namaste

i love yoga.  i really love it.  i'm not bendy and pretzel-ish and i have to put a hand towel over the front of my mat to do downward facing dog to keep my sweaty palms from sliding and flying out from under me, causing me to face plant in a very non-zen way, but i love it.  there's something about focusing all of your energy on your own being and blocking out everything else that restores your focus, your balance and your insight.  some people think yoga is too new-agey and they roll their eyes at the idea of chanting and tapping into energy sources in your own body through various poses and technique.  but, let me tell you - as someone who doesn't take a lot of stock in religious ideas, symbolism, that "everything happens for a reason" crap that the majority of the population seems to subscribe to, i am one who believes in yoga.  it builds strength, patience, balance and forces you to draw on your own inner strength to push yourself to your own limits. 

at the end of the class i'm always so happy that i decided to go to yoga that day and i really feel like i've treated myself.  i walk out of the studio feeling great and looking forward to doing it again.  unfortunately, i have not been good about doing yoga on a regular basis.  rather, i go sporadically and cannot seem to get my crap together to even do it once a week for mutliple weeks in a row.  aside from tennis, yoga is the only activity/sport/workout that i truly enjoy doing and since the weather has begun to turn cold and darkness falls much earlier now, i am forced to rule out playing tennis 2-3 times a week like i did over the summer.  so i should treat myself to yoga once or twice a week.  it costs money to take yoga classes but i probably spend the same amount it would cost me to go to yoga 4-8 times a month on silly things i don't even want. 

so, i'm going to make the effort to start yoga once a week and if i can make it more often, great.  i've tried running, personal training, gym memberships, etc and none of that has held my interest and made me look forward to those things like yoga does.  wish me luck!  maybe by this time next year i'll be a pretzel!