I discovered yoga in my early 20s. Amid a busy career as a marketing executive in New York City, I found it hard to hit the "off button" amid my 24/7 lifestyle. I sought help from a licensed psychotherapist.

Ongoing therapy sessions were cathartic and gave mental clarity. Over time, emotionally I felt stronger, yet I still had these chronic racing thoughts, which were exhausting and relentless. This is when my therapist told me to try yoga.

In the 1990s, yoga was considered a hippy-dippy, New Age phenomenon, and I was not. When I started yoga classes, I felt out of place and inadequate compared to the other students, who could twist and turn in ways I could not. I am not a former gymnast, dancer, or athlete.

"But in the midst of all the negative chatter in my head—things like, 'I'm not flexible,' 'I can't touch my toes,' 'What do I look like?'—the teacher's voice cuts through: 'Observe the monkey mind. Observe the thoughts. Stay for five more breaths. Just observe…'" I finally realized these thoughts were actually allowed in this room, even embraced AND maybe other people had them too.

As I explored different yoga classes I found that yoga teachers were not expecting or encouraging an over-striving attitude. In fact, it was encouraged in every class to take a child's pose (curled up on your mat) at any time.

Today, I help others learn what to take from this practice. As a former corporate executive, mother of two boys, wife, breast cancer survivor, daughter, and friend living in New York City, I understand life's busy, competitive nature. I know first hand how yoga can can work for the not flexible, the not spiritual and the not hippy-dippy.