I recently started practicing yoga.  I have wanted to be a yogi for quite some time now, but until recently I didn't have the time, nor did I feel settled enough to join a yoga studio.

I took my first class about a month and a half ago, and due to my foot injury flaring up again, I had to step back from it so it could heal.  Yes, yoga is intense enough that you can't just work through injuries.    Maybe something I failed to realize before.  Anyway, I picked it back up this week... and I'm officially hooked.  I love it!

I think what I love the most in regards to yoga is that it teaches you to practice and show yourself and your body compassion... to push it where it needs to be pushed, and to allow it to go only so far as it can at that time.  And while yoga certainly isn't all about cardio and calorie-burning, it sure as hell is difficult and requires patience, willpower, strength, and balance.  It's NOT as easy as it looks!

Already in such a short time I am seeing the benefits of yoga.  And the focus isn't even on the aesthetics of it... it's how my body feels.  How I feel in my body.  That I can challenge it, but I can also be compassionate toward it when I need to.  It is already teaching me to listen to my body.  So much of today's exercise world seems to be all about pushing yourself to the limit and then some.  And to a point, I think that's good.

But I'm just coming off of almost four months of recovery from an injury.  An injury that threw me into a forced sedentary lifestyle, which made me depressed, eat more, and gain weight.  My self-esteem took a real hit.  I really had to hone in on those things, address them, work on my food issues...and quite honestly feel I have come out of this injury a better person.  I learned a lot from it.  Most of all I learned that I need to start listening to my body.  In regards to exercise, food, rest, work, etc...

Yoga seems as if it fits right in with that mindset.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to get to learn.  It makes me see how strong my body is.  And that my body can do some pretty awesome things, regardless of what it looks like.