Yoga is for everyone, every body, every age and every stage. The thing that consistently stays the same, whether you are a beginner who just needs yoga to heal and experience more peace or an advanced practitioner chasing after those hard poses, is your breath. Your breath is always there for you.

I am often asked, “how do I begin to do yoga?” You begin just by noticing your breath. Notice how your breath is moving in and out of your body, notice it when you are stuck in traffic and you are frustrated, notice it when an expectation is unmet, notice it when your thoughts move backwards and replay scenarios or move forward and are clothed in anxiety. You can, breath by breath, step out of those spaces and into just observing.

Just notice. In and Out.

This skillful participation with your own life, that is how you begin. The rest follows. There are a thousand ways to do yoga and just as many avenues. To me, if I’m part of that journey with you, no matter how we approach your practice, I will always encourage your breath first. The exhale to deepen and that inhale to open. That exhale to let go and that inhale to just be still. Your breath to still the storm during moments of intensity. Your breath to charge into the uncomfortable and feel instead of fight, fright or freeze.

You’ve been given your breath, you earn your sweat.