I have been going to Yoga for a few weeks now. Over the years I have gone off and on but mostly off. The main reason for this is laziness, followed closely by the secondary issue of just not having the time. To have the time means taking the time away from other things – like lying around with a book and tea.

The thing about lying around with a book, or my phone, or watching TV  is that I am present at home and available for the kids. They are older now and have their own thing going on in the evenings. Mostly revolving around Minecraft and Skyping with buddies. They don’t much need me, but when I am not present at home I am missed, I know this. Missed my them, missed by my husband.  I hear about it.

So I go to Yoga in fits and starts because eventually a combination of guilt and laziness sets in and I just give up. Those weeks when I have work obligations in the evening, or coffee with a friend or a new episode of Brooklyn 99… exercising falls off the to do list.

Why don’t I get up early and go in the morning you ask? ARE YOU JOKING?! DON’T YOU KNOW ME AT ALL? (If you are reading this and you are not my sister, you prob don’t, since I have only told like 3 people I am writing this blog, but trust me, I would never).

Back to Yoga. The instructor I had last night is my fave (Normally I do not abbreviate words but spell check objects to the Canadian spelling and I object to US spelling so it is my way of keeping the peace).

Back to the teacher. She is totally into the workout, which is what I like about Yoga. It is totally my speed, and as far as any of the working out I have ever done (stop laughing people who know me!), it is what my body likes the most (All of that great stretching and balancing and lying around setting intentions (which I suck at btw).

Another reason I like this particular instructor is that she never talks in that soft airy yoga voice, or says anything about chakras, or makes us chant or any of that other shit that makes me uncomfortable in other classes. (UPDATE: I have grown to embrace the “woo woo”)

She is pretty hardcore about the moves, her set list rocks, and I am sweating my ass off at the end of class (yes, it it HOT yoga, shut up).

Last night though, she got kinda philosophical and what she said was this:

Saying yes always means you are saying no to something, and saying no always means you are saying yes to something.

Maybe I was delirious from being dehydrated and doing a hundred cobra to downward dogs (I have low blood pressure, it makes me light headed) but in the moment, and still today, I find this obvious truth to be so profound.

I feel like I have a new framework for decision-making that is more holistic and thoughtful, with the potential, just like my pin #, to bring more positivity into my day.

It came at a good time. I have been asking myself a lot of really intense questions lately, and my husband too. I have been impatient for us to make some pretty massive life decisions so there is a lot of conflict going on right now (i.e. he is being passive aggressive and I am shrieking and swearing). It’s not great. I know I am stressing him out big time.

I can see now, one of the problems is that I am very much YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. We need to do this amazing thing that I want to do because it is amazing!!

And he is kinda like… well, maybe, but no, ok fine yes, actually no, but why? It might amazing or maybe what we are doing now is more amazing…

What we really need to do, together, is determine if we say yes to this amazing idea (or bad idea depending on who you ask), what are we saying no to? And if we say no, what are we then saying yes to?

Am I right?