Hi, my name is Kirstin + I wear a nightguard. ((Bet you didn’t see that one coming 😂))
Seriously though, I do. But that’s not what this post is about, the night guard is a byproduct of me not listening to my body. Shame on me because I have preached to clients over + over again how important self-care is + I myself had to learn this lesson the tough way!
I have a master’s degree in Psychology + up to this point have worked in correctional institutions facilitating “offender change programming”. By nature, this work is stressful. What didn’t help is that I found myself in a situation a year ago with a supervisor that was micromanaging my every move. I was constantly on edge, barely sleeping at night + struggling to stay motivated. When I did sleep I was grinding my teeth, which led to terrible neck pain + headaches all throughout the day. My primary doc recommended a night guard + ibuprofen daily, which worked, but I knew wasn’t a great long-term solution to this stress-rooted problem. That’s when I found the YogaGlo app, thanks to a recommendation from one of my besties.
Yoga has always been my friend. I’ve done Hatha yoga, Vinyasa yoga, Yin yoga, hot yoga + will soon be trying some Buti yoga (more to come on that). I love it. I love that it gives me time to myself. That it’s emotionally relaxing but still a physical challenge. What I don’t love is trying to coordinate my work schedule around class times or how expensive memberships can be. I swear I was stressing myself out more trying to figure out when I could possibly squeeze self care into my schedule!!
Warrior 2 always makes me feel so powerful 💪
You need to know that I’m an excuse maker when it comes to starting back up with workouts. I need to limit as many obstacles as possible so that I have no legitimate reason to bail. YogaGlo got me back in a place where I looked forward to “me time” every day + that started with never having an excuse to get out of it. I could do it at home + class sessions range from 5 to 120 minutes, so it always fit into whatever window of time I needed it to. A monthly membership is only $18, which is what I would dread paying for ONE class at some studios. YogaGlo has brought me SO much peace + greatly helped with my neck pain (obviously there are a couple of other things I do in addition to yoga that help greatly – like deep tissue massages). Beyond that, it kick started those “feel good” emotions after a workout which led to me joining a kickboxing gym with some WAFs at McChord + now being confident walking into the gym at Randolph to knock out a workout on my own!
It is so important that we take care of our bodies, we all know that, but that does not make it any easier to get up + get moving when you’re in a new place, working full time + trying to spend time with your husband that’s gone a lot. If you’re like me, it’s not always easy to burst into a new gym + start slinging weights, gives me anxiety just typing that out! I am so grateful for the convenience of at home workouts + even more grateful that we’re growing this network of women so the next time I bust into an on base gym I’ll be welcomed with open arms by WAF sisters! 💙
I chatted up one of my yoga instructor besties + we’re working on this form, if you don’t take pictures of yourself doing some poses, start!! I promise you’ll learn so much. (Note: I’m eyeballing my phone where the YogaGlo instructor is preparing me for what’s next, when you’re deep in this pose it isn’t ideal to be straining your neck like I am to look up – practice will make perfect)
Xo, Kirst
