I admit, I’m not a yoga regular. Despite the fact that my mom has been urging me to take up yoga for, oh, decades (she took it up at age 50!), I always find excuses to avoid slowing down for a class.

Last night, however, something clicked for me. At an evening event that featured a delicious vegan dinner, our ProBar hosts started by providing our group with a simple, perfect-for-beginners yoga session (with mats, blocks and eye pillows courtesy of Hugger Mugger). In a heated tent on a grassy knoll overlooking Newport Bay, our instructor, Deanna, expertly guided novices like me and more advanced practitioners through simple breathing and stretching exercises for about 30 minutes. It was peaceful. It was easy. And I was utterly surprised at how in touch it put me with my too-hectic mind and body. I found myself actually thinking, “This is changing my life.”

There was something about being perched on the eve of a huge trade show and yet being completely in a place of awareness and peace that caused something to shift, in a good way, inside me. I realized, even while doing these simple poses, that I want to feel that kind of consciousness every day … and being in the natural lifestyle “industry,” what other approach could there be? I’m grateful that as Expo starts, I was reminded (not just with words, but with action) that the big part of our story is conscious, peaceful and healthy living, inside and out.

Elisa Bosley
Senior food editor
Delicious Living