Peace of Mind Organizing

Developing a yoga practice

12 February 2019

I started my daily yoga practice on December 12, 2018. As I posted five days later in a post entitled Starting yoga where I am, I was able to get past all my barriers to getting started thanks to my wonderful niece, Miranda. I started the 30 Days of Yoga practice on the amazing Yoga with Adriene site and it has been wonderful.

Today marks two months of daily yoga. It’s gone from an obligation to something I look forward to every day, even on days when I feel tired. Adriene Mishler, the instructor, is a kind, loving and funny person. She always expresses her love for her viewers at the end of a session, and I found myself whispering “I love you” back to her the other day. Adriene makes me feel good about myself.

I started out wanting to do yoga in the morning, but it’s evolved into an end-of-the-workday practice. On a couple of occasions, I’ve not been able to do it until late evening and in those cases, I’ve broken from the 30-day programs and done one of Adriene’s bedtime yoga videos. Such a nice way to end the day.

Last week, I tweaked my lower back somehow, which limited my ability to bend in certain ways. In previous attempts to create exercise routines, a hurt back would have meant letting myself off the hook for the exercise. But I didn’t want to do miss yoga. So I did Adriene’s Yoga for Lower Back Pain video for several days in a row, which I think helped my pain and alleviated my fear that I’d hurt myself. And it meant I didn’t miss yoga. Hooray!

Folks, this feels like a miracle.

Today I finish Dedicate my second 30-day sequence and will move onto another. (Miranda suggested I try Yoga Camp.) These 30-day programs are right in my wheelhouse. I love not having to choose what to work on. And I love the variety.

I’ve noticed a few benefits to my daily yoga, beyond the calm enjoyment. I can sit more comfortably cross legged (something that’s always been fairly excruciating for me). The other day I squatted to sort some papers for about 15 minutes with no problem. My core feels stronger. And I feel proud of myself. It’s the greatest.

If you’ve been thinking about doing yoga but don’t know how to get started, please check out Yoga with Adriene. If you pick a 30-day sequence you won’t have any more decisions to make. I was an absolute beginner and 30 Days of Yoga was not too advanced for me. And Adriene always suggests ways to make poses more challenging, so it’s not a beginners-only practice. If I’ve piqued your curiosity at all, please give it a try. I think you’ll thank me.

Tagged with: adriene mishler, exercise, habits, routines, yoga, yoga with adriene

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