Many years ago, I arrived at my very first yoga session thinking I had it in the bag. I mean, how hard could a bunch of stretching and chanting really be? An hour later, I was sweaty, exhausted and felt defeated. I had totally underestimated yoga — it’s actually a killer workout! I left the studio with my tail between my legs and vowed never to come back.

Photo source: http://www.econesting.com

A few years, a back injury, and many stress-inducing life and work situations later, I decided to give yoga another go. For the past month or so I’ve been doing daily yoga sessions during my lunch break, and this time around I’m really feeling the physical and mental benefits. Even during the most grueling sessions where I can’t so much as stand still on my own two feet, I leave feeling rejuvenated and go about the rest of my day in a lighter mood.

My newfound love for yoga happens to be timely as September is National Yoga Month. If you’ve been wanting to give yoga a try, this is the time to do it! More than 1,800 participating yoga studios are offering ONE FREE WEEK of yoga during September and October.

I look forward to building my practice day by day. I’m determined to successfully execute the bakasana (crane) and salamba sirsasana (headstand) poses.

Photo source: http://carrieowerko.com

And maybe someday — schedule and finances permitting — I’ll do a weeklong yoga retreat somewhere exotic like Bali. If any of you super-yogis have any helpful tips or resources for a novice like myself, leave a comment below!

~Namaste~