I’m officially back into yoga. I think it was Eat Pray Love that reigned me back in. That, and some gentle urging from my beautiful guru, and, of course, the FACT that I need some variety in my fitness regime.

Today I took my first yoga class since WAY before my pregnancy. I tried my darndest not to look in the mirror — at how different I look in the poses…. I used to look beautiful in the poses, all lean and defined. Now, needless to say, I’m much rounder. Although…, I did sneak a look or two in the mirror, and I liked what I saw! Yoga does that to you. No matter how you might feel about your body, if you’re inside the poses, you can feel strong and beautiful. And, I was really pleased with how much I could do after not practicing for so long.

(Argh, though, I couldn’t breathe in the shoulderstand because my face was completely SMOTHERED by my ginormous boooooobies. You should see it. It’s quite the vision….)

As you know, I’ve been teaching yoga lately…. But, it’s not the same as taking a class. When you take someone else’s class, you’re forced to do poses you don’t necessarily gravitate towards.

It felt challenging and relaxing and wonderful. I was so blissfully calm and still inside. After the class, I returned to my SPAWN whom I’d left in the gym daycare — the monkey was decorating an Easter egg and the rascal was still sleeping as I’d left him — and I was a different person. My voice was deeper, breathier…. My practice today was, indeed, what the famous yogi Vanda Scaravelli called, a “body holiday” — I done good.

Unfortunately, I’ve been eating us OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME since the class. WTF is THAT all about? Yoga’s supposed to make me LISTEN to my body. Something’s up widdat. Must think on it…. Hmmmm.

So, yo yo yo. Today’s Thursday Thirteen. Those darn healthy-looking celebs and their YOGA. Check all (well, thirteen of) the beautiful people who practice yoga…. Be inspired? LOVE.

1. MADONNA: “Yoga is a metaphor for life. You have to take it really slowly. You can’t rush. You can’t skip to the next position. You find yourself in very humiliating situations, but you can’t judge yourself. You just have to breathe, and let go. It is a workout for your mind, your body and your soul.” (qtd. in Oprah.com.)

2. GWYNETH PALTROW: “I eat weird health food, exercise and I meditate. I do yoga every day and I no longer eat sugar or wheat. Some people think it’s weird and extreme, but you have to do something weird and extreme to balance the fact that you’re living an extreme life” (qtd. in Spotlighting News.)


Gwyneth, hubby Chris Martin and Ashtanga yoga teacher Anthony Carlisi.

3. CHRISTY TURLINGTON: “I was interested in cleaning my body on a deeper level. Yoga really purifies your organs and blood. You feel that. You feel that circulation of energy. But the real lesson yoga gives you is learning how to be present.” (qtd. in Time.)

4. STING and wife TRUDY STYLER: “They say that when the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear. My yoga journey began in 1990. My first teacher Danny (Paradise), walked into my studio in London and asked if I wanted to learn yoga. I had no idea what yoga was but I was intrigued enough to ask him to show me. Which he did. I was impressed by both his quiet confidence and the strength and flexibility that he demonstrated. I was even more impressed after I tried to emulate some of his movements.

“I had always thought myself as fit. My job demands it. I was an athlete when I was younger and ran every day. But could I bend forward and lay my palms on the floor with straight legs? No way. Nor could I complete a simple sun salutation without huffing and puffing like an old train. This teacher’s breath had been smooth and effortless. I asked him to come to my house the next day and teach me.” — Sting, from the Foreword to Jivamukti Yoga

4. ROSIE O’DONELL


Rosie practices yoga and meditation and hangs upside down on this yoga swing and takes medication to manage depression.

5. MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY


6. REESE WITHERSPOON

7. JEREMY PIVEN

8. KIMBERLY STEWART

9. GERI HALLIWELL: “At my first yoga class I cried” she says. I believe in cellular memory – that you store emotions in every cell of your body…. Yoga is like squeezing out a dirty dishlot. When I squeezed my shoulder muscle, it let it all out.” (source.)


10. JENNIFER ANISTON: “I was doing yoga with my girlfriend and we were finished and we were sort of sitting there just sort of stretching and I looked over at her and I said, ‘You know what, I’m feeling a feeling I don’t know if I’ve ever actually felt before, and that is I don’t want to be anywhere other than where I am right now – sitting across from you.’” (source)


11. ALI MCGRAW


I love this yoga video….

12. JESSICA BIEL


The paparazzi have a knack for killing a post-yoga buzz….

13. CINDY CRAWFORD: “I can’t say how lucky I feel to have found Gurmukh’s pre-natal yoga class… I’m forever in her debt.”

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