VERY excited to announce my VERY FIRST Guest Post! The lovely Tara from Imagine Balance- Please welcome her with open arms! You know about the project, Beaming diidhiti by now- but if you don’t, you can read a bit more about it here -> Beaming diidhiti – and its Tuesday, so you know, its INSPIRATION DAY in April! so… here we go…
When I started this post on how yoga has inspired my life, I thought I would start with something simpler. Then a friend asked why I haven’t posted on my book blog in over two weeks.
I started my book blog (25 Hour Books) in October 2009. I started out 2010 reading a “normal” amount of books – 8 in March for example. By the end of 2010, my reading had gotten out of hand – 22 in October and 20 in November. That’s at least 5 books a week. I would sit and read a 300-400 page book front-to-back almost every night.
I didn’t sleep much. I didn’t make time for friends or family. I already wasn’t seeing Shane much due to his work schedule and this just made our relationship more strained. I was gaining weight due to my inactivity. What’s worse is that I was daydreaming about having the life my favorite characters led. I wanted more excitement. More love. More everything. But what was I doing to achieve any of it? Nothing.
January 1st was a day of new beginnings. I’m not sure why I decided to get back on my mat, but something clicked and I stepped back into my asana practice. But this time was different. I let my yoga step off the mat with me.
Aside from time for my asana practice and for meditation, I started journaling my journey through Judith Hanson Lasater’s A Year of Living Your Yoga. Prior to this experience, I didn’t even know you could live yoga. I thought it was an great relaxing, centering physical practice. And while it is that, it is so much more to me now.
Thanks to lessons found in my yoga practice (and from the amazing online community), I’m facing the fears and anxiety I have had about my future and past. I’m learning to either accept things or change them. Yoga inspires me to be present in each moment. To find the time to live. While this doesn’t mean that I need to stop reading completely, it means that I have a new reason to read. I no longer do so to escape my life.
Yoga has also reminded me that I need to take care of my body. I’ve started cooking healthy. I plan dinner with my husband on the nights I don’t work instead of eating out. I feel stronger and more beautiful than I have in years. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.
Writing this and looking back on my life just a few short months ago compared to now makes me tear up. It seems impossible for that much change to have happened so quickly. But it did. It just took that first step.
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Tara is a twenty-something science nerd who loves yoga, tattoos, reading, laughing, and list-making. She likes to spoil her crazy kitten and amazing husband. When she’s not trying to learn to love veggies and pigeon pose, she’s cuddled up with a good book (most likely a snarky paranormal romance). You can find her blogging at Imagine Balance, or tweeting @ImagineBalance.
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It’s so great to hear the positive effects yoga has had on your life.
I’ve always read a lot but I went through a phase when I was reading five or six books a week too. I was also working the night shift too. I found time to do yoga during this time and thankfully that allowed me to create more balance in my life.
i love this post- goes to show you all the different ways we can grow- and the different ways everyone is effected
LOVE this post. I can definitely relate to hiding behind books. Funny how scary the world may appear at times. And amazing at everything we do to protect ourselves. <3
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