PJs and Dumbbells

Yoga has been one of my passions for as long as I can remember but I have never taken a class. I can remember back to when I was in junior high. My older sister would get Seventeen magazine and I would catch myself sneaking into her room to get the magazine in order to find out what was so alluring about it. I wasn’t the type of girl to hang pictures of cute boys on my walls or in my locker so all the “boy talk” didn’t interest me. As I flipped through the pages of the magazine, I came across some workout tips – now this did interest me. There were articles with pictures that described how to do some yoga poses and the benefits of yoga. They promised long lean muscle, good sleep, & decreased stress levels as some of the benefits. I could go for long lean muscle, I thought, so I decided to try some of the moves and ever since then I have been hooked.

I am a self-taught yogi. Since my high school days, I have found many different types of yoga videos. Some were long, slow and boring for me but as I have gotten older some of the meditating that goes along with yoga has proved to be beneficial in my life. Meditation is a little escape, it is the ONE time a day that I am able to turn my mind off and let go and not only that but yoga has made me stronger than I ever thought I could be.

Until two days ago, my yoga experience had been limited. My feet rarely left the ground except for crane pose so I decided that I wanted to extend my yoga practice to more challenging poses. I was following a couple yogis on Instagram and the poses they posted were just beautiful! They eased into these poses with absolute grace so much that I thought I could do it. I then started researching more; looking for classes or someone to teach me handstand or inverted yoga poses. With no luck so far I decided to look online for some videos. I found hundreds! With that, I tried my first hand stand yoga. I didn’t look as graceful or confident as those I had seen doing it before me. I stumbled to get my feet up afraid that they wouldn’t stop at the top and go on over and they did, several times. After a few attempts I discovered that using a wall or other standing obstacle (such as a tree or building) will help me to feel the sensation of being upside down and help me to practice getting the right balance.

For me yoga isn’t just about the challenge, it is about feeling better in my own skin. I have fought depression off and on for as long as I can remember and yoga along with other fitness routines has helped me to battle it more than anything else. Yoga helps me to appreciate myself for who I am. It helps me to feel energized and like I actually accomplished something. My motivation for fitness used to come from me comparing myself to others. I wanted to be thin and attractive. I was never happy with my body – I wanted smaller hips, a flat stomach and toned shoulders, thighs and calves. I was working out because I hated my body and I thought fitness would change it. Since then, I have realized that those motivating factors wouldn’t last. They don’t lead to routine and a healthy lifestyle. They only lead to anger or disappointment because I would never be good enough; I would never meet my own expectations. Over time, I was able to change this train of thought because of working out and especially because of yoga. Yoga is surrounded by so much love; every yogi I have met has been so open, inspirational, and caring. I have learned that I work out to feel better about myself, not worse. I work out because it helps me to fight depression and it makes me feel strong. Having and gaining strength builds my confidence and confidence can lead to great things!

Are you into yoga?  If so attach your pics or comments below! & to watch my yoga progress follow me on Instagram @pjs_and_dumbells or like my facebook page www.facebook.com/pjsanddumbbells