The idea for ‘yoga adjacent’ came to me during the summer of the pandemic when I was practicing yoga. Well, that might be a little generous. I was moving around on my mat…though, I can’t promise you that I was doing any pose that has a name. Come to think of it, I may have just been lying there, which is a completely valid yoga practice if you ask me.
Anyway, let’s not get stuck on technicalities. That’s not the story I’m here to tell. As I may or may not have moved around on my mat, I noticed that my longtime green Jade yoga mat had a growing tear where my feet had slid into upward-facing dogs and pivoted into Warrior two’s so many times since 2012 when my fella gave this mat to me as a surprise after completing the 40-Day Revolution Challenge at my then-studio in Sydney (More on that later).
Seeing that growing hole and other areas of the mat starting to wear thin, I got to thinking about my relationship with yoga. It’s been part of my life for nearly 20 years now. At some stages in my life, practicing yoga wasn’t my main priority and at other times, it was all that I did or thought about. My practice has ebbed and flowed but it’s always been there. A constant companion that grows with me; intertwined with my experiences and shaping my outlook.
In this Yoga Adjacent series, I will share stories from the past couple of decades in which my yoga practice was adjacent to milestone experiences and moments of learning. In the next installment, I’ll start from the beginning. It’s a story I’ve told often about how I first came to yoga but I look forward to writing and sharing so much more than what I might include in my yoga teacher bio.
Until next time, be well.
Katie Kohlbeck 