I didn’t always love yoga the way I do now, and I didn’t always love myself the way I do now either. Before I started getting on my own yoga mat, I thought yoga was a static, barely moving thing that people did to relax. Honestly, I thought that the people who practiced yoga were kind of bizarre, and I was fine to stick to my sporadic running and gym routine. The first time I stepped on the mat I loved it. There was something about this powerful, moving practice that instantly connected me to my body. I have always been an “in my head” kind of person: constantly planning, carefully considering and consistently analyzing. When I was breathing, and I was moving, all of that faded away. My yoga mat quickly became my home. A place for me to connect with myself. A place for me to remember who I was before all the chatter came into my mind.