Recommitting to Yoga

Before my med student life, I was a dancer, avid yoga practitioner, and "yoga teacher" (I put this in quotes because while I did get certified and have taught classes, I did not commit to becoming a full time teacher before plunging into the world of medicine.)  Over the last almost two years, my physical activity has gone down the toilet.  Around this time last year, I decided to join a gym as cardio physiology had me convinced I needed to be doing more cardio (I HATE cardio), and I thought "maybe I can try to work up to training for a half marathon again."  Well, the result was spotty at best gym attendance.  I would have a week or two of going multiple times per week followed by a week or two of no attendance due to an encroaching exam followed by a week long shame spiral at the end of  which I finally managed to get my ass back to the gym.  The net gym attendance was about two weeks go consistent gym going followed by three weeks of being sedentary.  The result- my body continued to feel like crap, I went to a series of disappointing gym yoga classes, and I wasted about $70/month on my gym dues.

A couple weeks ago, I was craving a yoga class.  My body felt like ass and I was going stir crazy in my snow prison of an apartment.  Even though I was trained to teach yoga, I generally don't like giving myself yoga class unless I come up with it before hand.  Trying to come up with a sequence that will feel good and then remember the sequence while also practicing takes away from my ability to empty my mind and enjoy the moving meditation that is my yoga practice.  My solution was to turn to youtube.  The first class I found was ok.  It wasn't amazing, but was probably on par with any gym class I would take.  Two weeks later, I've found an iPhone app and a couple youtube channels that are pretty solid.  (I'll post my favorites at a later date).  I've managed to get between 20 minutes to an hour of yoga in each day and feel amazing.  My mind is clear, my body doesn't hurt, and I feel like I carve out a little wedge of me time every day.  I think the best part of rekindling my practice at home is that it sets me up to be more disciplined and conscious for the rest of the day.  I find that I procrastinate on the internet less, I'm more conscious of how I sit while studying, I make better choices in what I eat, and I tend to be in a nicer mood.