In the Beginning...and we all began somewhere.

In the beginning...and we all began somewhere. Any time is a good time for someone to find a well-suited yoga practice. I have heard students who found yoga later in life say how much they wish they would have found it sooner mainly because they begin to feel better about everything in such a short amount of time. I am one of those women and have dedicated my life to its pursuit. After years of experience with yoga, I now believe yoga actually pursued me. My friend Michele Hebert said the main principle in yoga is the spine. I agree. I have learned that a healthy nervous system is the key to a balanced life. Yoga and I met when I was 24 years old, which was 17 years ago in 2011. It was love at first sight. The philosophy resonated sweetness and hope in an uncertain world of a then young adult. I lived in Mexico City for three years and while there became interested in the history of Mexico and other ancient traditions such as Buddhism and yoga. Something resonated with me energetically about yoga’s inception. Maybe our nervous system is an antennae reaching to the universe, sending and receiving messages in accordance with the law of attraction? I could not escape yoga, nor did I want to. I liked the way it made me feel and feeling is also energy. The energy inspired me to delve deeper into knowing yoga and life, as we know, can bring many experiences to help us understand that which we seek. Why is yoga so AWEsome? The autonomic nervous system consists of two systems: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The two subsystems work together to regulate the body including heart rate. The sympathetic system accelerates heart rate and the parasympathetic nervous system slows the heart rate down. Finding the quality of breath and learning to control the breath brings the parasympathetic nervous system into balance with the sympathetic nervous system. Balance is the key. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, heart rate increases and blood flow restricted to the organs is restricted. Instead, blood is sent to the limbs in response to the fight or flight mechanism. Breathing into the upper chest breathing is caused by stress which then triggers the sympathetic nervous system into overdrive. The energy needed throughout physical exertion to discharge energy accumulated during stress, if not met, will result in anxiety. When this happens, anxiety is perpetuated by continuous arousal of the sympathetic nervous system which results in states of irritability or even hyperventilation, adrenal exhaustion, and diminished blood flow to the vital organs. Studying the interrelationship between emotions, breath, and the autonomic nervous system could bring valuable insight to the prevention and treatment of many stress-related diseases. Learning and practicing mindful meditations, pranayama, and full diaphragmatic breathing, which expands the chest while contracting the abdominal muscles, are found to achieve the best results intended by the autonomic nervous system in the body. Becoming a widow at age 30, yoga empowered me to eventually believe in myself and refrain from slipping into the mindset of a victim. We have a choice to see the world through whatever shade of glasses. We decide whether we will be happy or not happy. Life and our experiences have a way of helping us synthesize and gather wisdom, especially when we have lost a loved one and also when we are or someone we love is faced with a diagnosis of disease.