As you know, I think Gabrielle Bernstein is really freaking cool. I’m really into most of her work, and I’ve been vowing to tap more into my spiritual side lately. 

Jen and I are basically co-presidents of Gabby’s fan club, so when we saw she was hosting a Kundalini workshop, we decided to buy tickets.

Photo via her Facebook page

I trekked down to Chinatown after work in the cold to meet up with Jen at Golden Bridge Yoga (which is a really pretty space.) The line to register was nearly out the door, and I began wondering why I was there. I finally found Jen, got a big hug from her, and we went upstairs.

They handed me a mat, and I laid it down next to Jen’s. As more people piled in, we were encouraged to move our mats even closer. The closer mats get in yoga, the more anxious I get. So, totally defeating the point. But, the mats obviously weren’t going to get any further, so I knew I had to resign myself to the experience.

I should note here that I’d done Sculpt Fusion that morning and Cyc the night before, so my everything was ridiculously sore. (So sore that I tried adding milk to my coffee yesterday morning and lost total muscle control and poured half a container in. Which was fun.) 

For those of you unfamiliar with Kundalini yoga, it is very different from forms of yoga you are probably accustomed to. I’ve mostly done vinyasa yoga, which is one of the most popular styles. Kundalini focuses very heavily on the spiritual side of yoga (so, Laura, you’d hate it) and involves MANY long holds.

I’ve been to several of Gabby’s speaking events and I follow her on Spotify, so I had an idea of what I was getting myself in for. We began with an ego eradicator, and I nearly started crying…at my sore arms.

I wouldn’t really consider Kundalini yoga a type of exercise, but more a type of meditation. I’ve heard Kundalini can get really deep, and I heard several people in the room crying at one point. Maybe I was too tired, maybe I was expecting too much, maybe my poor muscles were too sore for all the holds, but I didn’t get as much out of this workshop as I expected. 

Towards the end, she asked us to imagine our lives as we wanted them to be, and I realized how little I’d change right now, and how happy I am with that. It makes the hard work I put in to get where I am so, so worth it. And, today was a serious marathon, so I am treating to myself to a nice early bedtime now because tomorrow will be AWESOME.

Have you ever tried Kundalini yoga? Were you able to get into it? If not…what’s your favorite kind of yoga?

Yesterday morning, I woke up both sore and anxious. 

I’ve been pushing myself really hard working out and at work, and it caught up with me a bit. My everything was sore, and my mind was in overdrive. I NEEDED yoga, so I tried one of our DailyBurn Yoga videos – Yin Yoga.

When I got to work, I mentioned to my coworker Alex that I’d done yoga and how much I missed it. How I’d done so much yoga at this time last year, and though I was unhappy, I was at peace as much as I could be. 

Now, I’m really happy but busier than ever. I remember talking to a friend at the marathon expo in November, and we both vowed that we would slow down in 2014.

I have not slowed down, not even a little bit. Life is never going to slow down, so I need to make sure to slow down myself sometimes. To take time to be mindful of this awesome life I get to live and the wonderful people in my life. Of this amazing city I live in. 

I’m not going to say I’m committing to some yoga challenge or even doing yoga X times more per week or month, but I’m going to try to bring more yoga and meditation back into my life. Jen and I are going to a Kundalini yoga workshop tomorrow night with Gabby Bernstein, which should be very interesting, at the least. 

This morning, my trainer canceled on me because she’s sick, and I was about to just get ready early and go to work, but I’m glad I took a few minutes to sit down and write, for myself here. I’m still going to go into work early now, but it’s nice knowing I took a little time for myself. 

How do you take care of yourself when you need to slow down a bit?