Newsflash: Yoga Can Change Your Life!

My family in 2011: Me and Pants, Bear 5 yrs, Bub 2 1/2 yrs, and Husby (nicknames to protect the innocent 😉).

You see that happy looking family?  What is really going on with the sweet mom there? I always struggled a bit with postpartum depression and my third pregnancy rocked me.  Since Josh and I were outnumbered, I felt that I had to stop doing anything for "me." I felt guilty for giving more attention to the baby than my other kids and I became angry and resentful.  I cried every night as the sun set. 

After 10 months of these feelings, Josh finally said, "You need to get some exercise."  I remember looking at him like, "how is that even an option?"  I felt that I needed permission to take care of myself.  I could not fathom dragging myself out of bed for the 5:00am cardio classes that I was taking before. My local gym had an 8:30pm yoga class and maybe I could feed Pants, put Bub and Bear to bed, and leave everyone with Josh.  The class time checked all my mommy duty boxes. 

My First Yoga Class

I went to that 8:30pm yoga class.  I did not own a yoga mat and had no intention of getting of one because I did not want to invest money into something that would not last.  So I sat on the bare floor in the back of the room and we breathed.  It felt like the first time I had taken a breath in 10 months. 

Yoga can change your life. Here is what it did for me. We started to move (a vinyasa style class) and I felt my muscles come alive again.  With the breath connected to the movement, I felt both calmed and powerful at the same time.  I felt the control and flexibility of the ballet I loved, and the vinyasa movement took me out of my head.  It was an amazing experience and I wondered why I had never taken the opportunity to try yoga.  Do you think I bought a yoga mat (paid link) ?  Indeed I did!  Many in fact!

I practiced consistently for a year.  In my home life, my outlook was completely changed.  I no longer felt guilty for my outlet because I knew that I was a better mother and wife when I returned from my calming and stimulating yoga.  You cannot help others if your cup is empty.  I could see how yoga changed my life already.

Yoga Can Change Your Life

Our Experience Abroad

My husband's life was in turmoil. He was working for a company that was quickly going under and my husband was going down with the ship. Josh started the application for the US Air Force and I looked for ways that I could help support the family finances from our home. 

Since I was not a stranger to teaching, I looked into 200-hour Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training program.  This seemed a good fit because if my husband did get accepted into the military, we would be moving and yoga is something I could teach anywhere.  The training was excellent and I started teaching a group of wonderful neighbors in my home.  Then Josh was accepted into the US Air Force and I became "Yoga Traveler." This is how yoga can change yoga life and continues to change my life.

This is me now, Yoga Traveler, doing yoga for myself and teaching others everywhere we move- Utah, Nevada, Japan, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Alaska.

Do you have a yoga story? This is how yoga can change your life. How has it changed yours?