Yoga – You Won’t Regret It

Posted October 18, 2012 by cdelnero

For those of us who, like me, are buried in the depths of this program we can truly understand the need to keep our mental and physical health at the forefront. I do feel strongly that we deserve to reward ourselves for all of our hard work. But sometimes we reward ourselves in the wrong way. For example, I tend to treat myself with spending money and eating delicious food, which is a bad choice for my wallet and my waistline. I should be making better choices; after all, I’m paying for a gym membership that I never use and I have a bike collecting dust in the closet.
This week however, I discovered what has been missing from my life all this time: Yoga. My first ever yoga class was on Monday and I am completely hooked! Not only did it feel so good to stretch, but I could feel my muscles working and I could feel my breathing becoming even. At the end of the class, we spent about 15 minutes doing guided relaxation, laying on our backs in the dark. It was incredible.
Throughout the class, if we did a pose or stretch that was particularly challenging, we always took time after that to rest and the instructor repeated, “let go of the work you just did and reward yourself with rest.” This mantra seems simple, but I think it is so important to any of us who work, go to school, take care of a family, etc. You work hard and you deserve to let go of that work and relax and reward yourself.
Even though I’ve only been to one class, I can already say that I would recommend yoga to anyone, especially those of us in this program. I know how stressful it can be and I cannot stress enough the importance of not over-working yourself. Look around your area and find a yoga class. You wont regret it!