This past Sunday, I discovered the secret to stress relief.

I discovered yoga.

At this point you are probably looking up to the top of the page thinking I could’ve sworn I was reading a sports column… but yoga, as relaxing as it is, is quite physically demanding.  It is a unique balance between meditation and sport.

Now, I had heard of yoga before, but it took a friend of mine to drag me to Down Dog, a studio in Herndon that teaches vinyasa yoga, otherwise known as flow yoga- popular for its fast-paced, fitness approach to yoga and meditation- to actually give it a try.

Sorry, that sentence was quite the doosey.

Since I was running about five minutes late, the receptionist gave me only a quick prep-talk and sent me on my way.  I still was not quite prepared for what I was walking into.

At a toasty 95 degrees Fahrenheit and 60% humidity, I squeezed my mat between two men in the back, one whose sweat had already achieved waterfall status, and settled into my Down Dog, slightly hot and severely annoyed.

But I found that the longer I posed, whether it was in the Garusdana or Utkatasana (in simpleton terms the eagle or the chair), I found that original annoyance and tenseness I walked in with began to melt away.  It seemed as though with every release of breath I released all the bad worries, thoughts, and overall frenetic energy stored in my body.

It was the first time I had been at total peace this entire school year, and it is only November.  With the pressures put on kids these days, high school might as well be renamed stress school.  As if students are not bogged down with homework, SATs, home chores, or for some, hours at an actual job, parents and adults appear to believe we can manage all of this plus our extracurricular activities while enjoying ourselves because, “Hey, we’re young, we can handle it,” right?

It is impossible.

Now I am not trying to preach about anything, well maybe about a few things, but that doesn’t mean don’t take my advice.  Trust me on this one guys, if you want peace but need to stay active, yoga is the way to go.