Many of my athletic friends have asked why they should try yoga. With only a limited number of weekly hours to train, wouldn’t time be spent better in the weight room or the pool, or out on the road?
I used to feel the same way.
In fact, I hated the first few yoga classes I tried. I was painfully self-conscious, I didn’t understand the Sanskrit, I didn’t know the protocol regarding mats, and my back was miserable as we sat still on the floor. Plus, yoga wasn’t weightlifting, it wasn’t aerobic exercise, and it was really hard. I thought I was flexible and strong, and it was a big blow to my ego to be humbled by simple poses.
Not until I was pregnant with my first child—and then later training for the marathon I knew I could run after surviving the delivery of said child—did I begin to see the answers to the question: Why yoga?