World Yoga Day

Happy World Yoga Day! I used to wonder what all the fuss was about yoga, thinking it was a fad for people who wanted to pretend that they were working out. When I tried yoga ten years ago, I felt the pace was too slow for my body and mind since I religiously went to the gym every day and preferred intense spinning or circuits classes. Now, thanks to discovering Yoga with Adriene last year, I've come to really value yoga. Here's why:

1. Playtime: I love that Adriene emphasises that yoga means taking time to explore your body, how you move, and what you're capable of. It's a time to experiment and try new things, both physically and mentally. 

2. Me time: I've come to value more diversity in my workouts, not only doing hardcore cardio but also time to build my core strength and balance, physically and mentally. Now that I'm working full time and doing a PhD at the same time, I value that yoga helps give my mind a break from academic work and challenges me in new ways. Yoga with Adriene does a great job in helping me to foster 'self-love' as she calls it and to love my body in new ways.

3. New challenges. I'm not very flexible and am not terribly good at all the yoga poses, but it's a great new challenge for me. I love that Adriene is so supportive and accommodating (she always says, 'If you fall, I'll catch you'), and that I can do her free yoga videos in my own time on my living room floor before work or after work, squeezing them into my daily life. 

I'm not being compensated in any way for promoting Yoga With Adriene, but she has done so much for me in this last year by providing her free 30 Days of Yoga and thirty YogaCamp videos all for free on YouTube that I want to spread the word to help others learn about her great work and the supportive community she fosters. I the last year, I've enjoyed doing her yoga videos at home in Edinburgh, with my Mom in Boston, and while travelling in Europe and the U.S.!