Boycotting all things healthy!

I knew it might be a few days til I could post. So I wrote on Monday, Feb 1st at home the following:

I don't think I ever got out of my negative thinking funk! I skipped yoga class on Tuesday because I was boycotting anything that resembled healthy. And yoga is in the very healthy category. So, no yoga for me!

Thankfully, I was able to ask my friends and mentors for help. I was able to be honest about my boycott. Most importantly I was willing to do things differently. Wednesday night I recommitted to taking care of myself. Thursday was a pretty easy day. I was just grateful to not be feeling so disgusted with myself.

Friday was tougher. Work was stressful. I was eating dinner later than normal, and on top of that my head kept telling me that food was going to fix how I felt. But I had already committed to meeting my friends for dinner. I was able to talk about my day, laugh and connect with people.

Saturday was a wonderful soul food day! A few weeks ago when I was really excited about yoga, I had asked a friend if she would be willing to photograph me doing yoga poses. She is Lynn Keller Photography located in Akron, OH. and she is an excellent photographer!

After my health/yoga boycott, I was slightly dreading the photo shoot. But I had committed, and so I went. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I brought my yoga blocks, straps, mat and a couple of books with yoga poses for reference.

As Lynn and I were preparing for the photo shoot, a cute little VW bug pulled up to her house. Little did I know, Lynn had invited one of my yoga class instructors to the photo shoot. I immediately felt self-conscious and worried about not being good enough at yoga. I realized that I was comparing myself to Nancy who has been practicing yoga for about 30 years. So, I decided to be open to whatever this may bring.

Nancy and Lynn both are very open, warm and caring people. Not mention their twisted and quick sense of humor, so we laughed a lot! So this photo shoot turned into my very own private yoga session. It was absolutely amazing! Nancy did a warm up with me right in the studio. She helped me with correct alignment and explaining the benefits of each pose. And she showed me appropriate modifications when poses were painful.

The afternoon just gave me a renewed sense of yoga appreciation. It reminded me how rewarding and fulfilling practicing yoga is. I feel so empowered after doing my yoga practice. It feels great to be able to do something I never thought I could. It feels great to do poses that are challenging. It feels great when a pose that was difficult becomes slightly easier. It feels great to be able to stop and connect with the universe. It really does feel like I am nourishing my soul when I am practicing yoga!

Nancy asked me if I had a favorite pose. I'm not sure about a favorite, but I do know that I am still shocked every time I do Plank pose. I mean I can't do a push-up but I can do Cataranga-Plank pose. After thinking a second, I do have to say that I usually love corpse pose. Because it means that I can relax after a challenging class!

Ending the boycott. Namaste.