Yogaliciousness

I first discovered yoga back in 1996.

Before we talk about yoga, though, I need to give you some background. I had been out of graduate school for 2 years, and frankly, wasn't coping too well. It was the common illusion at CIM that you, of course being the best in your class (ha ha), would win a job right away; but this was not the case for most of us.

In fact, I was only just beginning to break into the freelance scene in Cleveland. I was piecing together a living by juggling several part time jobs, driving ridiculous distances to any orchestras that would have me, and enduring lots of personal stress along with it all.

So of course I fueled my insane lifestyle with chocolate, fast food (hell, who has time to cook with 7 part time jobs?!), diet soda by the bucket, and late-night meals. Often these things were to cure boredom and sleepiness as well as hunger; having something to do on the abysmally dull two-hour drive home from Erie, PA back to Cleveland was preferable to falling asleep at the wheel. And sometimes the wastebasket-sized vat of diet Pepsi was the only thing that kept me awake for a morning kiddie concert when I hadn't gotten home from the previous night's gig until after 1am.

It won't surprise you to learn, then, that after a few years of the space-shuttle mileage drives and ludicrous schedules, I developed a pre-ulceric version of gastritis, or gastric reflux disease (mine was pronounced and quite severe).

I went to my doctor only after I'd eaten enough Tums to turn me into a giant piece of chalk to no avail, and she prescribed a clinical strength Zantac for me. But what was rare in today's medical profession was that she sat down and talked to me for quite a while about other non-medicinal ways I could help heal my condition. (I think I'm only just now beginning to appreciate how lucky I was to be one of the few to get this treatment in today's over-prescribed and under-prevention-educated world of Western medicine.)

She actually recommended yoga and meditation as tools for stress management. For some reason I lit up when she said it, and so I went straight to Borders and bought my first yoga mat, a 3-VHS tape set for beginners, a yoga strap and block (props for modifying the poses for whatever your body needs at that moment). I'll never forget the first time I practiced. As I popped in the tape, I was bracing myself for yet another self-punishing and infinitely annoying exercise routine, with a row of eerily synchronized slap-worthy Barbie clones in their perfect leotards enthusiastically shouting out, "and BREATHE and ONE and TWO and FEEL THE BURN! BLAST that flab!" all with Mickey Mouse plastic lipsticked smiles permanently tattooed on their faces.

Instead the woman (Suzanne Deason, Gaiam's Gentle Yoga for Beginners) was calm and compassionate. I stood in my first Mountain Pose, put my hands together in Namaste, and immediately started crying. It was so kind, so inward and loving - absolutely not what I was used to feeling toward myself, and completely the opposite of what my frenzied life had become. My practice was sporadic but I kept picking it back up. I stopped eating late at night and no longer consumed my usual obscene amounts of chocolate and diet soda. I took about half the bottle of Zantac before I realized that I didn't even need it anymore.

It was then that I really became aware of my own ability to heal myself from the inside out. I read Caroline Myss's _Anatomy of the Spirit_ and for the first time learned about the chakras and their connection to emotion, thought and behavior patterns. I've been a dedicated yoga lover ever since.

So over the past 12 years, I've mostly practiced on my own. I tried several different yoga classes back in NE Ohio, and none of them felt right. There was one studio where the owner had some downright scary and slightly predatory (financially speaking) energy, and that experience alone had me vowing to be a home solitary practitioner for the rest of my life.

I did finally have my first positive experience with a yoga class, given by one of my best friends in Cleveland, Tamara Murphy-Klinder at Mindful Motion in Lakewood. She was so wonderful and the class was such a positive experience that it opened up my mind to looking for a class here in Milwaukee.

The portal for this turned out to be my church. I love the energy there and knew I'd feel comfortable, so when I saw a beginning Hatha Yoga class in the RE class schedule, I signed up. And boy, am I glad I did. I absolutely love it. I surprised myself by being able to do all of the postures and feeling strong and limber during most of them. The teacher, Kris Kramer, is nothing short of amazing. She speaks so informatively and clearly, and is constantly encouraging and knocking down any sorts of mental blocks and insecurities that might prevent you from being fully in your body. I cannot begin to tell you how life altering this is, especially for anyone with body issues.

I just got home from a class with her, and I can still feel my body singing with vibrancy, energy flow, awareness. I feel like my "yoga glow" is radiating out into the next room as I type this! I know I can't cling to it and expect it to last the whole week, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.