I first got into Yoga when I was around 13 or 14 years old. I didn’t know much about it other than that it involved stretching and moving your body in a way that seemed easier than running. Since I had a love-hate relationship with exercise, I was looking for anything that was easier than running.
Little did I know, my first practice ended up being way more difficult than I thought it would be. The downward dog I had thought would be so easy to hold proved to be a challenge. My shoulders ached and my legs felt heavy. Over the years, I went to more classes, and I learned more about the type of classes I personally enjoyed.
I definitely wasn’t going to yoga everyday; I actually started practicing yoga through an app called PocketYoga, which allowed me to choose my difficulty level and practice at home, where I felt comfortable and no one was watching me.
As I got older (and braver), I started to go to more classes in person. After every class, I felt physically stronger. I started to notice over time that after every class, I also felt calmer.
When I went to college, I started to look into different varieties of Yoga. Since I lived in New York City, I had a lot of options to choose from. There seemed to be a yoga studio on every block. After some research, I ended up choosing a hot yoga studio only a few blocks from me. Even five years ago, hot yoga was not cheap, and even though it was an expensive investment, I told myself I would make it worth it by going everyday.
Before I went to my first class, I felt anxious with excitement and nervous that I would embarrass myself. I tried to walk in confidently, hoping that everyone around me wouldn't notice that it was my first time there. The class itself was a blur of sweat and heat, but I do remember the emotion of joy and pride in myself that I felt afterwards.
I started going every day; mostly because I had to in order to rationalize the cost in my head, but also because I had never found myself enjoying any other form of exercise as much as I enjoyed hot Yoga. Days turned into weeks, and soon the hot yoga classes became part of my regular routine.
I had been living in a college dorm for a few months at this point, and, to say the least, I was not enjoying it. My roommates and I had varying hours of functioning, so I struggled to get a lot of sleep and I got sick often. The weather had begun to change in the city, and the early cold winter air slowly started to seep in between the concrete buildings. Hot Yoga became my escape from my dorm, and from the looming winter. Slowly, I began to realize that on a day without Yoga, I would struggle more with my mental health than I did on a day with Yoga.