"As an infant, she [my daughter] was a tiny, colicky and a beautiful mess, but she was my beautiful mess. After months of feeding her, changing her diapers and occasionally getting a shower, I realized something was missing.

Balance.

I had no clue how to find the magical formula but thought exercise might help. So I began my quest for balance and found yoga instead.

I’ve heard people describe yoga as boring, while others complain it’s too tough. For me, it felt a little like home. During my first class, I easily flowed through the poses until the teacher prepared us for Bakasana, a pose involving strength, core stability, and balance. Hmmm… it sounds suspiciously like being a mom, doesn’t it? That’s what I thought too.

Like any decent perfectionist, I was determined to get Bakasana right the first time. I bent my legs, laid my palms on the floor, and placed my legs on the back of my arms. Ta-da…

Exactly one second later, my face was planted firmly on my rockin’ new yoga mat. “Hello mat, meet my sweaty face.”

I repeated the process but my second attempt resulted in the face-mat phenomenon again. Exhausted, I stopped, took a breath and became completely still for the first time since my colicky baby had screamed her way into my life. I hushed my chatty inner thoughts and they all disappeared except one clear voice. It was me. “Hello stranger, long time no see.”

I turned my attention to the yoga teacher who was busy repeating warm and fuzzy mantras about listening to my body and staying in the moment. I alternated between silent giggles and thinking she was a genius. I decided to try again. My legs groaned shamelessly as I placed them on my arms again but this time I stopped to listen. I leaned into the pose slightly and shifted; I was balanced. I had found the sweet spot! I was a new mommy learning to fly. Suddenly, Bakasana sounded less like a weird virus going around daycare and more like a mantra for my life.

Following my yoga experiment, I decided to search for my own sweet spot in life. Sounds easy, right? Not really, especially for someone still trying to balance changing poopy diapers and showering every day.

I started small. I remembered Bakasana. I got still and listened. I studied those small moments when I could feel joy bubbling hot below the surface. I discovered I loved doing cartwheels when no one was looking, indulged in my ridiculous coffee addiction, and jogged through my neighborhood with my iPod blaring loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage.

To my surprise, little pieces of joy showed up like a path to happiness. So, I leaned in more, shifted my thinking and followed the path. There was Balance waiting around the corner, hand in pocket. “Dude, where have you been?”"

- Amy F.

"Why I Move with Zumba - because these ladies know how to shake it. They bring their shimmy to every single class and turn their workouts into a party!"

- anonymous

"Running, and running hard and fast (for me) and far, keeps my mood in balance.  I don’t know if I get a runner’s high, but I never regret a run.  Even if my legs hurt or I feel dehydrated or the house is in chaos when I return I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and ready to take on the day when I return from a run, whether it’s 3 miles or 13.  Over time I’ve realized that the running must be boosting my endorphins.  Don’t get me wrong, I have bad days, bad weeks, I cry, I get pissed off and irritated, I’m not as patient with the kids as I’d like, I’m not perfect.  But, I can also tell that running often, consistently, and far has done more for me than therapy or meds ever have."

- Kelly M., 47

"It felt good.

I felt like I made it. I felt like I did something. There was a tingling buzz of satisfaction burning in my shredded calves, a lingering ache of pride in the dirt bike tracks riding up my stomach for three days, and a quiet happiness with the gym pain I'd inflicted upon myself.

When you reach up higher than you've reached before, give a little more than you gave before, and dig deep to your core and end up sprained and sore, well, around here we say that's a little something called

AWESOME!"

- Neil P.
Via The Book of Awesome, "Gym Pain"

"So I gots the power to roll out me dough.”

- Anonymous

"I love running because it is my time to connect with myself, my friends and to think. I don’t run with music most of the time (unless it is Rachel Patton’s “Fight Song”) because I like to be free of distraction and be able to hear my body running. Running has also brought me some of my closest friends both here in the QCA and in the greater running community.

My mom is the reason I run. I blame my “habit” on her! She would call or a race confirmation email would pop up on my account with a “by the way…I signed us up for a race” from my mom. She was and is my first Best Running Friend (BRF). Many times my mom and I will go for a run around Vanderveer Park or to Genesis West and back home. I love this time because we get to talk and enjoy each other."

- Sarah G., 37
Davenport, IA

Via Let's Move Quad Cities

“Climbing has been such a positive influence in my life that I wanted to introduce it to other people with disabilities...

I discovered climbing after my amputation and it has been such a wonderful, powerful thing in my life.

I’m doing a lot of things that I didn’t know I could do with my prosthesis and my amputation and proving myself  wrong."

- Ronnie D.

"So I can ride my bike 14+ miles on the Oregon coast!"

- Steve W.
Grants Pass, Oregon