I am in awe of my sister. She is an athlete in general and a runner specifically. Running is her yoga. It is the place where she finds peace and is able to reach for the divine. I don't know if she would describe it as such, but that is how I see it. She runs marathons. Wow.

Someone asked me once if I would take up running. I responded that I would take up running the minute someone started chasing me. Let's just say it is not my thing. It is funny though how I specialize in teaching people with tight hips and hamstrings (lots of runners in my classes). I thought at first it was coincidence, but then I realized at some point I am honoring my sister by teaching these people, who desperately want to keep running. I hopefully teach them how to keep their bodies healthy, aligned and strong so that they can keep running, or skiing, or biking, etc.....

Running is very hard on the body. Long distance running is VERY hard on the body. (Don't even get me started on those Iron Man people.) A few years ago my sister was in a lot of pain. She was told by her doctor that she had stress fractures in her pelvis and was going to have to stop running for at least six months to let her body heal. I have been in that situation where I was told that I could not do the thing I loved MOST. It was devastating. I can only imagine how frustrated and sad she was.

When she was able to start running again we were up on Martha's Vineyard and I asked her to go to a yoga class with me. Surprisingly she said yes, yoga not being HER thing. We went to my friend Jane Norton's class (if you are ever on MV check her out- AWESOME) and practiced. It was not a particularly hard class - or so I thought. My sister was dying. She was so tight, everything was a challenge. She also told me that she didn't realize how much upper body strength/core strength she DIDN'T have. I was shocked. I don't know why, I had just always thought of her as some sort of athletic cyborg. It was crazy to me that something I found so easy she would find challenging. Then I thought, well if someone pointed a gun to my head and told me to run five miles, (the only way I would be forced into doing such a thing) I would be throwing up after the third mile. I do get on the elliptical- but I am very grumpy when I do it.

We returned to our homes and two weeks later I got a phone call from her. She told me in preparation for the Boston Marathon she had added yoga to her life. She hurt much less and her breathing was better. I was so happy for her and I realized why. Several years before; before I was a teacher, I would try to convince her to take up yoga. I basically tried to shove it down her throat. No wonder she didn't want to do it. Now yoga class was enabling her to keep practicing HER yoga which is running. (She ran the Boston marathon in about three and a half hours, by the way) There is the grace.

I tell students all of the time that I don't expect them to become Anusara devotees. I do tell them that around age thirty five your body will hand you a bill, and you are going to start paying it for the rest of your life. If yoga enables you to do the thing you love the most, FANTASTIC! If it teaches you more about your body, WONDERFUL! If it gives you something to mentally chew on, BRILLIANT! It is your life and your practice. Find a good teacher who will teach you proper alignment with an open mind and heart. Listen to your teacher and listen to your body- you know what feels right and wrong. Just because it's called a yoga class, doesn't necessarily mean it is good for you. (You CAN get hurt in a yoga class- trust me on this one)

We were up on the Vineyard again and I was talking to an acquaintance. She asked where my sister was and I told her that she was running. I added proudly that MY sister runs marathons. The woman smiled and asked if I ever would consider running a marathon. After I had stopped laughing, I told her that I couldn't wrap my head round running 26 miles. She responded with a smile, "But you can wrap your leg around your head!"

This is true.