How it started...

Yoga has been a vital part of my life since 1998. A few years before, I had begun experiencing panic attacks accompanied by constant, general anxiety. Then I experienced shock and grief around my father’s cancer diagnosis, as well as a frightening health condition of my own. Conversations around mental health were not as commonplace then as they are today, so I didn’t actually have a name for what was happening, and it took some time to get an official diagnosis. The only therapy offered at the time was medication; I felt very alone and was unwilling to succumb to pharmaceuticals. I did the best I could. My father passed away 5 months later.

Not long after that, 2 more family members were diagnosed with what would end up being terminal cancer. I had by then become aware of Yoga, and as the anxiety (that had never left) escalated, I knew I needed help. I enrolled in a six-week beginning class series at one of my area’s few Yoga studios, and though I didn’t realize it at the time, my path was set. Over time, I found relief from anxious thoughts, and the panic attacks stopped. 

How it's going...

While I can say that both anxiety and grief are still with me, they no longer run the show. I credit my Yoga path and all the teachers (including anxiety and grief!) that have walked along it with me, both on and off the mat, even though there have been periods of time that my practice has been only sporadic. As the Bhagavad Gita assures, “[o]n this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear” (Eknath Easwaran). 

(photo credit: Ashlynn Andersen)