Yoga Keeps Me Feeling Young

I can sum up the reasoning behind my decision to do yoga – or any exercise for that matter – in just one word: Aaron. Yes, I know the conventional wisdom is you should embark on a yoga journey for yourself, but let me explain and I think you’ll see why doing this for Aaron is actually doing it for myself too.

I gave birth to Aaron just a few months shy of my 40^th birthday. At the time, I couldn’t help but remember how a friend once confided in me her regret that her parents had had her late and just couldn’t participate fully in her life due to the physical limitations of their age. I vowed that Aaron would not have those regrets; that I would do as much as I could to stay healthy, active and engaged in his life – whether that meant climbing Hanging Rock, riding a roller coaster or mountain biking down the Wild Turkey trail.

My husband first introduced me to the idea of doing yoga. As a nurse, he has long been an advocate of yoga’s ability to keep the body, and particularly the joints flexible and healthy. I visited a couple of classes and enjoyed them, but could never commit due to the travel demands of my job. I would carry around a Yoga DVD in my suitcase while traveling, but more often than not it stayed in the suitcase. My main exercise method has always been running, and it just seemed easier to get on the hotel treadmill after a long day sitting in meetings and airports.

About six months ago, I was finally able to end my life as a road warrior and incorporate fitness as a routine instead of just a novelty. I was looking for something to counteract the wear and tear of running, and my friend suggested I check out hot yoga. The idea of practicing the moves and poses in a warm room was intriguing to me, and I signed up for a class shortly after Revolution opened its doors.

Now here’s the part of my testimonial where I should be able to say that that first class was an epiphany for me; that I had found wellness/fitness nirvana. But here’s what actually went through my mind that first class, “Holy Cow! I’m burning up…I’m sweating buckets…I’m getting dizzy…what the heck is a savasana?...when is this going to be over?...oh, thank goodness for the cool jasmine towel!” But even though my first reaction to the heat was not as positive as I would have hoped, I felt really good when I went home. And when I awoke the next morning, I still felt good. And when I ran later that day, my legs were just a bit less tight than usual. With just one class, I could already tell that the heat was a beneficial feature to the practice of yoga.

In the few months I’ve been coming to class, my yoga practice has evolved from something I was really doing just to supplement my running to something fast becoming an integral part of my lifestyle. I’m sure I could come up with all sorts of scientific-sounding reasons why yoga has benefited me, but here it is in a nutshell: hot yoga makes me feel better – and younger. Even though I am a beginner and still get wobbly legs and fall whenever we do the balancing poses, I am determined to stick with it and continue down my own yoga path. The benefits go beyond the physical, each yoga session helps me calm my mind, increase awareness of my body and breathing, and relieve the stress of the work day.

Aaron will turn 18 in the next month, and these days it’s more Mom saying, “C’mon, c’mon,” to get him away from those insidious video games and go hiking or bike riding. But my hope is by including yoga in my fitness routine, I will never – or at least rarely – have to utter the words, “I’m too old to do that anymore.” I plan to be around for his 40^th birthday, and still be able to suggest we go for a hike.

This is Cindy DiMattia's, pictured with Aaron, yoga story.

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