You never know when one action will affect another. Kim and I started going to weekly yoga classes over the summer. I never expected myself to be a yoga person. Not that I didn’t like yoga or anything, it just wasn’t on my radar. But some 40 classes later, I can see and feel the benefits in all sorts of ways. I’m more flexible, have better balance, and a stronger core. It’s made me a better biker, and once I get back to the mountains, hopefully a better climber as well.

But a benefit of yoga showed up in a funny way the other day. I’ve been working on a little renovation project at the nursery to give staff a more comfortable area for breaks and lunches and to expand our office space a little. Part of that work has required creeping and crawling around in the storehouse rafters. I don’t know why I’ve always thought that was kind of fun. It was an adventure when I was little: my dad would open the attic door, and I felt so cool getting to go up and look around a little bit. Cool of course being the opposite of what it actually felt like in the attic… 

So I hoist myself up into the rafters, and then I realize that what I need to reach is in a spot where the roof makes it a quickly shrinking space. And I still needed to get 10 or 15 feet of distance to complete my task. The height between boards couldn’t have been much more than 18 inches, and as I started to move along, I was actually doing part of one of our yoga sequences, where you are in downward facing dog and then you bring a knee up to one of your triceps. If I hadn’t done that move over and over in yoga, I would never have been able to crawl across the attic space. An unintended consequence of what has now become a regular practice for Kim and me.

What are you putting into practice for the new year? If yoga is your thing, come join us for a free Yoga in the Garden session this Saturday. We’ve added a few more spots, so if you want to join us but thought it was sold out, please click the graphic below – it’s a great way to kickstart some self-care this season. And if yoga isn’t your thing, of course there is always the garden. What garden resolutions have you set for the year? You never know how something you put into practice now will affect your life in the future.