Greetings!

I have struggled with anxiety for many years. This time of year is often high anxiety time for me, and I would guess many others. Thankfully, one of the most stable things in my life -- and the thing that helps me the most -- is practicing yoga and by extension, teaching yoga. When I opened my first yoga studio back in 1998, I thought, "Well, yoga is amazing and I will ride this wave for as long as it lasts, but it probably won't last long." I had come from the fitness world; I had spent the previous 15 years watching fads come and go. I was a nutritionist and a personal trainer, and it seemed like everyone was looking for the next quick fix. It never felt right to me, but I followed along with the most popular diet and exercise regime. At the time, I felt like I was staying current, but there was a little voice inside my head that said, "This isn't supposed to be quick and easy. Health and happiness take commitment and discipline."

If you have been reading my "How I Built This" series, you'll remember the part where I started sneaking off to yoga classes to get out of the gym. It wasn't part of my workout routine per se, but more of an escape from the cold, loud, bright, intensely competitive environment I worked in 10 hours a day. One of the things that really struck me about yoga was the focus on the breath. When someone is stressed or anxious, what is the first thing people say? "Take a deep breath." Now, I am not just a yoga nerd but a total geek for anatomy, psychology, and how the mind and body are actually connected. I believe that the breath is the most direct way to connect the mind and body -- or rather, reconnect. It is also a way of resetting the nervous system.

I believe we are all in a low-grade fight-or-flight response most of the time, and sometimes it goes into high gear when other stresses are laid on top. The world out there is constantly bombarding us with stimuli. The fight-or-flight response gears us up to do just that: either fight, or run. If we don't do either, those hormones have nowhere to go. The combination of intense physical movement and breathing (an O2 Yoga practice) is one way of wringing that shit out. Our studio is intentionally under-stimulating, because you have enough to deal with outside of the practice space and it takes tons of energy to keep all that stimuli at bay. After practice, you hopefully re-enter the world with a little more strength, and feel a bit more grounded and able to manage all that stress.

I remember having an epiphany after taking a few yoga classes: in the fitness world, we separated everything out -- cardio, flexibility, strength training. It was incredibly time-consuming and didn't seem to work. It also left me feeling like I could never get it all done. There was something about yoga that was the total opposite. I seemed to be getting a lot of bang for my buck. I was getting my ass kicked, and I felt stronger, more flexible and calmer. What the heck was going on?

Long story short, thank goodness yoga was not just another flash in the pan for me -- and for many of you, too! -- and that my new practice led to the opening of O2 Yoga. From the beginning, the thing that has really made O2 Yoga unique is the focus on the breath. Which is why this month's focus (see below) is just that. And, if you are like me and feel a bit less stable at this time of year, then make a point of prioritizing the things that help the most. Get your butt to class, take a deep breath (well, actually quite a few), and by extension help and teach others around you to do the same. Taking care of you, when done right, takes care of everyone around you. Put on your oxygen mask (and yes, that is one of the reasons why we named the studio O2) first people, and breathe. And for more thoughts on breath, being present and managing angst, check out our feature on Jesse Wellman (below), who is one of the most wonderful and important parts of what makes O2 so special.

In the meantime, keep being the compassionate, loving, humble, bad-ass yogi/yogini I know you are!

Love, Mimi