PREFACE
I always thought of myself as a fairly athletic person. But my
fi r s t y o g a c l a s s? T h a t w a s i m p o s s i b l e. I s t r u g g l e d t h r o u g h
every moment of it, dripped sweat all over my mat, and cursed
inside my head, wondering how someone could become so
attached to this stupid practice. It was physically demanding,
and I was too worried about my quivering thighs and that
acrobatic person on my left to feel any sense of calm.
But during the last fi ve minutes of class, when I was lying
on my back in the fi nal resting pose, I fi nally understood the
hype. Suddenly, my body relaxed. All the negative thoughts
about yoga that were running through my head evaporated.
Everything I had been fretting about disappeared. And I
wondered: If I’m feeling this good after my very fi rst try, what
will happen if I keep coming back?
I went back to yoga the very next day, and for months
after I continued to experiment with the practice. Over time
that feeling I had at the end of my fi rst class became more
and more present in my daily life. And while that might
sound all hippy-dippy, I promise you it’s not. Yoga is about
feeling good and making bright all the places in your life that
seem dark. This is what yoga has provided to me over the
years, and it’s the reason I decided to become a yoga teacher.