Namaste

Surrender: complete acceptance of what is.

“Surrender” was the theme for the yoga class I went to tonight, and it was exactly how I needed to end my day. My quirky yoga instructor led the class with a mix of serene sayings and abrupt, straightforward musings about life. For instance, while she was talking about the peacefulness of surrendering to things you can’t control, she talked about yoga positions/life as either being a shit-show or making you feel strong- genius right?

I’ve heard several yoga teachers talk about the breath in your yoga practice being the hardest part, and it totally is. It was my focus for this class because I’ve never been able to breathe in sync with how you’re instructed to in yoga. Breathing in and breathing out should be the easiest part though, amidst stretching and contorting your body, shouldn’t it? The same should be true throughout your day. Breathing should just happen. But sometimes I get flustered and hold in all the things I think I should be worrying about, when I should just breathe them out. Taking a breath should be the first thing we do when we feel overwhelmed. So, I hope to remind you to listen to Mat Kearny and breathe in and breathe out… because everything keeps moving on.

Yoga is the perfect slower paced exercise, especially amid this (unrelenting) winter weather. If you haven’t tried it before, I’d encourage you to go a couple times and see how you like it. It helps you reason through things going on in your life (i.e. problems) and completely put your life on pause (i.e. problems) all at the same time. Not to mention there are some amazing health and happiness benefits of doing yoga. For some inspiration, check out my friend Laura’s photoblog of Maggie the yogi.