Choose You Blog

Ann found me, actually. And from the first minute, I was glad she did. She’s consistently thoughtful, kind, caring, funny, and someone who meets “good egg” status with room to spare. Not to mention, a great writer. As I got to know Ann, and her story, my interest and respect only grew. When she began to grow in yoga, I followed her status. I admire so much about Ann, but I am mostly very grateful to know her and that she was willing to once again do me a favor and write a lovely story that shares her Choose You moment.

What’s your Choose You story? Send it to me at chooseyoujulie@gmail.com and tell me which Choose You pledge(s) you’ve committed to, and how you made that choice!

Last December I signed up for yoga teachers’ training after a five month debate with myself on the sanity of such a move.

The 200 hour training meant a huge commitment of my family as well as myself because as it stretched over a six month period. In addition to the 27 hours I would be gone every third weekend of the month, there was reading, writing and additional personal yoga class time that ate into our lives.

Even though I knew I’d found the perfect program of study for myself, I felt a great deal of reluctance to ask my husband and then seven year old daughter to be prepared to cut me slack.

It was my husband, who finally pointed out the bottom line to me, “Hard as this is for you to hear, we can manage,” he said.

He also reminded me that this training represented the next big leap in a personal journey that I’d been on for a long time.

When we met in the winter of 2007, I was a physical wreck. Widowed for just over a year, the ravages of care-taking and single parenthood couldn’t have been more obvious. I’d only just begun overhauling my diet and exercise routine. I suffered from chronic stress that manifested in insomnia and digestive issues.

Like many people, I resisted the idea of yoga. The warm fuzzy New Age vibe rubbed uncomfortably against the notion that exercise should not be spiritual. However, painfully locked shoulders, migraines and knees so sore that I hobbled up and down stairs got me through the door of that first yoga class and from there, I didn’t look back.

I read somewhere that there are two kinds of yoga students, those who yoga changes and those who quit practicing. There is truth in that. At some point, yoga ceases to be exercise and begins to influence lifestyle.

Because of yoga, life is approached mindfully. It’s difficult to not think about the impact of my thoughts and actions on me and those around me.

Most astonishing of all to me is that how my body feels and functions takes precedent over how it looks. In working to realign my limbs, I have finally taken possession of myself for myself.

One of the great joys of teaching yoga is watching students find themselves in the poses. Finding me through yoga has been eye opening because I am not at all whom I thought I would find.

It’s been three years since my first yoga class, not quite a year since I started teacher training and a bit more than seven months since I began teaching. My knees are nearly pain-free. My massage therapist cannot believe the changes in my upper back and shoulders. But more than physical comfort is the emotional ease I’ve discovered. I was never one who was satisfied with her body. My weight especially drove me to extremes. I’ve gained and lost hundreds of pounds in the last thirty-five years. But today, as a 47-year-old woman, I can say I am just right and getting “righter” all the time without mania or really conscious effort at all.

By choosing to put myself forefront for just those six months, I have uncovered all the wonder and joy that one life could need or want because I finally have balance or at least the means to maintaining balance.

About: Ann Bibby is a blogger for Care2.com and her own site, anniegirl138. She also teaches at The Yoga Room in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.