Back To Yoga in Miami

  I won't lie, I was scared, would my body hold up, would I strain myself, push myself?? Well I decided to wrangle out of my routine and give it a go! I'm talking about getting back into yoga after 6 years!

In my late 20's I discovered the power of yoga, in Miami at that time Madonna was practicing with a teacher and making yoga cool, that's not exactly why I tried but hearing yoga in the NEWS here and there interested me. The yoga I began practicing I can best describe was showy, I know that sounds weird, so I'll explain. The mostly women in class were blessed with outstanding bodies and since it was Miami wore little to cover those bodies, our ( also Madonna's ) teacher who became quite notorious was quite the character, completely full of his own ego, he controlled his classes with a strange sexual energy spiked with obscenities. I truly doubt he was like that with Madonna, she wouldn't have dealt with any one else's ego, and to be honest after a dozen or so classes I'd had enough myself. 

I flowed in and out of yoga classes for the next decade and a half from Hot Yoga ( Bikram ) power yoga, flow yoga, alignment yoga, on and on, settling mostly into Power Yoga, a vinyasa based yoga that is done repetitively and quickly enough to bring on a serious sweat, develop a nicely toned body especially arms and back since you are basically doing a series of modified push-ups. 

At the same time I was injuring myself frequently, pushing myself too hard, looking at other students in class wrapped up like pretzels and trying to duplicate with painful consequences. It was my Ego this time, instead of being in my own space and enjoying my own yoga practice I allowed myself to quietly compete with other students, who could stretch further, wrap further, stand still longest. How embarrassing and ridiculous looking back now, but hey that was then today I'm older and wiser!

 I had a baby five years ago and even during my pregnancy didn't practice yoga for fear of miscarrying, I had miscarried a year before my son was conceived at 43.

So to make a long story short I decided to begin my new foray into yoga with a wiser approach to my body that I am determined to take care of and nurture through yoga instead of torture. 

The class was amazingly beautiful, easy to follow, and yet I felt relaxed, strong, confident, and aligned.

If you're ever in Miami check out the Green Monkey Yoga Studios, Allaine Stricklan is my teacher for Alignment Yoga, Love Her!