Yoga As Exercise

Recently a friend blessed me with a few yoga videos. She may never know how much she has blessed my life now. They are called Yoga Shakti by Shiva Rea and I LOVE them. The scenes are beautiful, the workouts are not difficult but you do feel like you're actually doing something, her voice is very soothing.

Anyways, just wanted to share why I love yoga videos right now as a stay at home mom.

1. I can do them any time. It's usually best during naps because Aria sees me doing some of the poses and thinks I have turned into a person jungle gym. She usually squeals with delight as she starts to crawl on me.
2. I don't have anyone around to judge me. Except maybe Levi sometimes... he did comment the other day, "No mom, that's not how you do it..." Thanks buddy. I have found that I'm just not self-conscious when I get to do yoga on my own. I am less judgmental against myself about my body and my clothing. I have no one to compare to, just me being me.
3. I can do as much or as little as I want to in a day. I like to do 15-20 minutes in the morning and then around 30 minutes in the afternoon. It helps me regain my energy and balance. I've found that I've been more energized after doing yoga than I do a normal workout. This is amazing to me. I think it's the breathing and stretching, and probably just the centered feeling I get from doing something so meditative.
4. I don't have to get out of my house. It's super cold (still! :(!) in Little Rock and so I'm not as apt to go for a walk, but I can do yoga in the warmth of my own house. I just put on my yoga pants, roll out my mat and I'm there. A-ma-zing.


Those are all the reasons I can think of right now.

Something extra special happened this morning. Aria was down for her nap and Levi wanted to make popcorn for a snack and I told him I had to finish this workout first and he could not interrupt until I was done or else we weren't going to have popcorn. So I started the DVD back and began working out. I look over and he is doing the exercises with me. He's in downward dog, upward dog, lunges, warrior poses. It was so cute I could hardly hold my poses because I wanted to laugh. I tried not to of course because I want him to know that he is AWESOME.

Just wanted to share.