Stretching Myself

One of my top goals for 2013 was to swallow my always pervasive trepidation and stretch myself (literally and figuratively) by taking a real live yoga class. In preparation, I bought a three-DVD beginner's yoga set and set to work...approximately half a dozen times...before I got distracted by a newfound interest in what I deemed a more strenuous but doable workout, Pilates, and temporarily shelved (if not completely abandoned), my previous yoga interest.

Throughout the year, I continually chose other pursuits, including swimming lessons from July through December, over the yoga classes I vowed to take. The only exception was a free yoga/nutrition workshop last June that introduced me to basic, relaxing stretches and slightly weakened my fear that real yoga might be out of the realm of possibility for someone with my ridiculous lack of balance and flexibility. So there I was stuck in a self-defeating belief that yoga was either too difficult or too meditative to provide the kind of results I could get from a Jillian Michaels workout, for example.

Fast forwarding to 2014 (this week, to be precise), I was presented with a golden opportunity: free (always my keyword) twice-weekly yoga classes at my workplace, beginning fifteen minutes after my workday ends (just enough time to catch my breath, change my clothes, grab my mat, and walk down the hall). Really, other than pathological fear, what excuse reason could I have not to give it a whirl (at the very least)? After all, my life motto is to try new things once; if the experience is horrific, I never have to try it again.

So, off to work I went yesterday, with a change of clothes and my workout mat in hand. I can't say I wasn't terrified at the prospect, especially after hearing that the first session (which I missed) had 40 participants! (Cue social-anxiety attack.) Let's face it: yoga is intimidating for anyone who isn't an experienced yogi, and even more so when you're surrounded by that many people. Thankfully, my fear of an anxiety attack was unfounded, as there were surprisingly only eight other female participants, in addition to a female instructor, who ranged from beginner (like me) to advanced in skill level. 

Some of my new moves.

The session itself was quite advanced and fast-paced for me. The instructor showed us a series of poses done in succession, called sun salutations, moving quickly (too quickly!) from pose to pose as I struggled to keep up (and struggled to mirror her movements, having to stop several times to shift from left to right to left - one of the challenges of a workout class, I guess, when the instructor is standing in front of you rather than next to you). Only a few poses in, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my neck. Fearing I'd pulled a muscle that would prevent me from turning my head, I briefly paused and wondered if I should stop and tell the instructor. But not wanting to fall behind, or stand out any more than I self-consciously thought I might, I gritted my teeth and trooped along as the discomfort blessedly receded. 

Overall, aside from the neck strain, I think I held my own, though there's tremendous room for improvement. The victory for me is that I want to go back next week even though my yoga skills are less than impressive. Quite a feat for this hard-nosed perfectionist.

Anyway, my worst fear, which took the general form of me crashing into a heap while everyone around me expertly struck and held graceful poses, was not realized, which was a huge relief. (I did lose my balance a few times, but so did everyone else, including the instructor.) When I left an hour later, I felt rejuvenated, stretched, and fully worked out, just like I feel after any good bout of exercise. 

Maybe yoga is for me after all. Maybe there's an inner yogi within me patiently waiting to break out into a fierce warrior pose. Maybe I should crack open those DVDs and get in some practice before next week!