Personally… I’ve taken a few yoga classes. Some I enjoyed and others I didn’t. The ones that I’ve enjoyed have been the slower more relaxed classes. I had one instructor, a woman I actually knew through a co-worker, that really kicked my butt and also made me feel horrible. It was a beginner class that was not so beginner… or relaxing. Since that class I haven’t pulled out my mat but maybe I should put on some quiet music and go through some poses I like. I do enjoy it and most of the time I feel so good afterward.

I tried yoga on and off since college, but it never ‘stuck’ until I tried a heated flow class at the Baptiste Power Yoga studio. Since then I’ve been hooked – and honestly can’t go more than a few days without a practice. (This has been since 2001, so 8 years). Even though I can’t physically live comfortably without a yoga practice, I don’t consider myself a yogi in the truest sense of the word. In the spirit of unapologetically myself I say this: I have bad habits, I’m a bit overweight, I curse at bad drivers. I like beer. A lot. Quite honestly, I don’t have the time or funds to get to class as much as I used to (I have a 3 year old and work, a lot). My mat unrolled at home or in the office becomes my sacred space whenever I need it, even if it’s for 10 minutes.

But here’s the thing – yoga can help sooth the rough edges of life like nothing else. It can actually improve whatever other fitness activities you are in love with. It helps your breathing, it expands you so that you can bring more of what you love into your body and your life. And once you practice a few poses and find the freedom within them, you will feel like you’ve arrived home whenever you are in them.

So I hope that whoever wins a mat will find a little space, and a little more room for a practice, even if it’s a small one, because sometimes, that’s all you need.

I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one. Several of us girls were red and shamefaced and looking around sheepishly. But we never spoke of it.

Meditation on the other hand I do daily and love it. I can get into a really deep place when I meditate and I am able to block out my surroundings which often include three or four kids, the phone, etc. Well, last summer during a day at the beach with about 20 close friends, it was meditation time and I wasn’t going to miss my daily retreat. I got comfy on my beach towel and got into my zone. I would say ten to fifteen minutes passed when I decided to return to the real world. I opened my eyes to find that my friends had picked up and moved- the tide was coming in quickly! I suppose they would have eventually alerted me, but I totally blocked out their conversation and the commotion!