It's been said before, and there are hundreds of thousands of articles out there in defense of yoga…and this will just add to the collection.

A couple years ago I got into yoga and did it every day for a month straight. It was a YouTube challenge I found for the New Year, and I had been practicing flows for a few months prior anyway. I decided to commit to doing it every day because I loved it and how it made me feel, and I wanted to get better and stronger. After that month I began incorporating more Pilates into my exercise routine. I loved yoga, but I wanted to change it up after that month.

Several months later was when I began to develop an unhealthy relationship to exercise, and by that time, I had lost my yoga practice completely. Since making more of an effort to heal myself mentally and physically, I've returned to my yoga practice. I am a member at CorePower Yoga, and while I love to sculpt and pulse it out, yoga is so much more than a workout (and yes, for everyone who thinks it's not hard, try it…and actually engage your muscles because then you'll know what strength and stamina is). Yoga is mindfulness, awareness, compassion, consideration, acceptance, commitment, persistence, dedication, and a way to honor yourself and others.

Yoga forces me to engage my mind and be aware of myself in ways I lose throughout my busy days. It forces and encourages me to honor and love my body for whatever state it is in at any point. It fosters compassion, understanding, acceptance, and kindness toward myself, which I then want to exude to those around me. The heightened awareness I have of myself while doing yoga allows me to truly tune in to where I am at mentally and physically at whatever point in the day I practice. This grounds me and helps me make peace with myself and my world.

Yoga is powerful for my mind and body. I am able to push myself physically in ways I never would do with traditional forms of exercise, and the emphasis on things like balance, core strength, and flexibility are skills that I want both in my body and in my mind. They are assets that can help me hold powerful and dynamic poses or help me get through a tough day.

I know that yoga is not everyone's cup of tea, but if I can encourage anyone to try to bring a bit of yoga into their life, I will say come back to your breath forever and always. I forget to breathe when I am working hard physically or when I am anxious mentally; I lose my steady and strong breath. When I remember to breathe to release tension, whether in a taxing physical posture or in a moment of emotional difficulty, I find release and clarity. So, my friends, just breathe.

Namaste.