Yoga

Technically speaking, this was not my first ever yoga experience.  It must have been about 5 years ago that I went to 2 or 3 sessions, at a yoga studio near Suncorp Stadium.  So, this is the first yoga experience this decade, and the first through my gym.

Many of my friends do yoga, and as I'm often feeling like I need to stretch I thought this would be a good thing to do.  Especially this week (killer workout from Trainer Dan on Tuesday, 13.5km run Wednesday evening, climbing Mt Warning yesterday).  The thing that has been holding me back from doing yoga again is the same thing that stopped me continuing 5 years ago - nearly 7 years ago I slipped down some steps and landed on my left wrist.  A "just in case we've missed something" cast for a week and physiotherapy hadn't helped and it still troubles me sometimes.  However, I know I am much stronger now so thought I'd take a deep breath and give it a go.  My original plan had been to go to my normal gym (a 10:30 class) but, knowing that I should let the instructor know I had a potential injury and should really be on time, I could see I wasn't going to make it.  The other very close gym has a class at 10:35 and I knew I could make that so off I went. 

Very.... calm... a lovely instructor, lighting candles and with very soft meditative music, advised me to not push myself, and to use my fingertips if necessary, instead of having my hands flat on the floor (this is a great tip!).  After my previous experience with yoga, I was expecting many different poses and a good physical workout.  There were some poses (but not as many), and it was not as intense as I was expecting.  We were all advised not to push ourselves, but to listen to our bodies, to observe without judging.  

The big plus for me with this class (so much so that I'll be trying to rearrange another appointment next week so I can make it) was the relaxation.  I feel like I've hardly slept for most of this year.  Although I would not have said I was very stressed or jangly, 20 seconds into this class and I was getting teary.  The advice to just be, to let myself have this hour to myself, was so fulfilling (for want of a better word).  If I tried that at home, I would be aware of my phone, of the noises of the neighbourhood, of all the things I feel I should be doing instead of taking some time out for myself.  When I left the class I was so calm and felt much more centred. 

I did realise one of the reasons I am not a group class person - listening to instructions.  Mostly it was fine, but occasionally there would be a long list of what to do with different bits of me and I had no idea.  However, this was not a class where I felt ridiculous (anyone tried body attack?  Zumba?) and I appreciated the non-competitive nature.  Surprisingly, there were quite a few men there (maybe 4 or 5 out of about 20).  I found I was quite flexible, definitely more so than 5 years ago, and more balanced than before also.  My wrist did complain a little this afternoon (maybe as a result of a little slip and bounce down some rocks yesterday) but I'm hoping it will sort itself out by tomorrow.  Although this will be rather beneficial for relaxation and me-time, I would like to find some more stretchy sort of yoga.  Or just keep up with weird and wonderful stretches at home.  That could work, too.