Stretch & Take Flight

I have been practicing yoga for more than 10 years. I’ve had years where I’ve abandoned my practice altogether and I’ve also had years (like currently) where I’ve been consistently going to practice every week. It’s safe to say that yoga has become an integral part of my life.

When I first started my yoga practice, it was mostly about trying something new and stretching. One thing they don’t tell you about being tall is how easy it is to have tight hips and sore joints and bones. As a person with long and often stiff limbs, yoga is literally a necessity.

I’ve even indoctrinated many of my friends to the benefits of yoga.

Yoga is over 5,000 years old. There’s even photos online of Rosa Parks practicing yoga during the Civil Rights movement.

What started as curiosity for me (I was curious about why white women loved yoga) morphed into my own journey into wellness. Yoga is the primary reason why I even started a wellness journey. Without yoga, I wouldn’t have started mediation and I wouldn’t have started working out consistently. It was my catalyst to be serious about working out and wellness.

Yoga has provided much needed discipline in my life. It’s why I can stick to the routines that help me face life’s challenges such as: meditation, working out, warm water in the morning and before bed. I wouldn’t haven’t launched this site without the discipline I’ve gained from yoga. And I’m not even a yogi. I typically practice yoga once a week.

I wrote about my love of yoga a few years ago and explained how having the best instructor allowed me to lean into my practice.

Black Women and Health

Black women often carry the weight of our entire community. We have to be everything at once: mothers, workers, therapists, lawyers, community leaders, and everything else. While we’ll gladly do this work, it effects our minds, bodies, and spirits. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death of Black women in the U.S. Maintaining heart healthy habits is vital. Diet, physical activity, and managing stress helps reduce cardiovascular risks. Yoga can be the catalyst for you starting or maintaining your heart health.

Black women: if you’ve been on the fence about trying yoga, I urge you to give it a try. You won’t regret it.