Ohm

To kick off 2012 I embarked on what I like to call 30 days of yoga. 30 yoga classes over the course of 40 days (initially I wanted to do 30 classes in 30 days but after consulting with my yoga instructor Tad we agreed 30 classes in 40 days would be best for my body). Today is my 15^th class (20^th day) of this challenge to myself. Although I’ve been playing with yoga since I was about 14, my involvement in the sport (yes I said sport) got more serious when I began working in the UCLA psychophysiology lab with the man who single-handedly proved that consistent yoga practice can put moderate depression in REMISSION. Long story short it has turned into one of my passions. My yoga goal this year is to accomplish this pose:

Vrschikasana (aka Scorpion)

I watched my new friend from yoga class, Bobby, perform this one day and I was awestruck. I can do Pincha Mayurasana, the first step to getting into Scorpion, but I am struggling with taking my feet towards my head.

Pincha Mayurasana (aka Forearm Balance)

I can’t wait to get strong enough to do this pose! Is it nerdy that Bobby’s compliment, “You would make a beautiful Scorpion!” made me smile for days?

What are some of your passions in life? Or some of your goals for 2012?

Ps, for those science/psychology nerds out there the name of the study I worked on is Yoga as a Complementary Treatment of Depression: Effects of Traits and Moods on Treatment Outcome and the investigator is Dr. David Shapiro. You can find the full PDF on Google Scholar.