I use to be a runner, but pounding the pavement has taken its toll on my legs. Yoga has given me a way to work my body with less pain and it has also taught me to manage any pain my body still has.

Even more rewarding is that Yoga has taught me how to relax.  I used to think that to relax my eyes had to be closed and my muscles unengaged.  Now I feel most relaxed eyes open in a strenuous posture. It sounds odd but it is almost as if I was fighting the world before yoga, but while I am practicing yoga I am apart of the world instead.  It is not necissarily a sense of inclusion, but awareness of existence in the scheme of things.

Yoga has helped me reclaim my younger, stronger body.  After practive of almost 4-1/2 years, my chronic back pain has gone away.  I have slowly gained the ability to run up several flights of stairs without pausing, or getting very out of breath!  This is big for me, because before I started doing yoga, I had to rest a couple of times just going up one flight of stairs.

I believe yoga will help me keep and improve this condition as I mature into old age. This is extremely important for me, as I love to get out and walk, dance and be very active.  The thought of sitting home doing nothing is my worst nightmare.

Mentally, yoga has taught me to stop and listen to my own breath.  This is very important because at my age (62) most all my friends are on blood pressure medicine prescribed by doctors.   Not I.  The simple mental exercises I do in yoga practice have taught me how to lessen stress and remain in a calm frame of mind, which is very important in the fast paced occupation I have.  Many days in the course of doing my job I am called upon to multi task quickly with grace under pressure.  Yoga practice has honed this skill for me.

It basically saved my life. Before i started practicing yoga, i was a speed freak, food junky, and sufferer of depression/ anxiety which was a result of the aforementioned. When I began a yoga practice, I slowly began to change. I noticed a slight difference right after my first practice. After time, I finally kicked bad habits, drugs, and started a healthy diet. Once you have balance, you don't need drugs anymore or to eat unhealthy food.  Today, I am enjoying life again, clean and sober,  one day at a time. I practice yoga everyday!!

Thanks,

SID  

Yoga and meditation have been amazing form me.  I started yoga simply as exercise and stress reduction.  From there I began to notice that the way I reacted to stressful situations was different.  I am more patient, more compassionate, more thoughtful. 

I am also in better physical shape than before I began yoga and much happier with my body. 

I have only been meditating regularly for about a year. 

When I began yoga, I didn't realize the plethora of benefits that one absorbs internally as a result of practice.  I know now that I am truly a part of the universe and that I affect everything in the universe just as I am affected by everything else. 

I could go on and on......

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On May 9, 2007 12:57:44 PM SID wrote:

It basically saved my life. Before i started practicing yoga, i was a speed freak, food junky, and sufferer of depression/ anxiety which was a result of the aforementioned. When I began a yoga practice, I slowly began to change. I noticed a slight difference right after my first practice. After time, I finally kicked bad habits, drugs, and started a healthy diet. Once you have balance, you don't need drugs anymore or to eat unhealthy food.  Today, I am enjoying life again, clean and sober,  one day at a time. I practice yoga everyday!!

Thanks,

SID  

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Yes, in many ways i am seeing several changes. Being a mother of one and a singer, i have noticed a difference in my patience levels, my overall mental being ,and stress tolerance level. It is also improving my breathing and circulation .

I've also noticed that my singing voice is more relaxed - sounding and less agressive...

peace

I have always been interested in holistic healing, I knew that exercise was an integral part of it but never really was connected to my body.  I had endometriosis and painful ovarian cysts for about 10 years and now with just practising yoga for over a year I feel so different! I am in tune with my body like I have never been before.  My painful periods are not 100% gone but are about 95% gone.  I am leaner, toned and most of all happy.  I am in peace.  Things that used to get me upset just don't bother me anymore.  That translates to a change in my family.  When my husband and daughter see me so much in sync their attitudes change as well.  I am so grateful to yoga.