Ah, Yoga...How Good You Are To Me

Did you know that yoga can help relieve depression and anxiety?  Or that you can sleep better?  Have better brain function?  Have better social skills?  Or that you can even learn to accept yourself?

When I first started practicing yoga, I didn't care about any of those things; I just wanted to be more flexible.  After all, that's why many of us do yoga in the first place, right?  

My yoga journey first began in May of 2009, where I had lost a lot of my flexibility for a multitude of reasons (schoolwork, not being competitive, girls, classes, work; there were so many).  So I decided that, by the time I went back to school in late August, I would be able to touch my toes again.  Seemed simple enough, right?

Actually, it was.

I was floored by how, after only a few weeks of doing yoga 2-3 times a week, plus little 5 minute bits of yoga here and there, I was able to touch them!  Hooray toes!

What I didn't count on was the psychological benefits of it.  I felt a lot calmer; more engaged with the world.  I thought I was only gonna use yoga for the physical benefits; now I use them for mind, body and spirit.  

The moral: try new things and give them a chance; they'll surprise you.