Hitting the Reset Button
I am in the health care profession and have always been a hard working perfectionist. Before yoga I was stressed out regardless of the situation. I was in fight or flight all the time- at work and at home. I started yoga for purely physical reasons to help my running and biking. A year ago I injured my back and am not sure if it was from work or my athletic endeavors. I noticed from my first class at Greenville Yoga that this was going to help.
A year later I am pain free, work stays at work, I sleep better, am less reactive, more present and less of a perfectionist. Even my family notices the difference. Each day I practice gratitude and forgiveness. I now realize that self-care is not selfish. It is essential
May 2012
Just wanted to share that tonight when I walked into class and you greeted me with the fact that I was the "student of the month," the sarcastic me wanted to respond "more like loser of the month" since I was feeling like the most un-yogic person on the planet at that particular moment.
It's been a bad day at work for way too many months now, and the other stresses in my life reached Defcon 5 territory this weekend. Globally pissed off and feeling like I was radiating negativity with every breath pretty much sums up my demeanor. Then, there was class.
I realized something tonight: Each time I step onto my yoga mat, it's like hitting the "reset" button. Tomorrow I can re-commit and try again. Tomorrow I can strive to remain peaceful in my heart at work, to be kind and compassionate to my coworkers and patients, and to lead by example. Tomorrow I can be less reactive, more empathetic, make better food/drink choices, make overall better decisions, whatever....but right this minute I can let my shortcomings of today go.
I'd like to say that because I practice yoga I am a changed person, someone who never loses her temper, overreacts, drops the f-bomb or bangs on the steering wheel in traffic. The fact remains that I am most definitely an imperfect human being. I still do all those things, but maybe with less frequency.
When I walked out of class tonight, I was calm and at peace. On the drive home, I did my mental gratitude list, and there were many things on it. Yoga made me stop and take notice of the abundance of things on my list. Enough said.
November 2012
