Entry #4 How Yoga Has Changed My Life

How Yoga has changed my life is an interesting question. It is a question that I really had to think about.
I have worked out for many, many years doing all kinds of different activities and never really enjoyed the work out. Made excuses not to do it. Yoga is so different for me. I love yoga. It has helped me to learn how to take time for me, and to relax and breath. Breath through the difficult times as well as when you are just kicking back. It has given me a way of “going” inside myself to find my “higher” self. I can visualize things much better than before I started my yoga classes, and by doing this I can let go of the events that add stress to my life. Having less stress is something we all strive for and yoga has definitely helped me to learn how to de-stress. I have for many years read self help books, and when you add the practice of yoga to what you read, it is for me a path to finding the inner peace we all search for.
Yoga has also changed my flexibility. I can to things, poses, I couldn’t do a year ago, nor would have every thought I could do. I have had reoccurring back problems most of my life, and those incidents are fewer and fewer, and when they do occur, are much less painful, and do not last very long. My yoga class allows me to loosen what is tight, and it helps me to concentrate on what is bothering me on a particular day. I do yoga and the result is a better me for days afterwards!
I feel that I am much more centered since I started doing Yoga. I can look at things that happen, and not get as anxious as I might have a year ago. I am not sure I can put into words exactly how I feel it has changed me, because it is a feeling. Peace, tranquility, being at one with my self, tolerance of others, dedication to a form of exercise for both my body and mind, these are all the feelings I have and they have grown stronger since I began Yoga.
I am going through a difficult time right now, and when I feel overwhelmed I can draw from my Yoga. I can sit still and breath, and visualize all the great things in my life, and have the determination and strength I need to get through this difficult time. I can draw on Yoga to help me have less stress in my life. Yoga is a way of training your mind and body to help you on this journey called “life”. I feel that is the real answer for me – Yoga is helping me on my journey.
Josie Carr