Stretchy

I finally broke down and went to a yoga class on Sunday. I had been thinking about this for awhile and now that school is done for the summer the time seemed right. Running really tightens up the muscles and I have started to have some problems from this tightness and lack of flexibility. Besides, seeing what happens when people don't work on their flexibility and balance as they age it seemed prudent to jump on it early before I actually become old and decrepit.

The session was two hours of learning some basic poses and I kind of enjoyed it. I am one of those people who has no sense what their body is doing so I really need an instructor to point out the correct body alignment. I can be curled like a question mark and think I am in a perfectly straight line.

There was a wee bit of the hippy-dippy "find your heart center" "inner eye" "one with the universe" crap but if you put aside the words the act of finding a little bit of calm and mindfulness probably isn't such a bad idea. I tried to clear my mind and focus but it is a little hard to do at first when you are overly concerned with not falling over or trying to hold a pose. Not helping matters was the fact that I was starving so the last hour of the class all I kept thinking about was what I wanted to eat. That and I kept cursing my choice of a super high-fiber breakfast cereal. Perhaps I have found my yoga mantra: "Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger. Don't fart."

The plan for the summer is: one yoga class a week and then practice some poses at home so I can maintain some stretchiness.