Yoga Is

Sometimes yoga is falling down. Sometimes it is frustration because I don't feel like holding down dog for another five counts. Sometimes it is my left leg on fire because I've been balancing on it for way too long.
But then yoga is growth. It is turning my frustration into gratefulness. It is peace. It is pushing myself.

And sometimes it is discovering you can do fun new poses! I was able to get into shoulder-pressing pose during class for the first time tonight!
I've been practicing yoga for one year (thanks to my original yoga buddy Ryan!). I've taken class at College Park Yoga at least once almost every week. I had dipped my toes into the practice with DVDs and classes at gyms, but one class at a real studio changed everything for me.

Ninety minutes sweating in a studio was intense. I left sore, stretched out and so much lighter. I was hooked.

The studio taught me a lot about form. Adjusting your form can make the pose.

Now thanks to my job at lululemon I am often hear about other local yoga studios and am able to try them out. I've fallen in love with Orlando Power Yoga and Guruv- two studios with hot power yoga that will push you harder than ever before!!

The new studios introduced me to poses that I had never heard of before. They'd encourage me to just try it and I was surprised when I could get into a lot of them (side crow anyone?!).

Now yoga still offers me the peaceful, refocusing retreat from the rest of my training-- but it's so much more! I'm having fun seeing what my body is capable of and setting goals.

I love yoga and can't get enough.

What does yoga mean to you? If you're participating in the 30 Day Yoga Challenge how is it going?