me & my mat (yoga: a love story)

ahhh yoga.  for all my fellow yogis out there, you'll completely understand the sentiment of my first sentence.  yoga is relatively new in my life.  i "found" it last year.  i was following the p90x workout program (yes, it was as intense as the infomercial seems.)  anyway, one of the p90x workouts was a yoga dvd.  initially, i must admit, i didn't "get" it.  (well, tony horton is no yoga instructor for starters...) but as the weeks passed, i found myself actually looking forward to it.  go figure.  without even meaning to, i had fallen in love.

spontaneous yoga at philly art museum

yoga is all consuming when you first fall.  you talk way too much about it to everyone you know.  you find yourself bringing it up in completely unrelated conversations, and people begin to wonder if you've joined some kind of cult.  but you can't help it.  it's wonderful and new and is completely unlike anything you've done for yourself before.  it's kind of like swimming on land.  it's very fluid (or you try to make it fluid...)

because of p90x, i was introduced to yoga as a work out.  it's not really, by the way.  yeah, it can make you sweat and can give you muscle definition and has helped to get me in the best shape of my life.  (no joke, it really has.)  but first and foremost, it's a practice.  something you work towards - not something you tackle or accomplish.  a ritual, if you will.  a gift to yourself.

it connects you to your breath.  your inner self.  it makes you feel alive in a new kind of way.  a way that enables you to fully inhabit your body and walk a bit taller.  you feel healthier, fitter, graceful and more at peace.  it's truly miraculous.  i start almost every day now with some yoga - it just puts me in a better place.  there's nothing like a few sun salutations to set you right with the world. 

now, i know that it's not for everyone.  no one thing works for everybody or is experienced in the same way.  but, if you're interested in trying yoga, don't say i didn't warn you.  you might fall.  and fall hard.

me, han, craig (nice pose, babe)

namaste.

if you're interested in trying out some yoga, here is a link to a few of my fave dvds: the yogaworks series is great, and if you're a newbie their "beginner yoga" program is really wonderful : )