Some of you have asked if I “do” anything other than yoga. The answer? Yes. As of about two months ago, that is. And I have to be honest, this “other stuff” that I’m doing? It’s saved my yoga practice.

But I’d like to back up a little bit before I explain that last sentence.

During my last pregnancy (just a year and a half ago), I began having some painful things happen in my lower back and hips. Pretty normal, really, for pregnancy, but long lasting. Post-pregnancy, I began chiropractic care, which helped a lot. But honestly, I felt as though I was really relying on those appointments in order to live with pain. So a couple of months ago, I changed my diet. And it helped immensely. I’ve always had a love affair with nutrition, but these last several weeks have brought that up to a whole new level.

And in addition to my back pain disappearing completely (I have waited so long to say that), my physical recovery time when I work hard in yoga or in other activities has improved vastly.

Jeez. I sound like an infomercial. What a cheeseball. Sorry. I’m just so incredibly grateful and happy and relieved to be able to play with my boys, every day, without having to be so careful about how I pick them up or yell in alarm when I see my Kindergartener running at me to jump on my back.

My health is everything. To me, to my marriage, and to my children.

Before making some changes to support my health, my yoga practice was suffering greatly, and I noticed that I avoided teaching several poses because there was no way to demonstrate them if needed. If I practiced too aggressively or even tried to push the boundaries of where I knew I was, boy did I pay for it. It would take a lot of rest, many trips to the chiropractor, and a lot of Advil.

I started working out at butt-early in the morning at a place called Conviction CrossFit. Let me warn you, I’ve never been an athlete. I didn’t grow up playing organized sports of any kind. I’ve never been coached. And this is soooo opposite of my yoga practice that I was really scared at first. I feel very comfortable and feminine in my yoga practice and in my teaching, but there is a strength and warrior-ness in Crossfit training that I’ve never experienced…and I am loving it.

I encourage you to seek out that “thing” that will enhance your health. Whether it’s diet, or running, or hiking, or being on the water, whatever it is. For my husband for so many years, it was cycling. For another friend, it’s triathlons. For yet another, it’s moving back and forth between different styles of yoga.

For me now, it’s CrossFit.

And I can almost do an unassisted pullup.

It’s going to make my chataranga dandasana rock this world.

No related posts.