Hi, I’m Kate! I’m a 28-year-old fitness nut living in Charm City (aka Baltimore, MD). I love food and working out (oh, and did I mention food?). Until about a year ago, I thought I was a badass. I’ve played  sports starting at a young age, going all the way through college and I always loved how strong that made me feel. But, over the past year, I’ve discovered a new type of strength – a more silent power that I unlocked by finding my way onto a yoga mat.

As I mentioned, I’ve always been an athlete. So you’d think that at some point I would have tried yoga…wrong. I was too busy training doing stairs or plyometrics or lifting at the gym (or being a scaredy cat). It took me a long time to finally admit to myself that of all the things the fitness world had to offer, yoga was one of the most intimidating for me. It’s only now that I realize why – when you’re practicing yoga, it’s you and only you. I’ve almost always been part of a team. The idea of opening up, and maybe failing, on my own was daunting. There’s so many pressures in the world to be perfect, particularly for young women. We say we know ‘perfect isn’t a reality’, but that doesn’t stop us from trying to keep up with the proverbial Joneses…

Long story short, someone finally got me to a yoga class. I’m pretty sure my friend tricked me, but either way I’m glad I got there. I immediately loved it. Where I had feared I’d be judged for my lack of knowledge and practice, I was pleasantly surprised with an overwhelming welcome and support. What was I afraid of all this time? Letting go. I had to let go of my fears. Let go of my closemindedness. Let go of the path I was on and give myself the opportunity to look at all the amazing things going on around me.

So I did. And in that letting go, I found strength and the power of intention I never knew I had. I discovered that you can always begin again, even if you fail. It wasn’t a hard on-switch, but more like a sunrise…slowly creeping light in.

So that’s my tale of finding strength in letting go. Letting go of my fears and trying something new. Allowing myself the opportunity to fail and begin again. I’ll leave you with this parting thought: we are ever-evolving and growing on this journey we call life. Right now, we’re just somewhere along the road so if it gets hard or scary, just know that there might be something amazing around the bend.

I hope to see you on the mat. <3

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