One practice that has enhanced all aspects of my life is yoga.  With the practice comes not only physical strength and flexibility but an accompanying inner strength and confidence.  I have taken classes on and off throughout my life but have seriously returned to yoga again and have been practicing regularly for the past three years.  While performing the postures I have experienced a sense of well-being and an inner stillness that allows me to see beyond myself, perhaps glimpsing what’s behind that mysterious veil we call life.  What I have found so enchanting about yoga is that it is the one physical exercise – but it is more than that – that I’ve never become bored with or dreaded doing.  Each seemingly difficult posture becomes a personal challenge, and in time, it is overcome.  The posture becomes easier with each practice session, progress comes in slow, steady, and rewarding stages.

What does this have to do with writing?  Perhaps much, perhaps little…But when the rush of the everyday is pushed to the background, the voice of the muse can be more easily heard, the spark of an idea gathers momentum and I know where my story should go.  Yoga isn’t about the whole fitness craze compulsion, it has been around for centuries – it isn’t about being pencil thin, it’s about being who you are and the best you can be for you, your body type and your age.  I’m not buying into what society tells me I should be, not going to look or act “my age” but will stay true to who I am – and that is what yoga helps me to discover, who I am beneath the many layers of self, with the confidence to be that person.

Two of the greatest instructors I’ve discovered are Shakti Mhi and Patricia Walden.  Check out the links section and purchase one or both of their dvds – you won’t be disappointed!