Ohmmm

My life is loud. I work in a very busy, talking-intensive environment, I go to classes that are abuzz with discussion, I coach (read: yell a lot) middle school lacrosse, and I myself talk all the time, as you may know. Last semester, I felt as though I didn't have any reprieve from the "noise" of every day life. Part of that was connected to what I was doing with my spare time: going to loud movies, hanging out at noisy bars, AND getting yelled at in tough spinning and aerobics classes at my gym. But, all that changed this semester when I rediscovered yoga, which I can honestly say has changed by approach to life this semester for the better.

Early this year, I stopped going to crazy, crowded cardio classes and began finding yoga and pilates offerings that fit my busy schedule. Since then, I have been squeezing 2-4 sessions of these classes in every week. Here's the Heck list of top 10 reasons why:

1. Peace and Quiet. I go into the yoga studio at the gym, a sound strip is placed against the door jamb, and soothing music plays. The lights are dim, my eyes are closed, the instructor's voice is soothing. It is as if nothing else in the world exists except my body and the sound of my own breathing.

2. No competition. I am in graduate school, so my life is competitive by nature. I compete in class and at work, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In yoga, I am so focused on myself, that the rest of the class kind of melts away... speaking of which...

3. I get to FOCUS on ME. This rarely happens in my day to day life. I am always counseling students, working on group projects, contributing to a larger whole, and in general trying to save the world. Yoga, for that 60-75 minutes, is all about me. No other part of my day is like that.

4. The stretch factor. 80-90 percent of my day is spent sitting at a desk. Yoga twists me into a day's worth of crazy positions that melt the stress points in my back, shoulders, hamstrings, and neck that build up after a long day of class, work, and doing more work for class.

5. Posture for days! I can honestly say that I have the best posture of anyone I know. I sit up straight at work, in class, while driving, everywhere. You would be envious of my posture, I bet. I thank yoga for that.

6. Visible results. Those who know me know that I work out regularly, and have done a lot of athletic things. I trained for and ran a marathon last year, have played and coached team sports, and consider myself somewhat of a gym rat. But, I have never seen results like those bestowed upon me by the yoga/pilates gods. My stomach is flat, my legs are tight, and I have lost some inches as well. Which leads me to...

7. Feelin' hot hot hot: I don't often say this, but yoga makes me feel hot. After a long class, I feel limber, slimmer, I walk taller, and I feel more confident. Money can't buy this!

8. Rationality? Terry recently said to me, "You are so rational. Girlfriends aren't like this!" (T. Brock, personal communication, March 2009). I know yoga isn't totally responsible for this, but it is at least partially responsible. All that deep breathing, slowing down the pace of life, walking out with a clear head stuff has made me more focused, rational, and positive in other areas of my life.

9.Balance. You should see my tree pose. I can literally stand on one foot for like, 10 minutes, and not fall over. My core is so much stronger, I am less clumsy and more poised in every day life. and finally...

10. Yoga is hard as (insert expletive here)! I know some of you are thinking, yoga is a big waste of time, you are not really working, it's all stretching blady blah blah... If this is you, you either a) have yet to have a really good instructor b) haven't devoted enough time to learning the basic poses so that you can really put effort into them or c) need to talk to me. The results I've seen and felt speak for themselves. I'll convert, you I promise.

Ohmmm. Have a great week!