Real Yogis of Atlanta: Sandy

In or our first installment of "Real Yogis of Atlanta," meet Sandy Althomsons. I was feeling a little shy about asking someone from class to tell me about their yoga journey, and so I asked Sandy because she just seemed so nice and like she wouldn't look at me like I had three heads when I asked her if she'd be featured on the blog. From talking to her, I confirmed that she's not only very nice, but very wise too, and I'm so happy she agreed to take part. Here's her story.

Sandy's story:

"I started doing yoga when I was 10, after I had been diagnosed with asthma. My dad visited India, where he met with an Ayurvedic doctor and learned breathing techniques, or Pranayama, the fourth limb of yoga, which he then taught me. There are 8 limbs of yoga, and Pranayama, breathing, is what I learned first.

"When I was in grad school, I started learning meditation, which is the 7th limb of yoga, but it wasn’t until I moved to Atlanta, about 15 years ago, that I started taking yoga in a studio, and learning the Asanas, the yoga postures.

"I’ve been reading the book, The Yamas and the Niyamas and it’s been transforming my life.

"The Yamas and the Niyamas are the ten tenets of Yoga. The first one is Non Violence and it’s not about actions, it’s about thoughts, and it doesn’t start with nonviolent thoughts towards others, it starts with nonviolent thoughts towards yourself.

"To me, yoga is the 3,000 year-old science of how to live. This idea of self-forgiveness, it’s the start of self-love, and if you can forgive yourself, it’s so easy to forgive other people."

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