Last night I walked into a yoga class feeling stressed out like crazy. I felt almost nauseous.

For those who know me, I come across as a pretty calm and peaceful type.  Peace and love and all that jazz (and salsa!).

Earlier in the day, I took a walk in the park to settle down. And it was marvelous. There were very few people there, including a group of men playing bocce ball (how come I never see women players?).

But then the fearful chatter in my head came back with a roar when I got home.

Once upon a time, I would have stayed put and just allowed my mind to take over. (And probably watched Big Brother. Yikes!)

But my spiritual and yoga teachings throughout the years have taught me something remarkable and, yep, mind-blowing. Tara Brach, meditation teacher, sums it up like this: “I realized I don’t have to believe my thoughts.” Yes!

So I know it’s time to PAUSE when I find myself going over and over in my head all the horrible things that are going to happen in my life because I didn’t pay a bill on time … or because I decided to follow my own path and forego a 9 to 5 job with a steady paycheck and paid benefits … or because I ate three ice cream sandwiches in one day even though I curtailed my exercise due to a pulled muscle … yada yada yada!

I pause and take the wheel again. (Random thought: Who would ever want a self-driving car? Eeks.)

I wash my face, change, and head over to the yoga studio where I teach, which has a lovely class taught by an amazingly beautiful teacher who lives her yoga off the mat. Her gentle voice guided me through a practice that reminded me why I am a student of yoga and why I love teaching it. I surrendered and let go.

So I want to give props to a beautiful blog called Women Who Hope written by Dawn Onley and Samantha McKenzie. I love their passion and their quest to inspire women. In a recent column (“Fall Down, Get Up”), Samantha wrote: “We should share our getting back up stories. Try putting aside the shame and the need for perfection …”

Those words really resonated. She’s saying it’s okay for me to share that I’m not “feeling groovy” all the time. So there ya have it! Sharing it!

I’m sharing it because I know yoga, mindfulness practices, and such really, really, really can change your life. It did mine.

I’m sharing it because “Life, I love you”!

Namaste!