After having my son, I was seriously out of shape! I knew I had to get back into some sort of exercise program, but I wasn’t quite sure where to start. A friend of mine offered to take me to the free first class at Dragonfly to try it out. I was very tentative about yoga and very very nervous about the heat! The only other yoga experience I had was doing a video in my basement. I was pretty sure it would not be much of a workout and would be slow and boring. So I went and survived the heat, barely. I kept coming back and realized that yes, yoga is a workout! I signed up for the $40 intro month and tried almost all of the classes. It was very challenging, but after that first month I was getting stronger and learning how to do new things.
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Yoga has been calling me since I was a child, but it took me a long time to pay attention.
I remember getting up early to watch Lilia’s Yoga and You on public television. I don’t think I ever followed along, I just marveled. It wasn’t something I would attempt on my own, and when the voice in my head would whisper “yoga” to my older self, I ignored it because classes seemed like a luxury. I did not treat myself to that indulgence.

While I was recovering from surgery and chemotherapy in late 2014, I was fatigued, anxious, sleepless, physiologically out-of-balance, and unable to participate in my go-to activities (mostly volleyball and biking). I caved in and afforded myself this “luxury…” I quickly learned attending yoga classes was no extravagance for me but an essential, healthful practice.
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