Because of Forrest Yoga, I have wonderful feelings coursing
Medicine chants. Recording was a vulnerable process; it took a
through my body every day. Yoga gets my endorphins up, juices
lot of courage to do, but I turned it into a teaching tool, a very
my joints, and nourishes my brain. My brain functions clearly and
advanced asana! That was my Heroine’s Quest: to answer the need
creatively after my yoga, dispelling the myth of the mentally-foggy
of my people, I journeyed through my own doubt and failure, to
menopausal woman!
successfully create in Beauty.
The older I get, the more I fall in love with pranayama. I’m
“Yoga gets my endorphins up, juices my joints, and nourishes my brain. My brain functions clearly and creatively after my yoga.”
intrigued and enchanted with its effects. In the last five years I became fascinated with studying my blood. When my energy is down, my blood feels flat and torpid. Pranayama and the deep penetrating breathing cultivated during yoga practice sparkles up my blood. Within 20 minutes, it feels rich and swiftly flowing. Without my yoga practice, it feels a little bit thick, flat, and low in oxygen, which makes me feel old and grouchy and achy—so I just keep sparkling up my blood every day!
Another treasure of the sweetness of aging is to have written my new book, Fierce Medicine. It took me so long to start it because I had to mature to a certain level. When I re-read my book, I get really moved, and that means a lot to me. Recently, I was doing a book reading of Fierce at The Forrest Yoga Studio in Seoul, Korea. One of my Forrest Yoga Guardian teachers, Sinhee Ye-McCabe, a
“I love to do things that I never thought I would do—brave things.”
dear friend, was translating to the listeners. As she translated a section about becoming free of pain and suffering, she began to cry. Other people in the audience started crying. My eyes were watering up. It was intense Beauty—so cool! And I now get the pleasure of hearing from people who have been helped and deeply touched by Fierce Medicine. One woman told
I love to do things that I never thought I would do—brave things. That is part of what keeps my
me she carries it with her to read in scary situations—like before a root canal, or even while waiting on line at the DMV. It’s just amazing that she is using these dulling and frightening moments to educate herself and work in a profound way. I love it.
life feeling rich. Brave things don’t have to be
Learning how to play with change in a way that delights me has
physically
made my life way more compelling and fun. Surfing change has
dangerous. In
brought me to a wonderful new place. I have grown into my
Houston a few
wisdom. I have had time to develop my vision of “mending the
months ago, I
hoop of the people,” and am seeing it come into reality with the
recorded my
help of my Forrest Yoga Guardians and our Mentorship Program. Now there are Forrest Yoga teachers all over the world. I have students I adore, and I get to travel to new countries every year. I am simply euphoric, in love; it is amazing and hot on all levels...and I turned 55 in December! How great is that? Ana Forrest has been changing people’s lives for nearly 40 years. An internationally-recognized pioneer in yoga and emotional healing, Ana created Forrest Yoga while working through her own healing from her life’s trauma and experience. With thousands of licensed practitioners around the world, Forrest Yoga is renowned as an intensely physical, internally focused practice that emphasizes how to carry a transformative experience off the mat and into daily life.
www.forrestyoga.com
originmagazine.com | 51