Why I Yoga

Hello! To one and all.

This morning, I skyped with my family, who are on vacation in Mammoth. They've been posting pictures on Facebook of things like the view from the cabin:

And the pictures of the bear they saw:

And as jealous as I am, I guess I can't be jealous, because I've been places that look like this:

And this:

For the past year and a half.

But as soon as I saw the pictures, my first thought was "I could totally do yoga RIGHT THERE."

This morning, on Skype, my Dad and I were sarcastically jarring away at each other as my sister, Becca, did yoga in the room.

Now, I don't want to pretend to know all the reasons my sister does yoga, but I can tell you something about why I do yoga.

And it might tie into the way Pettit women think.

See, we have some pretty intense brains. I've been told for YEARS that I talk too much. My friend Anna put it perfectly. She said that while most people who talk a lot say EVERYTHING that comes to their brain, I only say a portion - I just think faster and more than most other people.

Now, that may sound like bragging. But let me assure you - its not a good thing.

I have a brain that, in the middle of an oral exam, yells "HOW MUCH IS YOUR RENT AND HOW MUCH DOES IT TAKE OUT OF YOUR PAYCHECK YOU SHOULD PROBABLY CHECK YOUR BANK ACCOUNT RIGHT NOW."

A brain that conveniently screams at the pool "REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME YOUR BATHING SUIT TOP SLIPPED WELL IT WILL HAPPEN EVERY TIME FROM NOW ON. CHECK CONSTANTLY AND DON'T READ YOUR BOOK."

A brain that, even when I am working out, goes "YOU SHOULD SEND AN EMAIL OR A FACEBOOK MESSAGE TO THAT LOST FRIEND FROM HIGH SCHOOL WHO PRETTY MUCH WROTE YOU OFF TO YOUR FACE AS YOU FED HER CHILD BANANAS IN THE CAR."

Yeah. It gets loud in my head sometimes.

And it is a struggle. A struggle to not judge activities based on their monetary value, as my brain is constantly calculating ways to save money. Or to focus on watching a show when if I just check one more time, that email would have come.

So while I do love to sweat, and stretch, and everything else, I do yoga because it is an exercise that makes me calm my mind. An exercise that tells you to FOCUS on the present, and feel where your breath is going, and open spaces in your body. To soften this, to strengthen that, to rotate this, or lift that.

I do yoga because it is one of the FEW things that demands my full, undivided attention.

That and my adorable puppy, Jewels.