"I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis after years of extreme pain in my lower back"

Meet @sarakicksas sharing her #yogasavedmylife story with us. These are her words ❤

.

.

"The disease caused bone erosion in my sacroiliac joint and pelvis as well as bone fusion in my lower spine. As a former competitive gymnast yoga had always appealed to me as I was naturally flexible and going upside-down came naturally for me

.

.

I've been practicing yoga everyday since 2012. I wake up early so I have time to do yoga before work. I'm a visual artist, so I'm often in weird uncomfortable positions while working and doing a lot of repetitive motions with my hands, so I work in my studio in yoga clothes so I can periodically stop and do some poses to help ease the tension

.

.

Yoga has also helped with the anxiety that comes with the territory of having a painful autoimmune disease. I'm able to accept what is. .

.

Thanks to my regular yoga practice , I stopped taking my medication two years ago and I've still been pain free and practicing yoga and my art daily ❤

.

.

Namaste, Sara ❤🙏