Lately I have been picking up the free alternative newspapers that are available in places like the gym, supermarket, food coops and "alternative" eateries. I recently picked up a copy of CL or Creative Loafing and started doing my initial skim so as to map out where I would begin. Personally I read the important articles first next the new music section which I love because it feature indy or alternative to the mainstream artists. Last I read the trash, the filler articles the Dan Savage columns, movie reviews and even the Hollywood gossip and I save those for the end of my shift.
As I started the skim of this particular issue I stopped right away on an article which discussed how Yoga helped combat eating disorders. In the article they point out two women at different stages of there lives who fought and hid their disorders for years. The first woman was cycling through anorexia and bulimia for years and at the age of 26 after going to a rough divorce she found yoga. What she found was that she was able to "begin to deal with it (eating disorder) in increments." The other woman at the age of 70 and decades of hiding her eating disorder out of boredom she decides to take a class. This woman states that "yoga has been transformative" and now actively attempts to get the word out just for people to try it.
I read this article and understood where these women were at in the beginning of their journey and where they are now. Yoga is one piece in change it is not the cure but what it allow you to do is really concentrate on you, it slows your mind down and your body and allows you appreciate it with each pose. My schedule prevents me from doing it daily and although I have DVDs at home I enjoy going to a class. Its stepping out of the world of noise and into silence at the end it reintroduces you to that noise but the mind, body and soul is calm. We use stimulants and artificial substances to produce calm, to lose weight, just to wake up and we ignore what nature has already provided us with. What we have is ourselves, the trees, flowers, the space and everything that we have created. Yoga can, has, and will change lives but not because it's "yoga" that new fad but it brings you back to focus on you. Yoga is another way to go green with your body and to take a natural break from the craziness that is the world. When I walk out of class on Wednesdays I feel like I can really see the world, everything slows down its a natural high. I walk into work and take my shoes off at my desk and stand there feeling grounded, planted. Food, work, the Internet, Facebook, it all becomes secondary and just for that moment I am a Tree.
On April 10th in Tampa, FL at Curtis Hixon Park from 6-7p three yoga studios will hold a free 1hr class. This class is open to the public and especially if you are suffering from an eating disorder. This event is co-sponsored by the USF Hope House for Eating Disorders
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