yo·ga - 1.a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.
2.any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, esp. a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquillity, etc.
3.union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.
I've tried a yoga class before and I've actually enjoyed it. I've also tried my P90X Yoga DVD which only left me frustrated with the positions and bored with the repetition of it all. But tonight, I was in a better place, minimal pain and thought, lets give it a try.
At 5 pm, I quickly changed at the office into my gym clothes, attempted to speed my way through traffic to get to the chiropractor by 5:45 pm (I didn't), rushed my way through the appointment, to finally get to the 6:30 pm yoga class. And now, after an hour and a half of nothing but rushing, I am asking my brain to silence itself as I attempt to liberate myself with Yoga. Easy right? Not so much.
As I'm laying on the floor listening to the instructor ask us to inhale and exhale using various parts of my body I am unfamiliar with, I'm already wondering if Yoga is for me. Only about 10 minutes into the class and I am having a silent argument within my head, actually shushing myself, because all I can think about while laying on the floor, simply breathing, is that I should be running, or taking spin, or on an elliptical machine. I could even be at home making tonight's dinner, making lunch for tomorrow, even packing my gym bag for tomorrows run. But what I can't do, is quiet my brain.
Let's be honest...for a woman, this is extremely difficult. Unless you are a master at meditating or a yoga-ologist (yes, I realize that may not be a real word), women are ALWAYS thinking. You ask a man what he's thinking and if tells you nothing, he is probably telling you the truth. But if a woman tells you she's thinking about nothing, she's probably just had 10 different thoughts in a span of 5 minutes. They might all be meaningless, but she's thinking. A women NEVER stops thinking.
Apologies...back to the topic at hand. Just as I'm considering leaving the class, we raise ourselves from the floor to begin our first "Sun Salutation". It is at this point that I realize our instructor is a giraffe. Please do not think I mean this to be disrespectful, as I do not. I happen to think giraffes are beautiful creatures. This woman is tall, fit and incredibly flexible; her legs move gracefully and with such ease, all the while I can barely manage to put my left arm over my head, reach my right arm back, grabbing my right ankle to hold it in place and "balance" for several minutes. As I'm watching my classmates follow along with no issues, my mind is already wondering and thinking about how I will blog about this later and wondering if I can catch up with my personal trainer before he leaves to discuss boxing lessons.
Not even a half hour into the class and I silently roll up my mat, grab my socks and shoes and tip toe out the door, hoping no one notices. I realize at this point that yoga to me, is nothing but a bunch of vocabulary words I can't pronounce, with definitions I won't even pretend to know and balancing acts I can't perform.
Yoga is most definitely not for me. I don't think my mind, nor my body, can handle the silence.
2.any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, esp. a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquillity, etc.
3.union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.
I've tried a yoga class before and I've actually enjoyed it. I've also tried my P90X Yoga DVD which only left me frustrated with the positions and bored with the repetition of it all. But tonight, I was in a better place, minimal pain and thought, lets give it a try.
At 5 pm, I quickly changed at the office into my gym clothes, attempted to speed my way through traffic to get to the chiropractor by 5:45 pm (I didn't), rushed my way through the appointment, to finally get to the 6:30 pm yoga class. And now, after an hour and a half of nothing but rushing, I am asking my brain to silence itself as I attempt to liberate myself with Yoga. Easy right? Not so much.
As I'm laying on the floor listening to the instructor ask us to inhale and exhale using various parts of my body I am unfamiliar with, I'm already wondering if Yoga is for me. Only about 10 minutes into the class and I am having a silent argument within my head, actually shushing myself, because all I can think about while laying on the floor, simply breathing, is that I should be running, or taking spin, or on an elliptical machine. I could even be at home making tonight's dinner, making lunch for tomorrow, even packing my gym bag for tomorrows run. But what I can't do, is quiet my brain.
Let's be honest...for a woman, this is extremely difficult. Unless you are a master at meditating or a yoga-ologist (yes, I realize that may not be a real word), women are ALWAYS thinking. You ask a man what he's thinking and if tells you nothing, he is probably telling you the truth. But if a woman tells you she's thinking about nothing, she's probably just had 10 different thoughts in a span of 5 minutes. They might all be meaningless, but she's thinking. A women NEVER stops thinking.
Apologies...back to the topic at hand. Just as I'm considering leaving the class, we raise ourselves from the floor to begin our first "Sun Salutation". It is at this point that I realize our instructor is a giraffe. Please do not think I mean this to be disrespectful, as I do not. I happen to think giraffes are beautiful creatures. This woman is tall, fit and incredibly flexible; her legs move gracefully and with such ease, all the while I can barely manage to put my left arm over my head, reach my right arm back, grabbing my right ankle to hold it in place and "balance" for several minutes. As I'm watching my classmates follow along with no issues, my mind is already wondering and thinking about how I will blog about this later and wondering if I can catch up with my personal trainer before he leaves to discuss boxing lessons.
Not even a half hour into the class and I silently roll up my mat, grab my socks and shoes and tip toe out the door, hoping no one notices. I realize at this point that yoga to me, is nothing but a bunch of vocabulary words I can't pronounce, with definitions I won't even pretend to know and balancing acts I can't perform.
Yoga is most definitely not for me. I don't think my mind, nor my body, can handle the silence.
Tried Yoga on board the cruise ship..but did it with a beginning class with an instructor that actually asked each of us what our physical concerns were....so when I told him I had a double knee replacement he gave me modified activities...but it really does increase your flexibility....maybe try again with a different class?
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to pass on the yoga for now. I have a P90X Stretch DVD that has some yoga moves in it with out balancing acts that I might focus on. =o)
ReplyDelete