn’t until I joined DPYP! a little over 3 years ago, that my yoga practice became much more than a way to break a sweat and stay in shape. Unexpectedly, over these last few years, yoga has gone from a “workout” to a lifestyle in many ways.
While I try to spend an hour on my mat most days of the week, it’s what I carry with me the other 23 hours of the day that I never expected. I feel like I have truly become more aware of how my thoughts and emotions show up in my physical body. This awareness in turn has allowed me to understand that I can’t have physical health without taking equal care of my mind and spirit. And while it can be frustrating to find the struggles of life show up as struggles in my practice, it is equally empowering to find the principles of yoga play out in my everyday life in my approach to hard times and my overall outlook on life.
Not only do I see the connection to yoga and my own life, but it has be such a natural complement to my career as a therapist. I know that yoga will forever be an integral part of my life and that there will always be room to grow and evolve in my personal practice, as a teacher and as a whole person.