Yoga With Adriene: A Writer’s Resolution . . . Again.

I am a sedentary person.

Don’t get me wrong, I love nature and long walks in the woods, but I move slowly (and always bring snacks). Needless to say, when I “exercise,” nary a calorie is burned.

The root of my problem is that I believe I look much better than I actually do. As far as I’m concerned, I am completely indistinguishable from Gal Gadot. Of course, I’m not actually a 5’10” supermodel, I’m a 155 pound, 5’5″ writer with a penchant for hot cocoa and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. And hell, I don’t even have black hair.

Regardless, it’s hard for me to accept that my BMI is too high (and I eat too much refined sugar) unless I see a photo or video of myself. And naturally, it has to be taken by someone else, because I know my good selfie angles. But with the recent holidays and family gatherings, I have seen photos of myself — lots of them — and the cold, hard truth is that I need to take better care of my body.

Enter Yoga.

In my recent post, 2019: A Year in Review, I mentioned that doing Yoga every single day this year was a New Year’s Resolution; and so far, I’ve stuck with it . . . thanks primarily to Yoga With Adriene.

I first discovered Yoga with Adriene in 2015, and honestly, I couldn’t believe how strong it made me feel. In fact, it made me feel so strong that I had zero apprehensions about joining my local roller derby league, where I proceeded to wreck my ankle before I even finished Fresh Meat training.

Cool side story: While my leg was broken, I went to an Anne Lamott book signing on crutches. When I reached her table, she asked me what happened, and I told her I broke my ankle playing roller derby. Her response: “Why couldn’t you have chosen a gentler sport, like synchronized swimming?”

Since 2015, I’ve played with yoga a few different times, but I’ve never stuck with it for a full year. However, in 2020, I’m trying to make it through 365 days of yoga, and I plan to take as many people along for the ride as I possibly can.

So . . . Why Yoga?

My main reason for choosing yoga is that I can do it from home. No matter what’s going on with the weather (which has been super weird lately, right?) I can do yoga from the comfort of my cozy little living room.

In addition to having control over the location of my practice, I can also control the time. Personally, I’m a night owl. I like to go to bed late and wake up late, and by practicing yoga, I can get my exercise in around 9:00 p.m., just after my husband goes to bed.

Which leads me to the final (and probably most important) reason: yoga resets my brain and gives me a boost before I begin working on my writing projects for the evening. With the help of yoga, I can let go of all the tension in my body and turn off all of the thoughts whirring around in my brain. And once I’m calm and collected, I’m ready to write.

So, as much as I’m doing yoga for my body, I’m also doing it to improve my writing. And I know I’m not the only one. In fact, enough writers are hopping aboard the yoga train that Adriene has even released a Yoga for Writers video!

Ultimately, I’m sharing this goal with all of you to provide some accountability for myself. So, if you would like to share your New Year’s Resolutions (or join in on the yoga parade) feel free to comment below!