🧘🏿‍♀️ 9-MINUTE YOGA? 🧘

(Not so fast!)

Journey of the 9-Minute Yoga Fool - TAKE 2

by Christi | updated July 9, 2020

Hi! It's me again. I know what you're thinking! "Haven't I seen her here before?" Yeah, that was me! About a year and a half ago. Remember I said I had no idea what I was doing. I was just going to "wing it". Well, I did! And it turns out the Journey of the 9-Minute Yoga Fool was not about yoga at all. So...this is Take 2!

But we are back to the question, "what is 9 minutes of yoga going to do for me?"

Well, if you're already in good shape, the answer is probably nothing. But, if you're like me, 9 Minutes of Yoga today is 9 minutes more than you did yesterday! 

I love "watching" the yoga classes from the very fit and energetic people who are professionals. They have amazing stamina! Unfortunately, 30 minutes of Yoga for me, just isn't possible. I mean, CAN I do it? Sure! I can hang in there for 30 minutes. More importantly, WILL I come back the next day and do 30 minutes? 

Yeah, not so much. So the question must be asked: Then WHY was I doing this? 

Like many of you, my earlier years were consumed with raising children, paying bills, running businesses and keeping up with the chaos that was my life. And I loved that chaos! But I failed to prioritize any "me" time. If you're a busy mom or dad, 9 minutes of yoga is literally 9 minutes you could be sleeping! I mean, you're already getting a workout, amirite?

But over the years I had become comfortable with my slower pace, comfortable with my body and comfortable with my "older" energy. Somewhere between my first child being born and my last child flying the coop, (No, it's not a mug shot, but the Navy's basic training is hell! Sorry Taellor!) I had settled into a routine that was probably less about me and more about my family. Fast forward to today. Do you hear that? Aww, that's the sweet sound of empty-nesterism, along with the even quieter sound of divorce! 

Not one to sit still very long, I founded my new company Unrehearsed Universe. I tried to envision exactly what this company was about. Who was I going to help? Who was my audience? But as I looked in the mirror, I saw someone looking back at me that was ready to make some improvements on herself. I had become stagnate. And I was ready to try new methods and reach new goals. I realized that we only have a limited amount of time on this planet. 9 Minutes of yoga was certainly not going to kill me! And, even if it did, GOOD FOR ME! It's better than checking out with a Ding Dong in my hand. Not to shame those of us eating Ding Dongs.

I was ready for a change, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. I knew I had to start somewhere and I sure as hell wasn't going to deprive myself of eating nachos! So yoga seemed like a safe choice. So I set out to create The Journey of the 9 Minute Yoga Fool for everyone, just to see if we could all do 9 minutes of yoga. And, being a Tarot reader, I had this great plan of equating lessons from the 22 Major Arcana cards with everyday situations that we could all relate to. Remember, I truly wanted to help other people find their focus. What I did not realize was that after spending years of focusing on other people, I found it very hard to give myself the time of day, let alone the care and love that I deserved. This feeling was difficult to overcome and to be honest, I had to learn how to give myself 9 minutes of attention before I could offer free, un-solicitated advice to anyone else! 

But the simple act of showing up everyday was not so simple. It took effort. I don't even LIKE yoga! Never-the-less, I did the same stretches and yoga moves everyday and I always ended with a few moments of silent meditation, just thinking about where I was in life. There was no variety in my method. I just promised myself that I would show up, no matter how monotonous or excrutiatingly boring it was, I would pledge 9 minutes to myself on a daily basis. 

Well, oddly enough, things started to happen. I didn't want to believe it, but through these 9 minute sessions, I came to realize that I was a bit lost.   ….alright, I won't lie...I was a hot mess! Albeit a cute hot mess, it was still pretty ugly! It turns out that I was more broken that I had originally thought. Anybody else have that problem? No? Just me? 

Okay, well I won't bore you with the details of me wading through my divorce, the painful loss of my parents, leaving behind my business while moving from my home state of Colorado to California, meeting my mysterious King of Pentacles, losing 42 pounds, learning to surf, becoming an non-essential worker forced to stay at home 24/7 to stare at very boring tan walls before finally just painting my entire house while also learning to navigate family reunions in a now-socially distanced world, all whilst practicing my amazing TikTok dance moves, in between writing my books and marching for justice, only to create CC's Place where I filmed, edited and attended my own therapy sessions, after meeting my King of Swords and learning how to date during a world-wide lockdown but...hey, look at that! You're all caught up! 

My point is, don't think, for ONE MOMENT, that you have to accept a life that you are not happy with. Even if your unhappiness is caused by you, yourself. You may think that 9 minutes of yoga is useless. I certainly did. But the Journey of the 9 Minute Yoga Fool is not really a lesson in yoga. I'll let the professionals teach those moves. My lesson was learning how to be nice to myself. Learning to give myself time, care and attention. Speaking to myself in a manner that was normally reserved for my friends, family or basically ANYONE besides me! It was like there was a mean-girl residing in my head, who only spoke to me and no one else. Man she was rude! Why couldn't I be nice to ME? Well, I could. I just had to learn how to take a deep breath, punch my mean-girl-self right in the throat, take my left hand and move her to the side, while I took a step forward. I didn't even say, "Excuse me!". And by the way, violence is never the right answer, but that bitch had it comin'! It was a smooth execution that was long overdue. And it started by me consistently showing up to my yoga mat. Learning how to be nice to myself was quite the chore! And I had NO idea that this simple lesson would swing me into the position I have arrived at today. But it honestly did. You know they say hindsight is 20/20. It's true. When you're going through something, you really have no idea if it will benefit you or harm you. You just have to experience it. Then, you look back and are like....Damn! That worked! 

So, before posting this video, I had some self doubts. I've always been a very confident person, but I do question myself sometimes. Could I do this? Could I, being all broken and fragile myself, actually admit my flaws to the world while trying to help heal others? And the answer is YES! Do you know how many people I have learned great lessons from that weren't perfect? All of them! Everyone that I have learned ANYTHING from was broken. This is called Humanity. It's what we do. It's who we are! We're ALL broken. But is shouldn't stop us from extending a helping hand to our fellow humans. Er, wait a minute. Let's put some sanitizer on that and try it again! We can encourage others forward, even if we are still finding our way.  Lift each other up. We're all in this together. We need each other. Especially in this socially distanced world that we are currently experiencing.

And while 9 minutes of yoga did not make me lose 42 pounds, it DID give me the structure and discipline I needed to eat better and exercise more. Honestly, if I had known all of the benefits that came with this simple act, I would not have fought it so much. I mean, I'm busy, trying to live my life and eat Ding Dongs. Ain't nobody got time for exercise! And yet, I digress! 

If this vlog hits a nerve or you find yourself at a place in life that you no longer feel passionate about, I encourage you to show up at your own "mat", whatever that looks like. If you don't know how to start, consider doing your own 9 minute routine of yoga. It might just be the push you need to get yourself started on your own journey. Either way, find 9 minutes for yourself. For YOU only! Show up everyday. Take the time to make it a habit. You will no doubt have some time to think about the changes you want to make, the dreams you stopped believing in, and the self-improvements that you have talked yourself out of a million times over. Travel. Go back to school. Start a habit. Change a habit. Remove a habit. Learn an instrument. Make a move. Write that book. Learn to journal. Fall in love. Start that business. Start all over! Hell! Learn to surf, or paint, or sew or cook. Find the courage that you know is inside of you to give yourself true freedom. Do it for yourself. When we improve ourselves, we automatically improve the world. And the world can always use some improvements. 

I wish you peace and contentment on your journey. Hey, look at that! It's been 9 minutes! See? you got this! 

Oh, and one last thing..