Namaste

I have been practicing yoga consistently for two weeks now. I have been able to intentionally set a routine and stick to it. I go through my practice every morning before getting ready for work, and it helps me to concentrate on my focus and intention for that day. Some days, I end my day with a bedtime yoga practice. Ending my day with relieving my stress, stretching my muscles and calming my mind help me to have a much more restful night's sleep.

I have found that Yoga With Adriene has the best series of videos for me. She is very easy to follow and allows you the freedom to not only find what feels good by making the practice work for you and your ability, but she also encourages you to acknowledge thoughts that come to you as you go through your practice, instead of asking you to push the thoughts completely out of your mind.

My journey in the past two weeks has been amazing, and I have seen the benefits of it daily. In no particular order, I want to acknowledge and talk about these benefits.

More energy (prana): when I begin my day by waking up my muscles, I also am able to awake something in my brain. The body is an amazing thing. When you spend any amount of time on self care, you can feel the recharge and refuel from brain to toes.

Better sleep: I don't sleep much, and in general I don't sleep very soundly, but when I do yoga before bed, and allow myself to acknowledge, tackle, and in the end unwind my day, I am able to sleep better than I ever have. It relaxes me so well that some nights I can't even make it through the whole sequence without almost falling asleep.

Closer to God: I use my yoga time not only to improve my flexibility, acknowledge my day, or set my intention for the day, but also to connect with God by trusting Him to show me what my body is capable of. I use the time to praise Him for all He does for me daily and bring everything to Him while on my mat.

Better range of motion: every day, the practice gets easier for me. This shows me my improved flexibility and range of motion, but after only a week, my trainer also noticed a difference! Just a week! I love it.

More self-esteem and confidence: I find my confidence growing daily because I am allowing myself to spend time on self care and self love. This is something I am not usually very good at, so just 30 minutes a day has made a world of a difference.

Improved workouts: running is hard. Running is still hard, no matter how much I do yoga. But my stamina is better, my legs don't hurt as much, and I am feeling confident that I will be able to do that half marathon this summer. Yoga has also made me stronger, allowing me to push harder and challenge myself more in my weight training.

Less stress: I don't have less stressful events in my daily life, but I am able to deal with the stress in a more positive and effective way. Instead of my mind going to all the bad places when something comes up, I take it to Jesus, practice my breathing and allow myself to acknowledge my feelings in a healthy way.

I'm sure I could go on all day about how much yoga has improved my life these past two weeks. But I also want to acknowledge that yoga doesn't have to be perfect. It is about you finding your ability, meeting your body where it's at, and improving yourself on a daily basis. Some people do not have the ability to create most poses in yoga practice, and that's ok. Stretching (whether it's basic stretches for every day, yoga, pilates, chair yoga, bed yoga, or even just the awareness of breath) has the same benefits I have experienced in my practice. Pure Home and Body outlined 10 benefits of stretching as well: more flexibility, ability to manage stress, clearer thinking, pain management, improved body awareness, better sleep, injury prevention, happier, weight loss and improved balance and posture.

No matter what your ability is, I challenge you to join me. Find awareness with your body and practice some self love. Namaste.