Welcome to my little space! YogaBliss has been started so I can rattle off all about my yoga journey, from start to finish....my daily adventures, happiness, successes, blah, blah without all the sugar coated stuff.
I sincerely hope you enjoy :o)

I started practicing yoga 12 years ago. Needless to say, after one class I was addicted. There was something about entering into a room, stressed out, then sweating, stretching, bending, balancing, relaxing that left me completely blissed out after an hour and a half (hence blog name). As I fell in and out of my yoga practice over the years, there was something strong that kept bringing me back, and that was the happiness that I felt after having practiced and the strength and love that I felt while doing yoga.
Fast foward 1998.....2008. After the birth of my second child, I felt huge...I was overweight (70 lbs. overweight), had awful health habits, a bad self image, and was sad and lacked motivation most of the time. I had one of those 2AM epiphanys that said, "I need to get off my ass and do something! " The next day, I woke up and started looking for yoga videos online to begin a strong home practice. I found some of Jason Crandell's videos and although shaky and frustrating at first, it was good to be back! I started researching about diet, knowing that to be the best I could be and be lean again, I had to cut out meat and dairy...so I did. I kept up with my home practice, which was spattered with some classes at local yoga studios and at my gym, and after about 9 months, I had lost 60 lbs! It was amazing. I put on clothes that I hadn't worn in years!
As time went by, the constant yoga practice chilled me out quite a bit...I started having less anxiety attacks, less depression symptoms....I started meditating as well...starting with 5 minutes a day, and working my way up. I think that of anything, meditation and yoga has taught me how to live in the present.
I wanted to share all of this with others, I wanted others to feel as happy as I did, so after toying around with the idea of teaching yoga, I went for it and got my certification with YogaFit and started teaching some classes at local fitness studios.
I can't begin to tell you the feeling I get when I see someone come into my class all stressed out and tense, not knowing what to expect, what to do, etc. and then an hour and a half later, see them walk out, with a look of utter calm and happiness. That's what it's about for me....changing perspectives, relaxing, teaching others to live in the present.

This summer, I will be embarking on quite a yoga journey and I would love for others to follow along with me for the ups and dows, the pleasure and pain, the unfolding of my heart and hopefully the opening of my eyes.