Yoga, more than a physical practice

My yoga practice started about 20 plus years ago. It started out to be just another way to exercise, especially hot yoga, the more I sweated the better I felt. Instructors talked about breathing in and breathing out and I could never get it right because I was so focused on getting my workout in and being as flexible as I could be. At the time my life was busy and physically I was hurting. My body started aching constantly, and it seemed like my muscles were going the opposite way and getting tighter. I was only doing yoga once per week and decided to commit to doing yoga three times per week, no excuses.

The more I went the better I started to feel physically. At the beginning of class instructors started with an intention, a word, or a small phrase to keep in mind and focus on to bring peace and keep students grounded throughout the practice. More peace of mind during the practice translated to a more fruitful physical practice. It was here where I started to notice how much of my time I spent being in my head not connecting to physical practice. The mental chatter was incessant.

Mentally, I compared myself to everyone in the room or was always in the past or future. The disconnection between my mind and body was crucial for my physical body to stop aching, as it was to sync breath to movement. By incorporating my special intention or word to my practice, I was able to create a connection between body and mind, and a pause in my hamster wheel sprinting mind.

It made such a difference that my intention or word for the day became part of my extended day. It was quite appalling to me to witness my mind and how much time I spent focusing on things I couldn’t control, things that had happened, or things that were yet to be.

"Energy goes, where attention goes."

That’s one of the best phrases I have learned. Here I was going about my day like a zombie and functioning from autopilot. My emotional energy goes up and down, depending on my thoughts. How often do you feel that way? Soon after my daily practice became yoga or not, I would wake up, sit up, breathe deeply and set an intention or choose a word that I wanted to focus on for the day. It took a whole five minutes, but it made the biggest difference in my life, a habit that I carry to this day.

I am not trying to sell you on yoga. What I am trying to sell you on is to create a habit that gives you five minutes to connect to yourself. To observe your mind, to check your energy levels, to check your mood, to attune to your body, to attune to what you are feeling, to breathe deeply, to disconnect from the outside world, and attend to your inside world. How is it that we are now relying on our apple watches to tell us to stand up, move, and to breathe? I have nothing against apple watches, but when we have watches reminding us to breathe, then we as a society can’t deny how out of touch we are with ourselves.

And, since we are talking about breathing let me tell you a few fun facts:

When we breath shallow, quickly, or sometimes even hold our breath, energy can’t flow throughout our body. Ironically, our breath can help regulate our sleep and calm our nervous system, hence, calm our state of mind. You can start with yoga, try a meditation class, or a breath work class, or you can even have your apple watch. It’s all up to you, you always have a choice to start anew where you are not where you think you should be. The point of power is always in the present moment.

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To the new parent

I had it in my head that I needed to continue with the same pace as before after having my daughter. My day started at 5:15 am, waking up and going to Yoga at 5:45 am, coming home getting ready for work, getting my daughter fed and ready for the