I started practicing yoga after I moved back home and was recovering from a divorce. After the unemployment benefits ceased, I was offered an office job by an old school friend. I don't think I had a proper bed yet and I had been sleeping in a hammock for some time. My familiar lower back pain and shoulder tension had returned, unsurprisingly. My Yoga for Children book was on the shelf where I left it five years ago so I copied a list of asanas to hang on my closet door. In the evenings I would practice the poses, never sure how long I should hold them or anything else about yoga.

Before long, pain and tension started melting away and I was feeling better. One day in particular, I was sitting on a bar stool and someone commented on my amazing posture. And it wasn't the first time. Without truly realizing it, I had transformed my skeletal carriage. I understood the immediate effect the poses had on my pain but I had forgotten to give credit to yoga's ability to remain beneficial long after the last asana.

During the past decade of strained back muscles, feelings of tendinitis, and aging, I continually heard this repeating tape player in my head..."I want to take yoga, I want to take a yoga class." I cannot say what kept me or why it took me so long to finally make a commitment to myself, to a practice.

My friend Taylor told me she had gone to Tamarack for some classes and instantly we had a new bond. Practicing together elevated our minds and bodies. I ended up continuing further with classes while Taylor's focus and time went to her studies. We both know how yoga can transform a body, a life, and we are not shy to speak to others about it, especially the ones that have back issues.

So I woke up this morning with a bit of anxiety (or is that "excitement"?) about going to class, pre-thinking which instructor will be there, the heat, my lack of flexibility, etc. I don't have a $50 towel to throw down. I don't know what to wear. I feel fat. My hair needs to be put up so it doesn't get in my face and distract or tickle me. I hope there's parking. Should I wear my rings or take them off? How should I keep my rings from getting lost? Where's my yoga mat?