Friday, January 25, 2013

hafta yoga

This has been a month of firsts for me...I had my first massage...my first skin cancer...and tonight I got to try my first yoga class.

I'm hooked!  I loved it from the first [attempted] pose to the relaxation at the end.  Took a coworker with me...I believe it always pays to share the pain.  As soon as the instructor turned on her little battery operated candles, and turned out the light, I knew this was going to be my type of exercise.

After all, there is nothing better than exercising in the dark, is there?  No one could see my face turning red as I struggled to stretch and pose, or see my muscles quivering in complaint about being stretched like dry rotted rubber bands.  And only I could feel the sweat I knew no one could see, running in rivers down my face.

Of course, that sweat was partially caused by wearing the clothes I had left in my office for the yoga class I was supposed to start last week, when it snowed and we couldn't get there.  I had long sleeves and pants, knowing it would be cold that night.  It was much warmer today...so I was overdressed.  I also found out some other valuable things about yoga tonight:

1. You don't wear running shoes.  You don't run in yoga.  You barely move in fact.
2. It takes longer to put shoes back on sweaty feet than it does to do the whole class.  (My friend applauded when I finally got them on.  I didn't know hand claps could sound that sarcastic.)
3. The fact that your muscles turn to jello after the first exercise you have had in years contributes to the fact it is hard to lift your sweaty leg and shove your sweaty feet into your shoes.
4. Your butt tends to stick to the mat.  When the instructor says slide this way or that on your butt, she is the only one sliding.  The rest of the class is stuck like glue to their mats.
5. Every time you stick your butt in the air and do some kind of dog walk pose, you move farther back on your mat, until your feet end up on bare floor.  It is yoga magic.
6. The music is soothing.  It is nicer to sweat to soothing music than to loud rock and roll.  But it also makes it harder to crack a joke in the middle of class when you are struggling to hike your butt in the air.
7. You can fake it in yoga, and still fit in.  At least half the class is faking at any given time.
8. It is hard to tell what the instructor is doing when you are laying on your back and she is laying on her back, and you see nothing but the ceiling.  This is when faking it comes in handy.  She can't see you either.
9. You should always do the tree pose first, before your muscles turn to jello.  After almost an hour of posing, you have no balance left.  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.  You spend your time with your foot going up and down like you are stomping out a fire.
10. It is easy to fall asleep during the relaxation period at the end.  Sleeping in a room full of strangers is the easy part, and your reward for all the sweat and jello muscles.

The nicest thing said to me was by the lady next to me, who told me I did better than she did, and she had been doing yoga for years.  That was all it took for me...compliments and fake poses...I was sold.

I have found my niche... :D

...life is good.~cath
find me @jonesbabie on Twitter

20 comments:

  1. Ah Cath, this brings me back to the summer of 2011 when I did my first yoga class. I learned similar lessons, the first one being don't apply after-sun before class, you can't keep a grip on anything! Loved the article. I found myself dozing off on the mat there with you.

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    1. I am glad to know I am not alone! I know the second class will be much better thn the first, mainly because I know to wear flip flops or slip on shoes!

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  2. Isn't exercise a great feeling? Well afterwards, anyway, if not during. I live for those endorphins! Good for you for getting started with it. Did you love your first massage?

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    1. This class lasted just long enough that I was just barely beginning to wonder how much longer it would go on. And then boom! it was finished. I loved that I survived and managed to walk out on my own two legs, and not have to crawl out.

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  3. Making me think about finding a yoga class nearby! You go girl! xoxo

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    1. This is the first class I ever took that makes me feel that it is totally suited to me!

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  4. oh! is that why you were moaning and groaning all night last night lol

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    1. Keep it up and I will hotwire your treadmill to start out at 5 miles a minute. Let's see how much you moan when you get thrown off the end of it.

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  5. Faking it always works! heheheeh.....Glad you enjoyed your workout, Cathy. :-)

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    1. Faking worked for me...and I can always throw myself face down into extended child pose. :D

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  6. So funny, Cath! Good on you for being there and attempting the poses at all. All the best to you. x

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    1. I fully expect to fall on my face at some point. Stay tuned. :D

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  7. Ooooo how I miss yoga - you've reminded me how much I loved it :) I must get back into it.

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    1. I never blended in so fast with a type of exercise in my life. Of course, there were only three of us, not counting the teacher!

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  8. What would we do without yoga? Somehow it works...but sometimes in ways that are different than the ones we expected!

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  9. Im in Pilates and yoga here in Norway, but quite different coz here is very cold and we freeze when we have yoga. So we have wool socks and sweater and lights is on:)

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    1. I am glad to hear you are doing yoga too Joy! It makes me feel better to know there is someone in Norway who knows what I am going through. :D

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