Yoga

Yoga Instructor: Find a mantra, a person, something, that will be your focus for today.

Me (Thinking): I will not fall over. Or fart.

Yoga Instructor: This should be outside of your body.

Me (Thinking): Dammit.


This is pretty much how my yoga session started off tonight. Oh, and my heart rate monitor was constantly beeping at me because my HR wasn't high enough. Thankfully, my HR increased after what seemed like an eternity in extended child's pose. Then the fun began...

The first time I tried out yoga I was with my friend Jen. It was all I could do not to look at her and burst out in a fit of giggles. The instructor kept using the word "journey," which we found hilarious. This time around there were a lot less people in the room and the AC wasn't quite up as far as I would have liked it to be. This instructor wanted us to focus on our breathing and ourselves, as if no one else were in the room. She wanted us to de-stress and forget the world's pressures and judgments. We were beautiful/handsome. I still think that's all a bunch of hooey, but my end feeling about yoga was about the same.

I hate the beginning when I don't know what the poses are called and I have to keep looking up or around me to see what everyone else is doing. Tonight I was sweating buckets (literally, there was a small pond on my mat) and my glasses refused to stay on my nose. When they were on my nose they decided to fog up. The toughest pose (I don't know what it was called) was when we were supposed to "jump" from plank into balancing with our knees on the back of our arms/triceps. Uh huh. Suuuure. I'll just do that and then drop my head and go straight up with my toes pointing towards the ceiling. Three people in the class (2 girls and 1 guy) were able to balance on their heads, hands on the floor, toes pointed to the ceiling. Show offs. Hmm...but a little piece of me liked the challenge. I was able to balance with my head on the floor and my knees on the backs of my arms quite well. Next step: legs and toes up. Remember, all of this is pretty hard to do when you're covered in sweat.

I always like the end of a yoga session. For the last 4-5 minutes you get to lay there while the instructor plays beach sounds or some other calming music. You're supposed to clear your mind, but I always find myself composing blog entries or making a mental to do list. I feel like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. I have this same problem when I'm getting a massage. My mind is telling itself to relax and clear, but my body stays tense. At the end I'm always glad that I went and persevered.

If I can move after tonight, I might even go back.