By Sarah Cook One evening this week, a dear friend felt some chest pains. The next morning, he was checked out by a cardiologist who found that his Left Anterior Descending Artery was partially blocked (this is commonly referred to as “the widowmaker” in the medical world). Within hours, they had him into surgery for a stint. He is now resting comfortably at home with his family. What a great reminder of how important it is to listen to our bodies and honor what they are telling us. Pain is not to be buried or overlooked, but to be heeded as a sign that something needs to change.

Zelinda and the other wonderful teachers at The Yoga Room constantly remind us to listen to our bodies and to honor the messages it is sending us. This is hard for those of us who live in our heads and suffer from the cerebral fixation. At the same time, yoga stirs up introspection into our psyche, and provides a new perspective not only of what we need to be doing to honor our bodies, but also our spirits. The consistent yoga practice has awakened in me a sense of all the areas of my life I’ve been neglecting—and a renewed commitment to figuring out how to address those areas. I have a good life—a wonderful teenage son, a beautiful home, and a great career that I am quite proud of (having re-started it only 7 years ago after my divorce). But, I’ve been working so hard on raising my son and pushing forward in the corporate world, many areas of my life have been sorely neglected—I’ve spent so much time grieving the failed relationships and losses in my life and battling the corporate world to get the foothold I needed to advance, I forgot the importance of nurturing my soul with the simple process of having fun. So, I’ve found time the time and energy to incorporate yoga into my life—I’m thinking now I should focus on finding more time and energy for fun. Because, that is what my body and mind are telling me to do…and I must find a way to honor that. Maybe the Alamo Drafthouse Sing-along with the Ladies of the 80’s is in order… I’m sure Whitney would approve!

Sarah Cook is a Senior Product Marketing Consultant for Dell Storage. Opinions expressed here are her own.