I went to yoga yesterday.
The other week we were moving furniture and after three days I was still sore in the arms and again came to the realization that I need to have some sort of exercise in my life. But I knew I wasn’t going to touch a gym again, and clearly I have no self motivation to do things on my own. But the yogo place I looked up allowed drop ins, wasn’t a studio set to 102 degrees, and was close to home. OW!
I went to Target and got a yoga mat, but passed on all of the other super cute accessories. Some of the mats had flowers and pastel colors. There were tons of carrying bags and straps and water bottles and bricks and straps blah blah. But I held myself to the $10 mat and if I signed up for more than one class then I would go back and get more things.
The studio was what I expect. Quiet whispering. Tea for sale. Candles. Oms all over the place. Super nice lady at the front desk took my intake form and told me class would be starting soon and there were blankets, bricks, straps, and extra mats inside. What what?
Our teacher was a chubby bearded dude named Tom. He was talking about going to the Renaissance Festival and dressing up. He looked exactly like someone who would do that. And that is in no way a bad thing, but not what I expected from a yoga teacher. He thanked me for coming to the class and him and about fifteen regulars went inside the studio.
The regulars were almost all over 40. They all seemed to know each other and caught up on their weeks while stretching and getting down yoga accessories. Tom had just taught a class but came in and got right back to it. Since it was a beginners class he took the time to explain the poses and the names but a few of the other people were expert level and he gave them other options to test themselves and not keep them in the beginner level.
At first I was like “well this is fine and I didn’t waste my $18 but I don’t really get it.” Because how the hell do you make things flow through your internal organs? How to you push your stomach to your spine?! I had done yoga videos pre pregnancy and during pregnancy and just never really cared to do it again. But since Tom was right in front of my face he made sure everyone was comfortable and was in the right positions and just being in an actual yoga studio made the difference. He told us to do everything at our own pace. If some stretch was too hard to bend your knees. If my foot was pointed the wrong way he told me how to fix it.
In the middle of class I was starting to get into the breathing and feeling the stretches and comfortable. And by the time he turned the lights off for us to do the relaxation poses my mind was blank and actually focusing on the breathing. Woooosah.
It was great! The 75 minutes flew by. I will totally go back after Thanksgiving and as I type this blog this morning I can feel the tightness in my arms and thighs like I actually did do something. It was slow paced but that is what I need to get it together. And I can always just do a drop in whenever but I’ll probably sign up for a 10 class pass.
Namaste!!!