Yoga as a Mid-Life Crisis

I'm a Certified Kripalu yoga instructor. I decided to take the teacher training back in 2001. At the time, I wasn't sure why I was doing it, but I think I was looking for a refuge during a confusing time in my life.

I had just been laid off from my dream job at a company called The Innerworkout...a "dot com" that had lots of promise but lost its venture funding along with hundreds of other start-ups. My Mom was in her 12th year of living with Alzheimer's disease. My youngest daughter had just left for college. We were selling our home of 20 years. My 15 year old dog was not going to be around much longer. There were lots of endings, many losses. I'm so thankful now that I turned to yoga...it became my inner compass through midlife!

I had studied yoga off and on for many years and it always made me feel better. But it was only after my intensive teacher training that I realized what a deeper practice would mean to me. Yoga is not just a wonderful way to relieve muscle tension and stay flexible. It's a way to stay centered during times of change and turmoil. It's a way to be more aware of what you need and to take care of yourself. And it became a path to a more spiritual way of being in the world. It's also fun!

I love sharing yoga with my students. And I'm inspired by teachers like Carol Winfield who wrote a book entitled: "Yoga in the Morning, Martini at Night...The First Three Score and Ten are the Hardest!" You go girl!