This is my first-ever blog, so I’m not entirely sure how to kick this off, but I figure it might be a good idea to introduce myself, why I started yoga, and where I see this blog going. So, here goes…
My name is Josh Edge. I was born and raised in Alaska and recently moved to North Carolina. Prior to late October 2022, I’d never set foot in a yoga studio — and, frankly, never intended to. Growing up in hockey rinks across Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48, then transitioning into more of a halflete once I hit adulthood, dabbling in other sports like weight training, powerlifting, mountain biking, and road cycling, yoga was never a consideration — from the outside looking in, it wasn’t intense enough. It wasn’t “manly” enough. Boy was I wrong.
Shortly after moving to North Carolina, some hip and lower back issues I’d been dealing with for a couple years hit a breaking point. After talking with my doctor and visiting a specialist, I began working with a physical therapist. Before starting physical therapy, I was worried my back would never be the same and I’d be a 34-year-old with the back of a 70-year-old. As it turns out, the biggest issues were super tight hamstrings and hips. While I slowly started to make progress through physical therapy, I was also getting impatient. I wasn’t seeing progress fast enough. I was ready to eat my words and try something new. Something I would never have considered as a younger adult. I talked with my girlfriend about the yoga studio she found after we moved here and before too long made it to my very first yoga class. Now, nearly three months and 60+ yoga classes (plus a month of physical therapy) later, my back and hip issues are practically gone. I still have my rough days where things are a little painful, but the pain is substantially less than before and happens very, very rarely. Side note, I’d like to give a special shout out to physical therapists. They get kind of a bad rep because people don’t fully commit to the process. I’m not a medical professional, but after my extremely positive experience, I’d imagine a lot more physical ailments are treatable through physical therapy than most realize.
I’ve spent more time stretching and working on my mobility in the last few months than I did in the last 30+ years of my life and I’m already feeling the benefits. Undoing decades of built up tension is hard; it’s uncomfortable; and it’s totally worth it. My happy baby pose probably doesn’t look nearly as happy as when I was an actual baby, but at least I can finally reach out and touch my toes without bending my knees!
Before I get too deep into this blog, I want to be clear (like the name of the blog says), I’m just doing yoga. I don’t believe in the power of crystals and I’m not going to pretend for a second that I know if my chakras are aligned. It drives me crazy when my instructors say things like “lift your kneecaps” when what they really mean is “activate your quads,” but now I know what they mean, and I know they mean well, so I smile (or grimace because yoga is hard and I’m trying to no die) and push the annoyance aside. Though I’m a skeptic at best when it comes to the spiritual side of the practice, I am a firm believer that working out and breaking a sweat helps immensely with your mindset and mental health — so maybe it’s kind of the same thing in the end.
Like I alluded to earlier, I’m not an expert; I’m not an instructor; I don’t work for or have a personal stake in a particular studio; and I don’t pretend to buy into the full on yogi lifestyle. But I do believe in the physical benefits of yoga, the workout it gives you, and the importance of the mobility it provides. I know there are a lot of new and hesitant potential yoga practitioners, and I hope this blog sheds some light on what it’s like starting the practice and makes signing up for your very first yoga class a little less intimidating.
I’m early in my journey and have a lot to learn, but with some help, my supportive yoga instructors and classmates might yet make a yogi out of me. For now, though, I’m just doing yoga.