Guest Post: Slowing Down And Hitting The Mat

Marcie is a high school friend that I have recently reconnected with due to our discovered common interests.  She’s beautiful, extremely passionate, and one of the sweetest people I’ve met.  So sweet that although we just started reconnecting she was willing to write a post to help me out while we are relaxing to the music of the Mexican waves.  Thank you Marcie!  I can’t wait to hit the mat with you when we finally get to Asheville!

My name is Marcie Walker. I went to high school with Lauren and I started following her writing because I noticed that she describes so articulately what healthy living means to her. As I continued reading, I found all of her posts to be interesting, passionate and easy to relate to. I’m hooked!

I was asked to guest-blog for Lauren because she is leaving for a lovely vacation and won’t be writing for a few days. I want to take this opportunity to rave about a simple discovery that has changed my life – yoga!

I purchased a yoga mat and instructional yoga dvd well over two years ago and never opened it until a few months ago. I couldn’t believe that being the healthy-eating and exercise freak that I am, I couldn’t bring myself to start practicing yoga. I figured out that I was hesitant due to a fear of slowing down. I constantly over-extend myself and feel a huge amount of stress due to this, but as soon as I slow down it just feels wrong. So, I jump back up and over-extend some more. I have been trapped in this vicious cycle for years now and yoga just seemed too…SLOW. I felt that if I wasn’t running during my workout, I wasn’t accomplishing enough.

Then one day, I just did it. I have no idea what made me finally open up the yoga dvd and plop down my yoga mat, but I did and it was amazing. I fell in love with yoga because it is simultaneously relaxing and energizing. I was surprised because the workout was so pleasant to do, yet I felt stronger and more fit after just one routine.

This was several months ago and I am now practicing yoga several times per week. I still consider myself a beginner and I am looking forward to taking yoga classes and continuing to make yoga a part of my life. Now I’m working on convincing my husband to slow down and practice yoga in addition to the jogs that we love to take together. I recommend yoga for many reasons but stress-relief is the primary benefit in my life.

Fortunately, this over-extender has found a way to relax just in time. I begin graduate school this month. While working a full-time day job and attending graduate school, I will need all of the stress-relief I can get!