"I found yoga by accident about 18 years ago when 22.Ā I'd been told by my doctor to stop running because of my scoliosis & severe backĀ pain.Ā I was active yet had issues controlling my weight. What I didn't know was that I had been suffering from autoimmune disease since my early teens & my thyroid was on the fritz
The sun salutations I found on a Jane Fonda workout DVD felt different to anything else: perhaps a way to help me feel more at ease in a body I felt in constant battleĀ with.Ā But, I live in a very rural location & no classes were available then.Ā I practiced hit & miss, picking up Kundalini yoga & more DVDs on the way until about 2012 when I found myself unexpectedly pregnant with my 3rd daughter
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After having had 2 previous surgical c-sections.Ā I knew my body would need to be prepared; I knew yoga was the best way for me to do that.Ā It was then that I developed a daily practice that I've maintained.Ā I successfully birthed my daughter after a 36 hour labor in my living room
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I am currently battling multiple autoimmune disorders including Hashimotos Thyroiditis.Ā I have heart condition: dysautonomia with bradycardia.Ā I have Raynaud's, & polyarthropathy.Ā Add to that mental health struggles with depression, anxiety & PTSD
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The discipline of yoga has kept me alive: mobile & more physically fit than I was when I was 15 & better control of my weight. Yoga helps me have periods where I don't have to be medicated for my mental health; an amazing way to process the turbulent energy of anxiety
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Buti Yoga is now my primary practice. I'm a 200-RYT & certified Buti instructor. I can wake up knowing that despite the pain in my body & the flares where it seems like my whole world is upside down, I have yoga. I have yoga & yoga has me.
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There have been many times in recent years where I did not want to exist anymore. Yet, every damn day, I practiced & because of that I woke up the next day. Evert day: Yoga saves my life š Kelli"
