So as you can imagine, when I started taking yoga, this was a challenge for me - no cardio, no rushing yourself, relaxing your mind, focusing on your breathing, holding poses, lengthening muscles - this was all new to me. There is a class every Friday at 5:45pm which works pretty well with my schedule, so I thought I'd give it a shot - it'd be something new for my body and mind. At first I felt like I didn't fit in with all the 'yogis', and while I'm used to being advanced at most things athletic, I was starting in the 'beginner' poses, it was challenging and sometimes frustrating stabilizing yourself to hold some of the poses, I didn't understand their yogi lingo - you get it, I was out of my element. After pushing myself to go for a few Fridays in a row, I really started to enjoy yoga, and started to get better at it. I think it's the competitor in me - when I find something I'm not great at, I want to be great at it - to prove to all those people who say "I can't". Can't is not in my dictionary and never will be. Through consistently going more and working on my practice, I have actually begun to enjoy the weekly yoga sessions.
This past Friday I was so excited to leave work a little early and get to the gym to sneak in some cardio before yoga - as stupid as it sounds, I was looking forward to it all day. I actually left the office when I planned to (which never happens!) and I was on my way to start the weekend off right. One speed bump in my plans? Two accidents as I was driving home a.k.a an hour and a half commute to the gym. I was so unbelievably frustrated - I never get to leave work early, I've been skimping on my workouts lately because I've been working or tired, the one time I finally make time for myself this happens - the list went on and on. Needless to say I didn't get my pre-yoga cardio in and was rushing to even make it to yoga. Once I finally got to the gym, I threw on my clothes, put my hair up and was about to race up to the class when a woman stopped me. She came up to me and said, "I see you here every day, and I just want to let you know seeing you here every day, your dedication to being here, it really inspires me. There are so many things that get in the way, and it's so easy to say I don't want to go, but you really inspire me to be here and I just wanted to let you know". Of course, I graciously thanked her and told her that she made my day and we went our separate ways. I was in shock - me? I inspired someone? This put a huge smile on my face and I just let the worries of the day go. In the grand scheme of things, me being late, being frustrated about things out of my control, does no good for anyone - why should I waste my time being upset? I ran up to yoga, and it had just started - I made it! I set up my mat, threw off my shoes and joined in. I let everything go and just let my body and breathing take over, and you know what? It was the best yoga session I've had to date - it felt amazing.
What I learned from this? To not let the little frustrating things in life get to me - you only live once, and when all things are said and done, that moment won't matter. Though it's hard, there's no point in dwelling on things you cannot change - you can only move forward and upward. This also made me realize that I should not lose faith in people - you always hear about crazy things in the news and everything else, but there are still good ones out there - you just have to find them!
What is your de-stressor? I'd love to hear and try them out!
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