How yoga has helped me

I have gone through a lot of changes recently with my nutrition plan and overall made healthier life choices.

In addition to eating a healthier diet, which has helped me to lose weight (10 lbs so far since December 3rd) I have also been doing stretches and yoga.

I have not been going to any special classes. I just looked around youtube until I found a channel I liked and have been following the videos at home. Psychetruth yoga for energy is one of my favorite videos, and I love this channel in general.

I have done yoga before, but not consistently. This is the first time I have stuck to doing a yoga routine.

I try to do 1-2 videos of my choice 1-2x daily. I have been doing this for almost 2 months now I would say. I have noticed improvement in my flexibility and my breathing.
I noticed just how much this helped when I hit the gym last. I have not been to a gym in awhile as I prefer to workout at home or in nature. It is too cold to be outside so I went to the gym with my sister. I have not been able to do more than 12m (and one random 16m session) on the elliptical since I was about 18? Partially this is due to having minor asthma, another part  is due to not having been very active.
This last time I went to the gym, due to the benefits the yoga and healthy eating, I was able to do a 40m elliptical, 50 leg presses, 15 arm presses (need to work on that more), and still  had a ton of energy left to go. This was like an hour workout total.
Previously my workouts would strain to be 30-45m.

I never used to understand the whole “enjoy the burn!” thing people always talked about who go to gyms often. This was because before, for me, the burn hurt a lot. Minimal effort would feel like a mountain. The effort, exhaustion, and pain would cause nausea instead of energy and happiness. I think this is the first time I have actually gotten it. I have not felt sick to my stomach from going to the gym. (I had trainers before and it was still like that, so it was not from lack of doing things properly either) I really do believe that because of the yoga, my body can do a lot more than it used to be able to. I can do a good workout and not overwork myself. I can work through a tiny bit of discomfort vs a lot of horrible exhausting pain.

Did I mention I absolutely loved this! This was something completely unexpected that I did not think I would be able to do so soon. It is a really good motivator to realize I have gotten farther in my endurance, flexibility, and breathing strength sooner than expected.

I need to ramp up my workouts to help with muscle tone and strength, so knowing it won’t hurt like it used to is really encouraging. I did not feel ache the next day either like I used to. Before it would be a couple of days where it would hurt bad afterwards, even with stretching, but this just blows my mind.

This has always been a really frustrating area for me, since I did not have asthma until I moved to this state. We believe it is due to all the sagebrush pollen in the air, which I am allergic to. Still, I love the area.

It can be really tough knowing that you used to be able to do almost anything, and then because of your weakened lungs, couldn’t hardly do anything.

I was actually at the doctors every day for weeks when this first started happening.

I think my body has adjusted enough now, that if I can build up my lung strength, I can get back to a normal state. That does not mean I won’t still have asthma attacks, it just means I will not be able to use asthma as an excuse for staying healthy. The less I am active, the weaker my lungs are, and the more prone I am to attacks.

I will still get asthma attacks from anxiety, but that trigger is completely different, and one I am also working on.

I am enjoying my after yoga stretching highs I get. I can’t wait to see where this leads me physically, mentally, and spiritually.