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.

The Continuing Journey of Yoga

I have now been practicing yoga for over a year. This is pretty amazing when I stop to think about it. I haven't manage to continuously do much of anything for over a year aside from yoga except blogging apparently. :)

I started yoga without much knowledge of how to do any of it. Now I feel comfortable in the classes and enjoy some of the poses. I remember the first time I went into plank pose and Vicki (instructor) told us hold it there for a minute. I thought, surely she is joking. I could only watch the class go into side plank (see below) from there. As she was doing all of this, she was talking about building your strength and knowing your limits. Well, that day I knew where my limits were. I was happy to watch everyone else in awe.

Side Plank

Last night we did some pose switching from downward dog to plank and repeat about ten times. I did it without the struggle I experienced in those first few classes. We even got to side plank pose which has not come up in class in a long time. I was actually able to get into it and hold it for a while. In fact, I tried the next level of this pose or the full expression of the pose (see below). I was not able to get my leg up that far and I was a little more hunched in, but I managed to grab my toe and pick it up a fair distance and didn't fall over! That's the great thing about yoga, it's all about personal achievements. A year and some months ago, I looked at this in disbelief that people's body's could actually do this and here I am now managing to grab my toes!

Side Plank - Full expression

Not only have I been able to achieve new poses, I have a greater appreciation for the practice itself. When I am stressed or need focus, I know I can turn to yoga to find calm and center myself. I find I have a greater respect for myself and my limits and even to some extent what I can expect of others. I am also trying to let go more or as some would put it - not to sweat the small stuff. It's not easy, but I am making progress.

Rob even got me a couple of books on yoga for Christmas which I thought was just fantastic. He emailed Amanda to get the contact into for my yoga instructor. He asked her for some recommendations of books that would be good to help me have a greater understanding of yoga. I had talked about this, but failed to get the recommendations so he did that part for me. The books I got were Meditations from the Mat and Yoga; The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness. So far I have only had the chance to read the meditations book. I like it. :)

Does this sound corny? Probably to those who don't really get yoga, but I don't care. It's my escape from the sometimes less than pleasant world we experience each day. And I think if anyone can find that escape, they should take it and savor it. It really is a beautiful thing.

Yoga Does a Body Good

Last weekend Amanda invited me to attend a yoga class taught by a lady she has it with during the week courtesy of the county. She has been talking about it for a while now and I have kind of wanted to try it but don't know the first thing about it. This instructor teaches a Sunday at 4pm class so it's at a pretty good time when nothing else is going on.

I got there and met the bubbly instructor. She's got a good personality and didn't make me feel like an idgit for not having a clue about what I was doing. I liked that. She also didn't push to get into that "perfect pose". She said, whatever you can get to is perfect for you. Kind of like an A for trying. I am sorry, but I can not make a V with my butt on the ground and torso and legs in the air. For those that think yoga is just about stretching ought to try that pose and hold it for a minute.

At the end of the session I felt pretty good. It's weird, you get an exercise and actually break a sweat, but at the same time it's relaxing. There is soothing music playing the background, she talks in a low, encouraging voice, and it's slow controlled movements. It kind of calms and centers you. If you have never experience yoga, I would say, go for at least one session just to see what it's like.

This neat article explains some of the health benefits to yoga which I have heard mentioned time and time again. This instructor for the Sunday class is a walking example of how yoga can help. She had arthritis and scoliosis and since starting yoga, she has no pain from either and has not been sick, even a head cold. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Can't hurt to give it a whirl and if I feel better physically and mentally after each session, I think it's worth doing.