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The Benefits of Yoga

I started Yoga 2 weeks ago Monday after I realized how incredibly inflexible I was. I would get up in the mornings and found this Power Yoga show on my Ion channel from 6:00 - 6:30 and it looked like something I would really enjoy. I have tried yoga classes in the past at gyms and have really hated it. For a beginner that is as inflexible as I am, I just think an hour is way too long. I love this show for 2 reasons: 1) it is only 30 minutes long, which is about as much as my body can tolerate, and it's on 6 times per week and I do it almost every day and 2) The theme of the class changes every day. We started off my first class doing forward folds and it's incredibly embarassing how little I was able to do. Just folding foward sounds so easy, but I can't even touch my toes from a seated or standing position. We have also done strength and stamina, binds (different positions while holding your hands together behind your back) hips, abs, and all types of other exercises. I didn't really think any of this was doing anything for me, but every day I am a little sore and I lost 2 pounds last week, which leads me to believe I am getting more out of it than I think. It is has also changed my posture, big time!

After I had Avery, my hips certainly changed. They became SO tight, it hurt me to sit indian style and I never felt that way before. I didn't realize how much pregnancy made me inactive and stiff over the period of 9 months. I would sit on the bed with Avery to change her diaper when she was a newborn and my legs would be sore, just from sitting on the bed! My back hurts alot now because of bending over and picking her up and I realized I had absolutely no core strength left from the pregnancy. If I didn't do something about it, I was going to stop exercising altogether because it hurt me too much. Plus, just going to the gym and running or walking was doing only so much - this has added so much to my life and is making me feel better, each and every day. I get really upset if I miss a day, which has only happened twice. I get up each morning around 5:30, take a shower and will either get Avery out of her bed because she is awake or pray she sleeps through my class. I will take a shower before the class starts and put my hair up, wet. If Avery is up, I will feed her before. Avery either plays on her playmat or in her bouncy while I do my yoga and she usually always lets me without needing too much attention. Then I dry my hair, get us both dressed, get us both fed, and I am out the door by about 7:20. I greatly look forward to my classes every morning because it's always a surprise what we will be doing that day. Some classes are very relaxing and others are not, but no matter what, I enjoy it a great deal.

I think the trick when you become a mom and wife and time gets very limited, you HAVE to spend your time doing things you enjoy, especially when it comes to working out. If you don't enjoy it, you will not do it and there is no point in spending 30 minutes to an hour of your already unavailable time doing something you hate. BUT it's important to do something that challenges your body every day and that is just for you! My favorite part of the WHOLE class is the very end. Every time we finish a class, we have to lie on our backs with our eyes closed, and totally relax. The pose is called savasana and we get to stay here for about a minute - it's the BEST. Just me and relaxing!

If you are interested in finding out more about this program and whether or not you have this programming in your area, visit the Ion Channel website and click on Power Yoga. If you would like to know more about Adrienne Reed, the instructor, click here.

Have a great day everyone! Namaste. (Which means, thank you)

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