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How yoga changed my life

*As previously published on Hybrid Mom

As far back as I can remember my mother would fix things herself. A hammer and a screwdriver and she was ready to go. I have always felt I could do things myself as well. I have painted all the rooms in my house myself, l planted all my plants and am constantly moving things around. My oldest son Danny would often ask me when I had commandeered him to help me move things around, ‚couldn’t you pick a hobby that didn’t require me moving furniture?‛

Well last spring it finally caught up with me. I had some furniture in storage and I wanted to bring a cabinet to my house. I brought over my younger son and his friend to help me. The one person I should have left out of the equation was ME. The cabinet was on top of another and as one boy pushed it to the side where I was standing, I very quickly realized it was far too heavy for me to hold. I knew if I let go it would crush me, so I held on, feeling like every organ was popping out of its slot and every vertebrate compressed. As the other boy ran around to help and relieve me, I knew what just happened was not good!!! Soon after I complained to my husband that I felt like I had ‚cellulite cancer‛…the ache in my hips wouldn’t go away. It got so bad that getting up from a seated position was a painful and somewhat clumsy situation. I was really starting to fear I was going to live my life with this or possibly even worse.

I decided to go to a yoga class at my gym. The instructor asked if anyone had injuries and I spoke up. She told me in her early 20’s she had a hip injury and could barely get out of bed. She gave me a few specific thigh rotation exercises to do on my own but the class changed everything. All that stretching and strength building using your own body weight has been amazing. I have an IPhone so I downloaded an amazing app of yoga practices that I can do at home as well. I feel 1000% better and am re-committing to doing it every day. I am the worst about exercise. If anything better pops up I do that instead. But like a alcoholic hitting rock bottom, I am trying to incorporate this into my day. For me if something seems too difficult like say the stair master or elliptical, I will avoid it forever. Yoga has been the first thing I have found that I do not avoid.

The good thing about yoga is you do what you can and then before you know it you are trying new things and going further. Not to mention stopping the madness of your day and quieting your mind. That may sound hokey, but it is really fabulous for both your mind and body and has changed my life. If you cannot get to a gym, I highly recommend Baron Baptiste Live yoga DVD. Give it a try…I promise you will feel amazing!

0 Comments

  1. Im going to give the Gentle Yoga a try. My first time trying I did a Hot Yoga class. Not so great when you are having hot flashes. I like the idea of quieting the mind. I here Sting has done it for years and he looks amazing. Here goes….

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