If you’ve been reading my blog over the last few years, you will know that I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with yoga. And just as I was moving into loving yoga fully, the pandemic hit. I took yoga classes at a studio near my home. I loved the ritual of going to the studio, walking in and knowing the teachers and some of the other students, taking my shoes and socks off and quietly walking into the heated, no talking studio, setting up my mat and smiling at my classmates. I’d grown to really appreciate the teachers and their devotion to yoga and to the students. I’d learned to judge myself less while on the mat and to relish the time without technology or the demands of the day. My body and my mind felt so much better after a yoga class.

The last class that I attended was in March of 2020. I left that class with such gratitude for the opportunity to practice yoga and for the growth I’d made in my own practice. Little did I know that it would be at least a year before I could even consider going back. I tried to take the pre-recorded classes that the studio offered online, but they just weren’t cutting it for me. I missed my yoga routine. I chalked my unhappiness up to another thing that COVID had taken from me. I was in full blown victim mode and I was going to make myself and everyone around me suffer by not doing any yoga. So there!

Not surprisingly, that didn’t go so well. Except for some minor stretching, not much yoga had been done since the start of the pandemic. Then one day in December, a friend posted a 30-day yoga challenge called Yoga with Adriene. Admittedly, I didn’t notice Adriene, but I did notice her sweet dog lying next to her on the yoga mat. So I showed up for the dog and the 30-day challenge that started in January. On January 1st, I started yoga with Adriene and her sweet dog, Benji. I did the 30-day challenge and I’m continuing on with Adriene’s recordings on YouTube.

Come for The Dog, Stay for The Self-Care

I can’t say for sure, beyond Benji the dog, what exactly worked with this yoga adventure. Adriene seems to be a soft spoken, kind, young woman. The yoga is relatively simple, and yet it enticed me to come back every day. Maybe it was the peacefulness of Adriene, or the millions (literally) of followers and their loving comments that led to me feeling part of a yoga community again. Maybe it was being challenged to actually complete something during this rather draining winter and pandemic. Who knows. What I do know is that I feel better, happier, physically stronger, and relaxed.

Shocking, right? Who would have ever guessed that a daily yoga and breathing practice would help one to feel better when she was feeling sorry for herself while quarantining during a dreadful pandemic? Why is it often so easy to forget what helps when we are feeling down? And who will volunteer to remind me of this the next time I forget? I think what got me off the couch and back on the mat was the opportunity of a good challenge, and of course the dog.

I’m going to remember that the next time I’m in full blown “poor me” mode. What’s your go-to method for overcoming that victim feeling and moving into action? How do you remember to do it when you are not wanting to do it? Ultimately, I showed up for the dog and the challenge. Or maybe it was really the dog and saying it was the challenge sounds good. Either way, I did it

Love,

Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC