In the beginning the most difficult yoga pose was getting in the car. I’d reached a point in my life where I always wore elastic waistbands and t-shirts so it wasn’t even a matter of finding the right clothes, my yoga pants needed to attend class. No strength is greater than the moment when I would say to myself, “make this a priority. You don’t have to participate but at least go.” It helped that my favorite yoga teacher often said, “if you lay in savasana the entire class and do nothing but breath, you have done yoga.”

I learned that I liked the yoga teachers who are forgiving, the ones who challenge me but let me go at my own pace, the ones who say to me ‘I see improvement.’ I didn’t like the ones who were so alignment focused that it felt like I failed when they kept correcting my pose. I didn’t like the ones who did gymnastics and expected me to do the same. I didn’t like the one were so spiritually focused that I tuned out. I liked the teachers who gave me tidbits of spirituality, a new pose wasn’t something only Simone Biles can do, and they often reminded me to focus on the breath. It grounded me.

Yoga slowly and very gradually became a part of my life and that is why it stayed. Had it been a New Year’s resolution, a desire to gain fitness, or anything else, I would not be a yoga teacher today. When people disappear from my class, I think, I hope they found the right teacher for him/her and haven’t given up on themselves. Goals can be motivating but when we feel that we’ve failed, they can undermine our ability to stay motivated.