I say all the time that I need a hobby. My dad thinks I should join some sort of South Boston softball team to relive my glory days as High school captain. That to me is just too intimidating. I talk to Brennon all the time about needing a hobby. He actually blogged about it on Look Back In Anger.
What would I do for a hobby? Join a book club? I'm so wishy washy with my books. Knitting club? I'd feel more secure doing that if I had a boyfriend. And forget about getting a pet. I can't even take care of plants. I needed something that would be good for my mind and body. The thought of utilizing my gym membership that I pay $75/month crossed my mind but I just hate going to the gym after work. It's such a struggle.
I was talking to JSutt about doing Yoga and she enthusiastically encouraged me to come to a lunch-time class with her and Alyssa. So today was the day. Ladies and gentlemen I have discovered Yoga. Yeah I know. I'm a little late with this trend. Yoga was so popular like 15 years ago that it's actually come, gone, been replaced by Pilates and is now "in" again.
I loved it! I mean forget about the fact that I was totally unprepared, rolling into the studio in flowy gaucho pants, a large Dunkin's iced tea and no hair tie to tame my wild locks, but even though I had those strikes against me, I really enjoyed myself. It was my first time EVER doing Yoga so even though it was a beginners class I was slightly snervvy.
- Five minutes into the warm ups my bobby pins slid out of my bun and my hair was all in my face.
- Five and a half minutes into the class I started to
rainsweat profusely. - Ten minutes into the class I had to pause every few seconds due to the insane amount of downward facing dogs we were doing. My lack of arms strength made it extremely difficult to move from plank to DFD.
- Fifteen minutes into class I got complimented by the instructor. *woot*
- In through the nose, out through the nose
- Twenty minutes into the class I started to get a muscle spasm in my right hip. When the instructor asked if I was OK I just said "Oh yeah I just have a cramp" and continued to lift my leg, wincing. She then gently informed me that if it hurts I should stop. Dir.
- Still sweating.
- But loving it!
- Don't forget to breathe!
- With fifteen minutes left in the glass I was so drenched that when I went to grab my ankle for a Quad stretch it kept slipping from my grip.
My favorite part was the cool down. Every time the instructor told us to relax a body part (neck, eyes, tongue, face, stomach, knees) a little bit of stress melted away. I was totally into myself and feeling all Yoga-esque when all of a sudden the upstairs tenant arrived home and started to stomp around in her heels up and down the hardwood floors. The Goose-stepping made it hard to meditate and get centered and all that jazz but I'll just have to work on tuning that out for the next class in the event that Mussolini is home when I'm trying to get my Yoga on.
I'm totally picking up a yoga mat this weekend and I promise it will not lay unused in a corner like my now deflated Pilates ball.