I’ve been spending a lot of time here lately, but I didn’t always love yoga.

I’d tried many yoga studios in New York, and they were all fine, but there was no place that I was dying to keep returning to. Some were too fast or too difficult, some were too pretentious and some were just not the right fit for me.

I started having panic attacks in September, and my therapist and Alicia both kept bringing up yoga. At first, I think I was afraid I’d ended up a sobbing mess on the mat, so I was reluctant to try again, but I eventually gave Laughing Lotus a try in January and yoga was just much more right for me this time.

Why?

I’m more attuned to my breath. Over the past few months, I’ve began meditating on a regular basis, and this has helped tremendously in yoga. I mostly do vinyasa yoga, which is breath-synchronized movement, so coming in with better skills at focusing on my breath made yoga much easier than it’s been in the past for me.

I stopped competing. I’m not going to lie, I’m a competitive person. I always knew that yoga was about doing your own thing, at your own pace, but that’s easier said than done when you’re in a class of lithe yogis who can hold every single pose flawlessly. Though I’m getting better at yoga, that’s still not me. But this time around, I knew I was doing yoga for the mental benefits, and I knew that looking at the person next to me or in front of me wouldn’t do anything to help my yoga, so I let this go and started doing my own thing, and, what do you know – I started getting better and enjoying it more. Weird, right?

I stopped being so hard on myself. In running, I push myself hard and set big goals for myself. While there’s a few yoga poses I want to get better at (crow, full wheel, headstand/handstand, I’m looking at you), I have stopped getting frustrated when I can’t get into these or other poses, or if I’m feeling a little wobbly one day. Respecting your mind, body and their limits is a huge part of yoga, and I have finally embraced this. Maybe one day I will get one of these poses, but until then, I’m just going to keep doing what I can and just focus on the breathing and what I can do.

I got a mat I really like. This is a dumb and superficial reason, but hey, it helped, too. I got a gift card to Lululemon for my birthday, so I invested in a mat that I love. It’s heavy, and it smells a little rubbery, but it’s really thick and cushy and my hands never slip, and it’s a really soothing green, and it just makes me want to use it.

I found the right place. Laughing Lotus is not pretentious, not super-hippie (but not super not-hippie either…and I kind of like that) and doesn’t take itself too seriously, so I enjoy going there. It’s also convenient for me, which makes a big difference.

Do you like yoga? How did you get into it?

I PR-ed, and then I rode that high all freaking weekend long.

After Anne and I chilled in the VIP tent for a bit, I hustled back to my hotel to get showered and decent and get over to Churchkey, a beer bar in Logan Circle that Emily and Laura both love.

it was after 2 when we met up, and all I’d had since the race was a random roast beef sandwich in the tent and a mimosa, so I was STARVING when I walked in and immediately ordered tater tots and a beer. (SO CLASSY.) Emily will forever astound me with her speediness, so I love talking running with her.

I love love love beer, but I’ve been trying to stick to wine because I’ve felt really bloated lately after having beer…but celebrating a PR was a good reason to treat myself to some beer. I had a Hopulent, from the Epic Brewing Company, which sounded appropriate.

After Churchkey, Anne and I headed back to her apartment in Arlington for a low-key dinner and movie night, which was perfect after running our hearts out in the morning.

Sunday, we headed back into D.C. for a yoga class with the very lovely Gena from Choosing Raw. We’ve briefly met at events, but had never chatted before yesterday, and she is one of my new favorite people.

Anne made me one of her egg/banana pancakes before we left, and it was basically like I’d stepped into her blog. I was just missing some quinoa.

We went to The Studio, and I really liked it. The room was long and narrow, so our mats were very close to each other. The class itself was a hot vinyasa. I’ve done plenty of hot Bikram yoga and plenty of vinyasa classes, but never a hot vinyasa and certainly never a hot vinyasa the day after a half-marathon. Other than standing splits, though, my legs were just fine.

Just before savasana, we moved our mats to the wall to work on some inversions, such as handstands. I’ve never done handstands in yoga, so I was terrified. What if I landed on my head? Or kicked a hole through the wall? Luckily, neither happened, but I didn’t get anywhere near a handstand either, which was a little frustrating.

Anne knew the girl behind the desk from run club, and everyone at the studio seemed really friendly and not at all pretentious.

Afterwards, the three of us went to Sweetgreen for lunch/brunch, and I got a salad with some soba noodles and avocado. Salad usually bothers my stomach, but this one did not!

I ditched Anne after lunch and headed out to Alexandria for another friend’s St. Patrick’s Day party. As always, it’s fun to visit D.C., but I am so glad I don’t live there any more. NYC is my happy place.

How do you celebrate a sweet PR? Are you into active recovery or total rest? I chased that active recovery Sunday with a rest day yesterday.