Yogasm

I have been practicing yoga more intensely for the last few months. I have never gotten more high off walking into an exceedingly hot room and putting myself into seemingly unnatural positions day in and day out. The funny thing is what seems unnatural at first suddenly starts to feel more and more normal. Every class is a journey through challenging your mind and body to do things you have already told it it couldn’t do. I fully commit myself every morning to give a little more than the day before. And regardless of the end result, I always walk away from class more confident than when I walked in.

Carrying that positive yoga attitude with me throughout my day has been essential in surviving the plight of housewifedom. Having a breakthrough in class translates into having breakthroughs throughout my day; albeit it small or momentous, these moments have been a chance for me to grow.

Case in point, I have been volunteering rehabbing sea and land turtles for the last few years. I get more out of cleaning up turtle poop or getting bitch-slapped by a flipper than I ever did sitting behind a desk. This past weekend I was taught how to tube feed a sea turtle. This means trust and confidence was placed upon me to learn how to delicately work a tube down an endangered sea turtle’s esophagus injecting nutrients into its body in order for it to have a chance at survival. I have witnessed this process many, many times and have been comfortable being a spectator. Here was my chance to stop sitting on the sidelines and be an active participant in my own journey.

The trust placed upon me to nourish this beautiful creature is directly related to the confidence I have gained through my yoga practice; it’s because of this that I am pursuing my passion with renewed vigor and commitment and doing things I never thought I’d be able to do.

The fear of falling on my face is no longer an option. If I fall out of a pose in class I take a deep breath and start over. If the tube doesn’t go down the turtle’s throat the first time, I take a deep breath and start all over.

It’s not a race; it’s a journey. The important thing is that you’re headed in the right direction.