Yoga and Me Were Meant to Be

Yoga benefits more than mind and body. It can help you build your wellness reserves so that you have the energy to do what you are here to do. No coffee required.

Although yoga is a familiar friend, it often takes me out of my comfort zone, leading me to some of life’s greatest lessons. Photo © Copyright by Laura Brown Photography.

I am so fortunate I decided to walk into my first yoga class at a YMCA in 2008. By the end of that session, I had experienced clarity I had never known until that point and a deep longing to learn more about this beautiful, life-enhancing practice.

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Walking out of class that evening was like walking into a new world of possibilities and experiences. Since then, yoga has led me down a journey of in-depth discovery of my inner and outer worlds; it has helped me shift the way I look at things; and it has helped me embrace who I am and what I am here to do.

Over the last decade, I have experienced how yoga takes care of mind, body and spirit through the integration of poses, breathing exercises, meditation and lifestyle.

What’s great about yoga is that you can practice it anywhere—no yoga mat required. I’ve practiced it at a gas station, in line at the grocery store and waiting for a parade. What’s most fascinating about yoga is that the mat is where the magic starts, but you and your practice hold hands as you walk together out of the yoga class and into your life. Your practice goes wherever you go and it supports you like a trusted friend.

The mindfulness you find on your yoga mat helps you become more aware of how you are in your life—what you’re doing and how you're feeling in every moment moment and why you make the choices you make. A yoga practice pushes you, and at the same time, it is also forgiving.

Yoga can help reveal your inner and outer strengths. It can help reduce your anxiety in a world of constant overstimulation. It can help you connect to yourself, your family and your community. It can help you learn something new about yourself. It can build your wellness reserves. Yoga does all of this for me and more, which is why I keep showing up on my mat, and which is why yoga and me were meant to be.

Practice It: Yoga to Help Reveal the Real You

Learn more about how yoga can benefit you in my book 108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas (MSI Press), which is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and the MSI Press website.