Picture it~ running down the stairs with a big garbage bag to toss in bin… already going through a to do list and it’s not even 6am. I have a tendency to do this… think ahead and try to plan and squeeze a lot into a little. I’ve been working on this for almost 7 years in therapy and usually have a plethora of tools to reduce this pattern. It’s never about the to do list… it’s the chaos of summer~ the kids home and not home~ the shop bustling~ the social events mid week + after 7p (lol… you know I love and early bed time) it’s all the appliances that broke in the same week… etc etc etc… so picture it~ I’m literally running down the stairs.

I get to garbage bin in my garage and throw bag inside~ I happen to drop my little towel I was going to place on my spin bike. I was two days into a fitness challenge through peloton. I go to grab towel and it’s like an explosion of pain hit my low back. Not sure I can feel my legs. No body is home. I don’t have my phone. It hurts~ like terribly. We are no stranger to back pain in this house so I resolved to slowly + gingerly get myself on the concrete floor~ to lay flat on a hard surface. I did~ and as I laid there I took some deep breaths. “How do I let myself get to this place” The back pain is the culmination of my anxiety running rapid. I was keeping my sugars low, but summer time can prove to offer more drinks~ more Italian ice~ more wrinkles in the schedules… I was running myself physically + mentally into the ground~ just when I was feeling so awesome…. Ugh!!!

There goes my lifting challenge I had just started! I was pissed~ I hate not completing things (even at the detriment of peace) So I tried to use what my therapist has taught me… breathe, relax, come up with a solution that works for NOW. Be in the NOW!! 

Both my sons are athletes + I’m on them all the time about stretching + yoga… but do I practice what I preach? That would be a heck no. I sometimes act like I’m in a competition… but~ like~ with who? I laid on that concrete floor and thought… it’s time to make a much needed change… scale back~ treat your body with grace and be where you are at. I remembered a great 10 min yoga class on my peloton app I used the last time I tweeked my back… it’s so good~ ( I’ll post in my stories for you guys) … it started out that I would commit to this one 10 minute class everyday until I felt better…. Than I added another 10, than another 10… and I could see the shift not only physically but mentally. About 5 days into this  I decided I would commit to yoga every morning for 30 days. 

I started out doing this for the flexibility~ for the movement~ but what I gained is so much perspective. I’m my own worst enemy~ my biggest critic. But when you are on the mat something can shift if your world. Peace can overcome stress and fluidity can bring a much needed break for an otherwise hectic day. I can struggle with meditation + this felt like a good way for me to meditate. I tried some forms of yoga I had never heard of (#yin yoga + #powerflow) I tried different yoga instructors (all through peloton) and I found some I liked~ some I loved ~ some I don’t think I’d pursue further. 

This practice is a wonderful way to spend time with yourself honoring yourself and praising the body you have. HIGHLY RECOMMEND xoxo