On Sunday, I joined a friend for Yoga. It was something called Yin yoga, a version of yoga that included less poses for longer time to really stretch and focus on the connective tissue, rather than your muscles. Usually, I can’t relax my muscles, but this helped in a huge way. I even remembered to breath!
Since I purchased the $30 unlmited 2 week pass, I decided to check out more. I went last night to Vinyasa (1-3). Meaning it was Vinyasa yoga for levels 1-3. I thought, hey I’m level 1. So I thought maybe I could watch the instructor as we went, she would show us how to do the poses/what they were. Not so much. Immediately, I realized the teacher was walking around the room, not demonstrating anything. Luckily, more experienced folks were in front of me. I kept an eye out for them and did what felt normal as we moved from pose to pose rather quickly. A lot turned out to be repetitive, thank goodness! I did my best to keep up but recalled that Yoga is about respecting the body so I didn’t push my limits. I noticed I was so focused on not falling down that I didn’t let my mind wander to every distraction. Then at the end, during the final minutes, you get to do some minor stretching, and lay down.
Any exercise that ends in a relaxing almost nap on the floor is okay by me. My mind wandered like crazy during this and I didn’t mind. I’m not really into Yoga for the “mind emptying” thing…more for the workout and treating my body like the Temple of the Holy Spirit it is.
For the first time during what is considered exercise, I was smiling. Even though it was hurting a little, even though drops of sweat were running down my forehead, I was smiling. I was happy that I went to this not knowing anyone there. I was happy that I didn’t give up completely at the first experience of strain. Happy I was able to talk to the instructor after class. It felt so good the whole way through.
So, along with slow cooker freezer meals and Green Smoothies, Yoga seems to be the next natural step in becoming more of who I want to be. A woman taking things at her own pace, on her own time. It feels great!
Unfinished... 