Number One: Yoga
By Cheryl Hansen
I work full time. I’m a mom with two kids, two cats and a puppy whose toys and half-eaten snacks outnumber the random socks I find in every corner, cushion and coffee table. My husband has been waiting for eleven years for me to make good on the golf date I promised him; our yard has huge potential and far too many weeds; the garage shrinks daily.
And still, I’m an optimist. I genuinely think I am capable of wowing my boss, teaching my kids the breaststroke, sinking a few puts, aerating the backyard and training the puppy to declutter my garage. Oh, and sneaking away for an hour plus to melt into my yoga mat and turn off my overactive brain.
Sadly, yoga is among the first items to fall off my list far too often. What’s funny is that if I were to put yoga first on the list, I’d be a lot more successful throughout the day. Or—even better—I’d be grounded enough to create a list that’s actually doable. Imagine!
This undeniable power of yoga seems to hit most strongly while I’m doing it. I’m still a newbie, so I really have to focus on the various bits of my body to ensure they are doing what they should be doing. And that much focus lends itself to a rather peaceful existence during the parts of class where I can just be. I leave most classes with a yummy floaty feeling, driving home with zero sense of urgency and zero items on my non-existent to-do lists—except perhaps to return to yoga as soon as possible.
Alas, I live a mere 2.5 miles from YogaPod, so the blissful feeling is only guaranteed for 9-12 minutes after class, depending on how slowly I can saunter to my car and roll home. I wish I could say that my newfound sense of calm stays with me upon entering my house, checking my emails, cleaning up puppy pee and all the rest, but I’m still working on that.
The truth is, finding 72 minutes of peace in a day—even if that’s all it is—is wonderful. And I suspect that the more I practice, the longer I’ll be able to hold onto said peace … and the shorter my impossible list will become.
