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lessofme. I think I'll cut it to avoid rampant duplication.
I've been meaning to write about this all weekend, and well, basically since last Thursday night.
Yoga was interesting. It was not at all what I expected. There was far less demands of flexibility than I thought there would be, and more "just standing around". I put that in quotes because it wasn't really standing around, but it was very stationary.
I very much liked the instructor, and the rest of our classmates. There was a wide range of people - from a guy who looked as out of shape as me, to a woman who I was watching as much as the instructor for doing my poses in the right manner. The instructor was easy going; she stressed the importance of doing this at our own pace, and not hurting ourselves, and not competing with each other, or even with ourselves. She walked around a lot, and helped everyone with their poses equally. She wasn't afriad to get hands on in helping people, which I liked. All that walking around, though, meant that she occasionally forgot that we were holding poses, which left us holding our arms straight out at shoulder height for something like 15 minutes at one point. I was proud I managed to keep them up the whole time, and gratified to see that everyone in the class breathed a sigh of relief when she told us to drop our arms.
On the downside, I did something very bad to my back doing on of the poses. I think, as did the instructor, that I wasn't properly balanced, and so I was holding myself too stiff trying to stay upright. I know I gave myself bad foot cramps trying to do that very thing. (Ever try to grip a amt with your toes? Yeah.) So this week, I'm going to try to be more conscious of my balance and of not working so hard to stay in pose if it feels like I'm straining too hard.
We did some stretches that were simply amazing, especially those aimed at the hip flexors. My back and legs are constantly wound far too tightly, which is one of the reasons I'm so inflexible. I don't think I've ever felt as wonderfully stretched out as I did after class last week. And the meditation was amazing. I'm still trying to process that experience, so I'm not ready to write about it, but I know I've never known meditation to be that relaxing and cathartic. I'm hoping that the meditation will help me bring more peace, balance and contentment into my everyday life.
All in all, I think that yoga is definitely something that I think I want to get good at. Even if it means having to work hard and be really bad at it for a while. I'm excited; this is one of the first times I've ever felt this way about an form of exercise. I very much like the idea that the things I learn in yoga will carry over into the rest of life - better posture, better balance, a calmer outlook.
I am so glad I finally found the motivation to try this.
lessofme. I think I'll cut it to avoid rampant duplication.I've been meaning to write about this all weekend, and well, basically since last Thursday night.
Yoga was interesting. It was not at all what I expected. There was far less demands of flexibility than I thought there would be, and more "just standing around". I put that in quotes because it wasn't really standing around, but it was very stationary.
I very much liked the instructor, and the rest of our classmates. There was a wide range of people - from a guy who looked as out of shape as me, to a woman who I was watching as much as the instructor for doing my poses in the right manner. The instructor was easy going; she stressed the importance of doing this at our own pace, and not hurting ourselves, and not competing with each other, or even with ourselves. She walked around a lot, and helped everyone with their poses equally. She wasn't afriad to get hands on in helping people, which I liked. All that walking around, though, meant that she occasionally forgot that we were holding poses, which left us holding our arms straight out at shoulder height for something like 15 minutes at one point. I was proud I managed to keep them up the whole time, and gratified to see that everyone in the class breathed a sigh of relief when she told us to drop our arms.
On the downside, I did something very bad to my back doing on of the poses. I think, as did the instructor, that I wasn't properly balanced, and so I was holding myself too stiff trying to stay upright. I know I gave myself bad foot cramps trying to do that very thing. (Ever try to grip a amt with your toes? Yeah.) So this week, I'm going to try to be more conscious of my balance and of not working so hard to stay in pose if it feels like I'm straining too hard.
We did some stretches that were simply amazing, especially those aimed at the hip flexors. My back and legs are constantly wound far too tightly, which is one of the reasons I'm so inflexible. I don't think I've ever felt as wonderfully stretched out as I did after class last week. And the meditation was amazing. I'm still trying to process that experience, so I'm not ready to write about it, but I know I've never known meditation to be that relaxing and cathartic. I'm hoping that the meditation will help me bring more peace, balance and contentment into my everyday life.
All in all, I think that yoga is definitely something that I think I want to get good at. Even if it means having to work hard and be really bad at it for a while. I'm excited; this is one of the first times I've ever felt this way about an form of exercise. I very much like the idea that the things I learn in yoga will carry over into the rest of life - better posture, better balance, a calmer outlook.
I am so glad I finally found the motivation to try this.
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Date: 2002-07-23 10:02 pm (UTC)I'm too slack to find a class, so I tape the tv show on in the mornings. We're doing animal poses this week! What do you know, there's a frog pose!
yay!
Date: 2002-07-24 12:42 pm (UTC)