A Resolution for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit

I was always a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. I think they catered to my list-making, Type-A personality. I considered the New Year a time to be more perfect. I now realize therein lies my problem. One year I stopped biting my nails. One year I changed my hair color. One year I vowed to find the perfect boyfriend. My happiness was based on the external world. In 2005, I finally let go of these resolutions. Little did I know… In 2009, I would write about how my 2005 New Year’s resolution changed my life.

I graduated college in 2004 and moved to Los Angeles, CA to pursue acting. Instead of my goals being about the art, they became about looking the part. I became depressed and frustrated. I was completely obsessed with my appearance. I do not remember having a clear-cut path. I was “Lauren,” a bartender/actress, shopper, worrier, and planner. In early January 2005, I decided to try out a yoga class again (I had tried a few before, but was always bored). I have no idea why I stumbled into the Bikram Yoga College of India Headquarters in Los Angeles. My New Year’s resolution had found me.

I would like to introduce myself today. Hello, I am Lauren, yoga-teacher/student, lover of life, and happiness advocator.

Bikram yoga had me at hello. It does not necessarily sound exciting. The class is practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity. It is a series of 26 postures completed in 90 minutes that fall under the broad umbrella of Hatha yoga. The postures, put in place by Bikram Choudry, are meant to be the perfect prescription for any human body. A prescription for what, you ask? Your life. Bikram will tell you that his series is the only real “exercise.” Physically, every muscle, ligament, tendon, gland, and organ is individually targeted. The postures have extreme healing powers, but are truly meant to be preventative medicine against the perils of aging. Mentally, you are forced to meditate through movement. Your physical body connects with your mind, the true beginning of spirituality. Bikram yoga is for those of us (most of us) that can’t seem to quiet our minds.

I went into my first class. Thankfully, not knowing anything beforehand. When I stepped out of the room, I knew I had to continue. It was the first time I had ever stared at myself in a mirror for 90 minutes and not once thought about my appearance. Bikram would say my “mind was in my body.” Well, whatever happened in there, I saw a sparkle of hope. I made up my new mind to come back. It was a new kind of resolution, one that came from my heart.

Five years later, I do not remember my old self. My life consists of teaching, taking, and promoting yoga. Most importantly, I have fallen in love with myself. I think many women can relate to a certain disconnection to their bodies. We think of ourselves as an object that we need to fix from the outside in. I used to wake up in the morning and not see a true vision of myself in the mirror. Now, I wake up and rarely even look. I haven’t dyed my hair in years. I am concerned with health, not wealth. I even stopped looking for love, and then I found it. We are taught that no one is perfect. Instead, we should remember that everyone is perfect exactly the way they are.

I urge you to try Bikram yoga. I promise you won’t be thinking about your problems in that room. Instead, you will have a new problem. How am I going to get through this class?