Why Yoga?

-From Ally's Mom- 

Many people start doing yoga because they want to get more flexible.  Yes, yoga is great for improving your flexibility but it is so much more.  I came into yoga when I started working part time at a yoga studio.  At the time I was a gym rat going to LifeTime Fitness 4-5 times a week.  I felt I was in pretty good shape and had never taken a yoga class.  My first beginner yoga class I was able to do most everything and it felt great.  But as I started taking more advanced

classes the poses became increasingly difficult.  I am Type A and wasn't satisfied that I couldn't do it all. I found myself just wanting to do yoga every day and eventually gave up my LifeTime membership.  It wasn't a hard decision - fight to find a parking spot, a locker in a crowded locker room and wait in line for showers or...park easily, walk into a calm studio and take classes with pleasant kind people.

The more classes I took, I came to the realization that the most important part of yoga is the breath.  Learning to link your inhales and exhales to the movements and poses is the hardest part.  If you can master the breath, the rest will come.    

I hope to be practicing yoga for the rest of my life and on that journey I will have days when it all feels great and days that I can barely fold over.  The yoga comes in realizing that every day is a gift.  Every moment is perfection to be embraced.  When life gets stressful or crazy I tap into my breath and see the yoga working.  When life is great I try to stop and savor the moment and again the yoga is working.