"Life is full of surprises. Good and bad ones. Sometimes you feel a choice you made is taking you down new and exciting paths, and you get burned. How do you deal with the frustration? The disappointment? The embarrassment that your plan is not how you conveyed it to your friends and family?

Life has taken me down many paths. I am a mother, a wife and a worker. These roles define me. I was an athlete a long time ago. Training brought back a passion in me that I lost a long time ago. The past few weeks have been rocky ones, full of changes. My training has kept me focused, and sane.

The ax dropped last night, a job I had secured and started to build a future around fell through. What did I choose to do? I got out of bed at 1:30am and chose to train. Ran the best mile I have in a while, did the best core, and the best freakin shoulder presses I have done in months. I could have eaten, or drank my frustration away. I ran it away. I crunched it away. I pressed it away.

I train because that is my outlet. Food is no longer an outlet.

"I run to lose myself."

"As a competitive athlete, I train to compete. I compete for the love of sports. The love for my teammates, coaches, and family members. It means alot to me that people watch me play and I feel I owe it them to make sure I'm at my best. The competition is nearly 10 months of the year so the training needs to be smart and consistent.
THANK GOODNESS I HAVE A GREAT PERSONAL TRAINER! :)"

"Working out with weights is about 33% of my release. Its the part that keeps me balanced, even though its pretty dark and negative. Not saying i dont lift or workout for fun, but theres defintely an edge to it. A bit of anger in there. Working out some demons. Maybe internal. probably all internal if I think about. Probably shouldnt be that way. maybe one day I wont feel the need to workout the way I do for the reasons I do. which is why I have the other 66%. Someone asked me this once before. I answered "because someday, someone may challenge the safety of friends and loved ones. my body will be ready for that."

"I run to clear my mind. To be alone and have some "me time."
And for exercise. I like to listen to hip hop like the black eyed
peas and other fun music. Running is probably the
most fun I have in my day."

"My best workouts always involve a massive amount of sweat. If i'm not completely soaked through my T and possibly my shorts... something didnt go right. The sweat makes me feel alive."

"That deep muscle burn you feel during a great set of anything.It's a drug. It's my drug."

 "I've been fat/obese/chubby my whole life and being
this size makes many moments in life harder than they should."

"A little bit of a release of sorts from work and regular life.
To find time when I can have some me time and turn the world off."

"To be able to do things other people can’t."

"For most of my life I've been involved in sports and/or some type of exercise...but as I get older, I find that I exercise for entirely different reasons. In my mind, I refuse to believe that because I'm older than some of the people I work out with, hang with or work with .... that I should just "accept" what comes naturally with age. And, I need to prove to myself that I can do what anyone else can do:) It's more of challenge now than ever before - but I LOVE the challenge. I take working out far more serious than I used to. I almost think I get more from it mentally than I do physically ... it's a huge mental release for me. Now if I can just curb my eating - then I'd have the best of both worlds!!!"

"I train for the feeling of accomplishment and gratification
of doing something that most people cannot nor would not want to do.
Feeling sore the next day is just the icing on the cake!"

"Coming from someone who has led a sedentary life style in the past, training is like breaking out of jail. Training, is like gaining freedom from your own body, fears and reservations. Its a release of all your inner fears. Most of the time, I go in doubting and worrying what I may or may not be able to do. Can I keep up with the others? Can I really do that 3 miles on the treadmill? Do I have the discipline? Its been a little over a year, and I have transformed as an individual. I have an inner confidence that
shows in my job, role as a parent. I can do things that I never thought possible, I can handle situations that previously would have brought me down. For the 1st time, I am proud of myself and my accomplishments. I never had concerns about being "good" at my roles in life, but have NEVER been proud of myself. When I train, and put 100% in, I feel a pride I have never felt before."

"Up dog...down dog...WHY dog? Well, for me, it's personal. It was Spring 2008 when a friend posted on facebook that she had an extra free pass for a hot yoga class and I volunteered! I drove an hour there, took an hour class, and drove an hour home. And then I did that every Saturday for a month. Wow, what a great physical feeling, but I have to find something closer to home. I found Cleveland Yoga. Some days I loved it. Some days I couldn't focus to save my life! Interesting. Then, the off days became more and I slipped away from my practice.

When I returned, in 2009, I started going once and twice per week. Strictly for the physical practice (asana). Getting ready for my wedding was priority! I again found it difficult to stay focused, but began to find my breathe, which got me through more than a good practice (more on that later).

Over the winter of 2009, I found myself in one of Parker Bean's classes. She began talking about settling into your body and letting yourself be yourself and blah, blah, blah. I couldn't tell you what else she said! But, I can tell you that all of a sudden, I had a stronger sense of myself. I felt like I was myself. I felt connected to myself. Whoa! Wait, there is a little piece of gold I found! Wait, no, it is actually just the piece of me that I didn't even know was missing. Call it my inner child if you will...

Yup. I was hooked. And then too busy. And fell out of practice once again.

In June of 2010, I sat curled up in a hospital bed with my mom as the doctor explained that she had Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer). Very rare and terminal. They told her she had less than a year. That inner child about screamed as loud as she could...you need your mat...you need your breathe...go now. And I did.

I lost my mom in March of 2011, but I found a new perspective on life, a positive outlook, the ability to take a chance and change everything, faith in myself, and most importantly...I found my breathe. It got me through the hardest 9 months of my life.
In May 2011 I became a Registered Yoga Teacher. If I can help one person find their pot of gold inside, like Parker did for me, I know that I will have helped someone eventually find the breathe that will carry them through some of the best and worst times in their life.

So, WHY dog? Well, for me, it changed my life by changing my perspective. Yoga breathes life into me each time I hit my mat."

Jennifer Dudich, RYT 200

"TO KICK MY TRAINERS ASS!"

"I enjoy running for different reasons.
Sometimes it feels like work, sometimes its fun.
Sometimes it's very enjoyable and the wind is at my back,
sometimes I'm really laboring through the length
of the session and the whole run feels uphill.
I run to be in shape. I run for a sense of achievement."

"I don't really run or do anything other than lift. I've been lifting
weights for as long as I knew what a bench was and I've had
motivational pictures on my walls since. I'm sure there’s a larger
reason and I know that’s why you asked.
But I cant stand being small.
I don't know why. But it drives me nuts sometimes."

"Ever have a favorite old chair? That one chair that felt so good every single time you sat down... and you couldnt get rid of it... you never wanted to get rid of it.
It was the best part of the day. You'd come home from work. From a stressful day of teaching or construction or meetings or... just life. You'd come home tired and you just need a minute to sit in that perfect chair... thats yoga to me.
That favorite chair that you need to get a little feel for before taking on the rest of the day.
Why? It's calming. #1 reason for me by far. As soon as I make my way to the studio, i start to relax. I might put in some music or not. If I do, its something kinda chill. I dont waste the drive thinking about work or stress. I start to focus on my breath. I start to notice other cars more... I'm no longer daydreaming and sleep walking from one place to another. I'm awake.
Theres a reflection on the windows when you walk in... and I wonder if theres a reason or coincidence... (because not all windows reflect, right? :) ) But I take this time to look at myself. Not to check myself out and see how goofy I walk... but to actual notice myself from a different perspective.
I walk in... and I'm totally calm. I find my space... my mat... and I'm home.
It's motivating. It's a great workout. It's a mental workout. It's a physical puzzle at times. It's a mental puzzle at times. You'll find yourself thinking about things you never knew you forgot."

"So much of my life, inside... is a war.
Yoga has helped me find some peace and love... inside."

"I train for diabetes, well thats how it started in 1980 , but as I grew I train to live maintain diabetes care and to feel great , ive trained when I wasnt in the mood and when done told myself that was great .As I learned more Im now starting to teach others,and one day get my own gym....."
"So ... posed with the question recently "why do you train?". Honestly I needed to stop and really think of the real reasons why. The first thing that comes to mind is feeling more confident in my appearance. I've been very lucky as far as never needing to lose weight or diet in my life but even so I think lots of people put pressure on themselves to "measure up" to the model in the magazine or actress in the movie or even the person standing next to them! I know i've been guilty of it! But honestly I'm finding that trying to look like or be someone else is not all its cracked up to be, and only leaves you with a sense of "unfulfillment." I've found that being the best at being yourself is the greatest accomplishment! Besides why should we want to be anyone other than ourselves? Everyone of us was created uniquely and accepting you is powerful! So.. working out is without a doubt a important piece to this puzzle. Its a feeling of confidence, accomplishment, self worth and truly helps me become the best I can be. Whether that be physical, emotional, or whatever the reason at that moment!!"