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Many people I meet are quite confused as to the true meaning of Yoga. Most people picture you in lotus pose humming or chanting, and twisting your body into complex positions. Although yoga is mainly about posture and balance it is as much for your mind as it is for the body. It is aligning and balancing both body, mind and spirit.

My interest in yoga started about 12 years ago, shortly after the birth of my second son. I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and I was depressed. On impulse I seen a DVD for Yoga. I seen the image of the lady on the front, and I thought, how relaxing. My goal was to find exercise that wasn't bouncing and jarring my bones lol. I wanted to tone up and loose weight without the complicated bouncy-jarring-send-you-into-s hakes type of work out. I wanted a calm, serene work out that would help me both physically and mentally. I found just that.

As my practice went on, I felt different. I felt more aware, it was like slowing down life to my speed. It was actually noticing the world around me. I was actually paying attention, and realizing how everything is connected.

I realized that my mind felt calmer too. The way I always explain having anxiety to others was this: "Its like having 12 trains on 12 different tracks in your mind at all times. All 12 trains go in 12 different directions, and each of them demands your attention. So, I bounce from one to another to another till I feel like I short circuit and then I just get frustrated and quit."

Through yoga postures, I was able to really concentrate on how I felt, how the muscle felt, how it felt to breathe through the pose.. Much like the exercise a lot of us are familiar with of tensing a muscle then relaxing, tensing another, then relaxing. People swear that its beneficial and it relaxes you. Yoga is like that ~ in my opinion. Its exercising without being brutal to your body. Its strengthening your muscles, and with the turns and positions. It is relaxing and it really gives you a new appreciation for the amazing strength of your body and the ability of your body to work in tune with your breath and your breath with your body.

Yoga helped me to feel more in control of how my body moves, breathes, and functions. It helped me to feel connected in body, mind and spirit.

Through meditation, I learned how to just breathe and know that my breath is the force of my entire being. Sustaining life and spirit within me. Meditation helped me to deal with things as they arose in my mind, to either embrace

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