So, I always swore I would never be one of *those* people who does yoga. I was never going to be one to chant, “Ommmmmmm…” doused in patchouli while standing on my head in some contorted pose in a room full of other people with peaceful minds and who are already connected with their inner selves and only dine on lettuce cultivated in their own back yards.

Well guess what? Lo’ and behold, I am more like one of *those* people now than I ever have been (well, except for the patchouli…I don’t think I’ll ever like that scent ;-)) and surprisingly, I am totally cool with that. I’ve discovered yoga to be a very necessary part of this movement to become a better me. I think it was about a year ago when I had my first real big-girl yoga class at Modo Yoga in Austin and I was absolutely terrified walking into it. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to do most of that crazy stuff, I already knew I was terribly inflexible, and I thought for sure I’d burst into giggles when it came to the part where we were supposed to hold hands and chant. It turns out that there was nothing crazy in that class at all and while it was definitely challenging and got my heart rate up, I was so thrilled to see that I could at least try everything in a comfortable and safe and encouraging environment. In fact, I was so invigorated, I may have been slightly disappointed there was no chanting ;-).

All my life, if I couldn’t be THE best or perfect at something, I didn’t want any part of it. Same with yoga: I’ve always been so afraid of failure, I never gave myself a chance to try. I’m learning that yoga is a practice, and there is no measure of success or failure…your practice is *your* practice and it changes each day. After practicing yoga for a year, I *still* fall out of tree pose every now and then, I still am scared of crow pose, and my hips still require a great deal of attention to help them open more. But, oh, I’ve had SO many wins throughout this practice, I could never go back to life before yoga:

• I can sit cross-legged on the floor now. I’m sure most people take this for granted, but seriously, I haven’t been able to sit on the floor comfortably since I was child and this is a huge deal to me.
• My HUSBAND actually comes with me to class!!! You all…this is unreal for me to even type this out. Our hot yoga dates have been so good for him and for us as a couple. Never in a million years did I think he would ever attend a yoga class and it’s an even bigger miracle that we get to go together.
• I can do a wheel, what????
• I can do camel pose (most of the time) without feeling like I’m going to pass out (what’s up with that sensation?). I can’t quite reach my feet in camel yet, but I’m working on it.
• I have so much more awareness of where I’m carrying tension and can apply techniques I’m learning in yoga class at any time to help release that tension.
• I can turn my head to the right AND to the left now. Finally, I’ve worked out the strain that I’ve had in my neck forever it seems.
• Combined with barre, yoga has helped cure my once debilitating shoulder pain.
• It’s made me a better runner: building up a tolerance to lactic acid, stretching gently and effectively, and getting my mind to support my body and my goals.

My greatest win with yoga has been with calming my anxiety. I can arrive at class so worked up about the challenges I expect to face during that day, I pretty much want to crumble. But then, just a few minutes into class, I’m already less tense. And after an hour of sweating it out, I leave class with a tremendous sense of calm. No, it’s more than that…it’s acceptance with where I am as a human being, forgiveness, gratitude, and filled with love and excitement for life.

As another birthday present to my Pinkle Toes clients in celebration of 10 years, I want to share this yoga experience with you. I’m very excited to announce we are teaming up with Modo Yoga to host a Pinkle Toes-only class on June 17th! If you are a past or upcoming client, I invite you to join in this class. New and experienced yogis alike will find Modo Yoga to be fun and challenging and accessible to all abilities. Bring your significant other and have your own hot yoga date. Maybe we’ll make some bicycle blender concoctions after class 😉

First priority will be given to past/current Pinkle Toes Clients. About a week before the event, we’ll open it up to anyone else who wants to attend. I am soooooooooooo excited to get to practice yoga with you and maybe even introduce you to something that can change your life for the better just as much as it has mine. Namaste!

I want to send out a huge thank you to my friend Jody with Jody Mack Photography for taking these beautiful pics when we were visiting Charleston, South Carolina this spring. I wanted so badly to document these changes in my life and she did a phenomenal job! Thank you, my friend!

[This is a follow up post to the blog series about changes I’ve made to improve my overall quality of life. Part 1 is HERE.]