I mentioned at the beginning of the month that one of my areas of focus this year is on my health, and taking better care of myself. Over the past year or so I have really noticed some achy joints and that I’m not as flexible as I used to be (not that I ever was that flexible to begin with, LOL). So, when the instructor who does yoga classes at the library asked about doing a beginner’s workshop, I (selfishly) was all for it! I thought it would be a good opportunity for people (like me!) who wanted to try yoga, but have little experience with it, to take a class.
Now, I have tried yoga before… though quite a few years ago. I have never really kept up with any type of practice and most of the videos I tried to follow are the “flow” types where one pose transitions into another. The type of yoga that this instructor teaches is iyengar yoga. You hold the poses for a period of time and try to deepen the stretches and to me it seemed like more exercise-y. Let me tell you, it was not easy! I definitely felt stiff, uncoordinated, and not at all flexible. But I guess that’s a reason to continue, right?
I can’t say I totally loved it, but I didn’t hate it, either. My body definitely felt good afterwards, but it was certainly challenging. I also felt very self-conscious doing this in a class with nine other people. Honestly, I think it would have been easier if I didn’t know most of the people in class, but it’s a small town, so… that’s kind of inevitable, right?
Anyway, it was one step toward my goal. During the week I will try to practice the poses we learned today and I will go back for another class next weekend. Hopefully it gets a little easier!
