Yoga for Mind & Body

Yoga for Mind & Body

On the days I work from home I am so grateful that Dharma Studio offers yoga practice at 5:45pm.  Knowing I will have an opportunity to release the stress of my workday causes me to consciously log off my office computer by 5:15 so that I have time to drive to class.  I need it to keep balance in my life.

For the first 20 years of my professional career I believed that I needed to work long hours in an attempt to remain on top of things and that ultimately, I would be rewarded with accolades, a corner office, a distinguished title, and a pile of money. Well, that was a fantasy. In most industries the best time to make significant strides is during one’s 30’s.  At that point in my life I was rebuilding a career after a 5 1/2 year sabbatical living overseas. Ultimately, that 5 1/2 year period was the most magical of my life. The benefits I gained from those experiences far outweighed anything I would have achieved in the corporate world.

Ultimately, at 45, I came to understand that what I truly wanted was a balanced life that included time to appreciate family, friends, learn new things, enjoying gardening, cooking, watching the birds at the feeder, learning to cultivate heirloom tomatoes, sewing and developing (hahahah) an interest in historical photographic processes.

Yoga helped me to find my center. It keeps me physically and mentally fit. I’ve made some terrific friendships among other yogis and yoginis. Those who truly appreciate yoga and strive to understand it achieve a melding of the mental, physical and spiritual – an enlightenment that permeates every aspect of ones life.

I’ve learned through yoga that it is not about success or failure – it is about the personal experience and accepting that wherever we are is where we are supposed to be.  There are no winners or losers. I have some physical limitations because of injuries, degenerative conditions or physiology. That is okay.  I am not in a competition with anyone else.  I do what I can do and make modifications for things that are not within my comfort zone on any given day. It is a healthy approach to life.

And no, I have not given up wine or meat. (unless pork is now a vegetable!) But when I go to a class and practice after a particularly stressful day at work – such as the one I had today – I feel better after my practice. What more could one ask?