Monday may be my new favorite day of the week. Yesterday I tried out my first yoga class (well, not my first ever, but my first in many years.) And it was wonderful. Exactly what this inflexible, stressy girl needs once a week. I enjoyed it a great deal and I think I’m going to stick with it through the winter months. It will be a great addition to my high impact workout schedule. A good way to wind down, decompress and work on some trouble areas. There’s no reason to be pounding the pavement six days a week.
In the beginning of the class, our instructor had us mentally walk through a door and leave the rest of our world behind us. That’s very hard to do. Our eyes were closed, we were breathing and then ooops, the world would knock. But she would say again, if reality seeps in push it back to the other side of that door. You’re in here right now and everything else is in another room. That part is going to take some practice, but I like the idea of it.
It’s fun to try new things though. It helps you learn things about yourself. In that hour, I learned a lot that can be applied to the rest of my life. First, I need to work on my balance. I’ve always been an all or nothing kind of person. If I’m driven to do something, I will get it done and done well. If nothing’s pushing me, things fall through the cracks. My mental state and peace of mind would be healthier if I learned how to balance all aspects of my life on an even playing field. If I pull my right foot up, I’m holding that pose like a rock. But push me out of my comfort zone and have me lift my left foot? I’m all over the place. Yoga will be a good opportunity to help me get grounded.
I need to work on my arm strength. In elementary school, I used to be the only girl in class who could do pull-ups. In fact, I beat a lot of the boys. I’d get up to the bar and start going and the other kids would start to count….1, 2, 3…I think my record was 10. But it’s a lot easier to pull yourself up when you’re a tiny 12-year-old and the weight of the world isn’t on your shoulders. Life’s caught up with me and I’m not sure if my chin could reach over that bar now. Ask me to run 10 miles, no problem. But do 10 push-ups? Ouch. I will be a better overall athlete, runner and cyclist if I do more work on my arms this winter. Yoga (and some more weight training) will help me gain strength to be able to lift myself with confidence and ignore the weight of the world.
I need to work on my flexibility. I was the girl in elementary school who could pass everything on the fitness test, pull ups, sit-ups, mile, etc – but I could never, not once, touch my toes. My leg muscles are tight. After college, I was in physical therapy for some leg injuries and the doctor who was working on me told me, and I quote, “I have the tightest legs of any female he had ever worked on.” And I don’t think he meant that in a good way. My hamstrings are like rocks. And that can present problems for your lower back and make you susceptible to all sorts of injuries. I’m just not a very flexible person in general. When things don’t go my way, or change at the last moment, I break down. I spend my life plowing forward without anticipation of inevitable changes or hiccups, just like I race forward with my running without worrying about pulled muscles. I’m hoping yoga helps me slow down, think about things, stretch and prepare my self a little better for the bumps and reaches of life.
I was so focused on getting every move right. Making sure my body was in the right position, my arms were holding steady and I held my downward facing dog long enough, that every time the instructor yelled out: “deep breaths.” I realized, I had forgotten to breathe. I was so worried about everything else that I was holding myself tense and not doing the relaxing part. When those breaths began to flow, everything actually felt easier and I felt the power of each stretch run through my body. If you remember to breathe, everything works better.
At the end of the class, our eyes were closed again. The lights were off. And the music was down low. It became much easier to keep the rest of the world in the other room. I was breathing and my body was relaxed. The instructor told us that this is a state that we don’t have to go to a yoga studio to achieve. Everyone can always take a few moments in their day, when the world is knocking down your door to take some breaths and step out into another room in your mind. And to focus on those things like balance, strength and flexibility that can get in the way of a healthy life. I’m just going to have to remember to breathe.
I have a lot of work to do.
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