this yoga won't just change your body...

I've heard instructors say, time and again, that this yoga is not just changing your body. Stick with it and it'll change your mind, and your life. These sorts of over-arching, non-specific statements sound good... but I would often lie there and wonder just how true they really are.

Perhaps it's the navel-gazing aspect of blogging about your hobbies (I'm also a knitter, in case you didn't know) or maybe it's the fact that I've been going more often to yoga (4-5 times a week) in the last few months and am more aware of it's role in my life, but in any case, I realized yesterday just how much of an effect it is having on me.

This might seem trivial, and it is, but it's a great example of positive yoga juju: Yesterday I was supposed to have an appointment for a mani/pedi. I had bought a groupon to this place and called ahead to schedule. I went about my day: we had friends visiting who had to be dropped off at the airport for a noon flight, so we brunched, then I dropped them off, and headed to yoga. After I got out of yoga, I listened to a voicemail, asking if I could post-pone my appt by an hour. No prob. It would afford me the time to run home and grab some lunch first... the only issue is that I would only have an hour's worth of time to devote to the salon before I would have to go get DH from work.

When I got to the salon an hour later, it was clear that the groupon had been a little more overwhelming than they expected. The girls who were supposed to be done before my original appointment were still there, getting their manicures. I got set up for the pedicure, which was good, but took longer than expected... I had been there for more than 45 mins before it was finished. And the girls who were getting manicures were still there.

The owner came up to me, very apologetically, and asked if I could possibly come back another day. I said no problem, so we set an appointment up for next week. As I was walking out, the owner thanked me again for being so understanding and mentioned that most people would have thrown a fit. I told her I figured that it wasn't worth being angry over. As I got in my car and drove off, I realized that at various points in my life I probably would have gotten angry, at least in my own head, over something so trivial. Maybe I'm maturing, but maybe it's also the calming influence of having a regular yoga practice. Either way, I'm sure the yoga isn't hurting!