I had to tell her the truth.

She asked as my three-week anniversary of joining her studio was just days away: “How are you? How does your body feel?”

By text message, because, you know, she’s accessible, I let her know:

• I feel GREAT.
• With every class, things that I used to have, but neglected for a couple of years, have started to come back — balance. flexibility. Strength is a work in progress.
• I sleep more peacefully than I have since … I don’t know, I began adulting?
• I’ve combined yoga with a better-eating habit. Listen, I live in the south right now and I love soul food and fried food. It’s omnipresent. But healthy eating habits quickly became a priority — a way to extend the benefits of what I was getting in yoga class, which is this feeling of purity in my chest cavity. I’ll think about more ways to explain that soon.

Things I didn’t tell her in that tiny little text message:

• Breathing, for me, feels different. It’s deeper, calmer, more intentional, and more rehabilitative. (sidenote: 13 years ago a pilates instructor in DC said in class, “your breath will get you through.” Now I know what she was talking about.
• I feel light on my feet again. (Though still not weighing what I want to and am used to.)
• The culture of this studio keeps me coming back. There feels to be a genuine focus on wellness and personal intention. Another student I had class with tonight told me he’s advanced here in a matter of months (really advanced poses) far more than he did in any other studio. He credits it to teacher attentiveness to where he is and what he’s trying to do. It was a pretty powerful testimonial.

So, next week I am going for some “power” classes. 🙂 Stay tuned!