Beginnings

I've joined the Gold's Gym fitness challenge, so for the next weeks, until April, I'll be pouring on the coal in competition with others in the fitness challenge. A monetary reward hangs in the balance, not to mention the benefits of better health, a more sane lifestyle, and feeling great. My thoughts also went to the possibility of bringing yoga, in its various forms, into the mix of healthy things I'll be doing for myself. For example, today on the treadmill I mentally chanted the mantra Hari Om for the 35 minutes I was walking on the "hamster wheel". I found that adding the mental focus of mantra and feeling into my body while I was treading the mill made it much easier to stay the course that I had decided to do. My mind instead of saying: "This is hard. I'll never be able to last for 35 minutes. My legs hurt. I don't have enough energy," was given something positive to focus on. The Hari Om occupied my mind and allowed my body to do what it does best: move. My body cooperated and I experienced less resistance to exercise. It actually felt good! The mantra, Hari Om seemed to vibrate at various levels along my spine, encouraging me in good posture.