Clarity and peace in the darkest times

Messy day full of trying to control what can't be controlled. Followed by a supremely clear day of effortless work and personal chores. It's been a long time since that extreme clarity has graced me. I am so pleased with how yoga is healing and doesn't let me run and hide like I would like too.
Thank you, Marina Gan for your healing transforming acupuncture.

My health is paramount and then reveling in what joy I have around me, not to wish for what isn't. I do the yoga and meditative work to accept what I have IS enough. I chop wood and carry water and toil like us all, and I find LIFE is GOOD. ~ ahhh Lucylife.

Yoga changed my life and gave me the courage to live the best one possible

You've all heard about the benefits of yoga, but have you taken a class that teaches you the fundamentals? We all talk about needing to reduce stress, but how do you go about getting on track and stopping the rush and intensity of our fast paced lives? Can you find contentment in a bottle? maybe, but will it be good for you, or long lasting even permanent bliss? I think not.

I wish to tell you that you can start to take control over your life, your health and your peace of mind. This is certainly one of the few things in life we do have power over to bring about positive change. We can't control when we'll loose our job, or when a loved one might break our heart or worse yet a death of a family member. Any number of circumstances can effect us but we don't have to succumb to the misery or run away from it. Yoga teaches us how to handle any stress that can come up in life and how to be healthy with longevity into our 90's.

I suggest that you start to live the best life you can. I offer for you to take a yoga class at Santosha School of Yoga or a studio in your area that is dedicated to yoga. This is where you'll get the best classes, the most dedicated instructors and begin to learn what the ancient yogis have passed down from generation to generation. This tried and true method will give you an excellent foundation for not only your physical body, but your mind too. This kind of yoga instruction will give you tools for dealing with not only the stresses we can expect from a fast paced life, but also help you deal with unexpected things that life can throw at you.

While you may have walked by a power pumping yoga class at the gym designed for fitness there is a whole other level of yoga. Actually there are 8 limbs of yoga, as they are taught traditionally. You may also have searched for a beginner yoga DVD only to find what one person calls introductory is not suited for your level of ability. There are different ways to teach yoga where it can be enjoyable and enriching. With classes at Santosha School of Yoga, you can learn the basics to start your own home practice to compliment the instruction that you get in class and to see long lasting benefits sooner.

I started taking yoga at Santosha School of Yoga to help alleviate back and wrist pain from sitting in front of the computer for long hours at work. I was steadily gaining weight over the years and it was taking it's toll on my health. My doctor said if I didn't get my cholesterol under control I was headed for a life of medication. I'm not opposed to taking a pill, but I am aware of the side of effect of many prescription drugs, so I wanted to avoid that if possible. I had always tried to eat right, but I was eating much more than my body needed, for the lack of physical exercise.

So, back to my story about how yoga transformed my life. I've been practicing yoga now for over 8 years. I have lost all the weight and replaced it with lean muscle. I'm in better shape now that I was in college. I stopped having back and wrist pain within 6 months of starting yoga. I noticed my pants were fitting looser in 3 months. I lost 2.5 inches off my waist line and 3.5" off my butt. My once flabby arms are now slim to the proportion from begin a size 10 to a svelte 2. My large over sized shirts are replaced by slim fitting small size clothes. My appetite for food is replaced with appetite for life where food isn't sought after for soothing the soul. Food intake becomes more balanced and the soul is satiated by yoga.

The biggest improvement from yoga, however, is in my health. The physical results are happen stance at this point because the depth of yoga allows for learning overtime I come to the mat in a yoga class or practice at home. This is not just a physical fitness routine. Yoga evolves with you. Yoga is forgiving, gentile yet invokes you to bring your own level of strength and focus of the mind, at the same time. There are too many aspects to convey on how you'll be drawn to yoga and how it will benefit your health and effect your life.

Seven years prior to starting yoga, I had to have surgery for Endometriosis. One additional catalyst for starting yoga was when I started to feel that familiar aweful pain and tugging sensation return in my uterus. I knew that yoga had been touted as a great way to alleviate the symptoms and even possible cure Endometriosis. Doctors do not know much about how women get this disease, but their only way to help is by and prescribing pain relieving medication and expensive painful surgery. While I understand that it maybe necessary, I wanted to avoid having that invasive albeit laparoscopic procedure again. After about 8 months of practicing 3 times a week I could feel the difference. I started to feel better during my periods after about 3 months, but real relief from Endometriosis came 5 months later. It's hard to tell exactly when because without my back ache and other sluggishness of living a relatively sedentary life including watching too many hours of TV, I felt so much better every day I practiced yoga. 

The real effects of yoga helped me the most during my divorce and keeping my graphic design business on track. I was able to have that stable foundation of my own practice, the classes at Santosha and the friends that I made through yoga. I didn't expect to be divorced at 43 after almost 20 years of being with my husband. It was a pretty difficult adjustment to being single and on my own, as anyone who has been separated from their life partner can tell you. Everyone I have met through yoga are helpful, kind, supportive and generally positive uplifting personalities. It's hard to hold a goddess warrior pose and not feel the effort, ease and silliness when everyone in class sticks out their tongue and exhales in a free groan. Some days in yoga class that exhale can mean the release of so much burden or anxiety that builds up in few days, or a month of holding in grief, or years of dealing with a tragedy.

Lucy Clark, in Torino, Italy, on day trip from
climbing the alps in Briancon, France August 2009

Traveled with Lorien Nemec, my best friend,
her boyfriend Cliff Butler and Steve Thomas,
my boyfriend and new best friend

I welcome you to try yoga and not just once, but at least 4 to 8 times. I understand it isn't for everyone. You may experience difficulty in quieting the nervous tick or feel bored with the need for more fast paced exercise, but do yourself a favor and keep at it. There's too many reasons to give yoga a fair evaluation, as I've mentioned. Instructors have a different approach and adjust classes for who is there and students levels of ability. It's best to pick a time of the week that you can commit to so that it becomes a part of your regular routine. Whether you simply have tight muscles, you don't need to be flexible to get benefits of yoga. It help improve your immune system, lubricate your joints, open up your respiratory system and allow you to do all the thing and more in life.

I started rock climbing as a result of my yoga practice. It gave me the courage to try it and I was hooked on the sport. Rock climbing in a gym became another form of yoga for me. My yoga gave me the calmness to focus the breath to keep moving and the core strength to progress. Yoga introduced me to my new best friend, Lorien Nemec. Lorien introduced me to rock climbing. She also is an excellent yoga instructor. We took our yoga teacher training together. She encouraged me to try rock climbing and if I like it, she asked if I wanted to travel to France with her and a group of friends to climb the alps. Since my divorce, I was open to change and seeing what doors might open for me and yoga gave me the awareness and confidence to not only try something new but the courage to go for it. I knew this was one of those once in a lifetime chances to go to Europe, to see a new country to travel, get on amazing rocks attached to beautiful mountain views. That trip changed my life in so many ways and yoga was the catalyst.

In conclusion, try yoga and you'll never know where it can lead you and how it can come to your rescue. It can be a lifelong pursuit that will be there to help you when you need it most. I was able to loose weight, cure my Endometriosis, stop my back pain, bounce back from my divorce with much more ease, study and teach yoga, own a yoga studio and travel to France to climb the alps. From my almost daily yoga practice and meditation, my stress is reduced and my health is great. I can have great fun while running trails in my Vibrum 5 finger barefoot shoes, I can climb rocks and have a full life. Yoga gave me the personal confidence to get back into the dating world and through soul searching and understanding who I am better, I was able to meet the love of my life. Since starting yoga I have more awareness of what I need and I'm discerning in what I want out of my life too. I am blessed to have a great relationship with my boyfriend, who is all I could ask for in the one I love. We are set to move to the southwest to pursue our love of rock climbing and live a simpler life under the big sky. Thank you Santosha School of Yoga and all my friends for all you've given to me.