Aug 11th, 2006
Yoga Anyone?
Okay, so at long last I have finally joined the yoga bandwagon. I never thought that I would, but now I am definitely into it. I think that I was so reluctant before because yoga is actually really, really hard. It isn’t like a spin class where you might be tired and loosen up form, but you can almost get distracted by the music and you’re gauranteed that you’ll sweat and be able to check your cardio off for the day. Yoga is not like that.
It is pure concentration, making sure that you are perfectly lined up and doing even the smallest things right because if you don’t you will literally topple over. On top of that, I’m not and never have been particularly flexible. I did used to be in good shape when I was younger so that stuff isn’t particularly new, it is about getting it back, as my body remembers what certain actions felt like. With yoga, I’ve just flat out never done any of this sort of thing before so it makes things tremendously harder. I mean even a basic downward dog was painful!
However, a few things have gotten me hooked. First, now that I am learning the basic poses and movements that the harder ones are built on, I think to myself, ‘Wow, I want to be able to do that.’ I see people using their body to do all these cool things and I know that while I can’t do them right now, maybe if I work hard enough I will be able to do them eventually. For instance, Terri showed me the first step toward being able to do the bridge pose. Let me tell you, the first step is not easy, in fact it is actually very hard because there are so many different pieces you have to constantly be thinking about and you are continually making adjustments. However, I eventually want to be able to do the bridge. I want to get my body to do things its never done and that frankly, I didn’t I could ever do.
Yoga is just one of those things that you can constantly work at and towards. I mean, as little as it is, it feels great that I can finally get my heels all the way down on the floor in downward dog. That is something so small, but it is also something I can do now that I couldn’t do before. I know that all these little successes will eventually get me to the point where I can do all sorts of interesting moves and poses.
I’ve said it before, but working out and pushing myself just to look good or fit into some pair of pants can wear a bit thin. I think in the place I am right now, those sort of goals just aren’t motivating me. Yoga finally has me mentally engaged again. It is challenging me. I want to be able to do things that I can’t right now, so I have to get more flexible and stronger. As that happens I will get more fit and look better, however, for the first time those aren’t my primary goals, they are just byproducts of me trying to rise to these new challengs.
So many of these thoughts are things Terri has told me before, but while I heard her, I just wasn’t ready or capable of understanding how to shift these priorities. She is more than welcome to tell me she told me so, as long as she keeps helping me work toward that bridge!