I am a Warrior!

It all began on a whim.  Amanda asked me if I wanted to tag along with her to a yoga class.  She had been doing classes during lunch at work for free, but really liked the lady and was going to check her out in a studio on Sundays as well.  What the hell?  Why not?

I still remember that first yoga class with Vicki and her encouraging words and sense of extreme ease with the poses she was flowing in and out of.  I felt extremely silly in some of the poses myself and did that self conscious check around the room to make sure everyone else looked like I did.  Check.  I also remember watching her do some of these poses of which I did not have the strength to do.  It looked like magic to me.  How as someone possibly bend their body like that?

There was something though that grabbed a hold of me.  I think that whole seeing is believing thing might have had some weight.  Vicki was genuine and real and inspiring.  So I went back.  And have been practicing since.  There was a lull in there, but generally this has been true.  I remember seeing Vicki doing some amazing poses during my time with her.  I thought, someday if I can do half of what she can I am going to be awesome.  I made some amazing progress while I practiced with her, but I still had (and still have) a lot of room to grow.

One of the poses I saw her do early on that I thought was magic was Warrior III.  For those that have no idea what the looks like, see the picture below for guidance.

The Yoga Journal provides some insight on one way to get into this pose (not any method I have been shown) in case you are interested in trying.  My first attempt at Warrior III was less than glamorous.  My straight standing leg was barely not bent and my extended legs and arms were at 45 degree angles.  But Vicki's words of encouragement, "Go where you can go today.  It maybe is only half way and that's great.  It's whatever pose is perfect for where you are at today."  She always encouraged us to try a little bit more if we could handle it.  Just to get used to us pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zone to broaden our yoga experience. 

For a while now my Warrior III pose has had the leg extended fully and the arms out in front, but with the elbows bent, never fully extended.  So last night I gave myself a "pep talk".  "Straighten your stinking arms, you can do this!  You just did side plank (another magic pose I saw when done for the first time in front of me) for like a minute, you arms are strong enough!"  So I stuck them out there and I have to say, it was pretty freaken amazing.  It's clearly a personal achievement and one you might be asking yourself, so what?  But I am really excited and since it's my blog, I can decide what I share.  :P  I did it again tonight just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.  I still rock.

So now I have another pose I can claim under my belt.  Maybe someday I will be able to do (and hold) the full boat pose.  There's always some new goal you can make with yourself in yoga.  Always.  And that's why I love it.