On Halloween, I attended my 1st yoga class ever, which was part of a 30 class Groupon. Okay, my 1st 'any sort of exercise' class ever. It kicked my butt!
While I'd love to discredit the entire experience as being a little too hippy dippy - the instructor was a man wearing pink bunny ears, we spent a great deal of time playing with a ball of electric energy we'd created between our hands, and the experience ended with a "sharing circle" (I swear I'm not making this up) and a hug - it was a much harder workout than I'd been expecting. I must have been the youngest person there by at least a couple decades, but geez, those little old yoga ladies are limber!
With the lights dimmed and soft music playing, we laid on the floor and raised our legs in some sort of relaxing breathing exercise. Simple, right? I could not get my legs to stop shaking! The instructor came over and lowered my legs below the level of the other students, saying that would be easier for me. Then he lowered my still twitchy legs more. Finally, he said I could just lie flat on the floor.
Next, all the little old yoga ladies reached out to hold their still elevated ankles. I tried and barely made it to my knees!
And the next day? EVERYWHERE hurt! I even skipped my annual post-Halloween hunt for free pumpkins and discount Halloween candy.
Just 29 classes to go.
Oh, and I never did get the 'electrical energy between my hands' thing. That 10 minutes was spent glancing around the room and copying the hand motions of my classmates. Like a boss!
*Update*
I went a few more times and was finally able to form a ball of electricity between my hands, which I was able to expand and contract. I really was. It was amazing! The practical part of my brain still thinks that's baloney.
*Another Update*
I thought I'd stumbled upon the weirdest yoga class in Albuquerque. Well, guess what? It has since gone out of business and a little online research led me to news stories about it being a cult.
Whoops.
I'm not sure who Sharon Gannon is, but her quote doesn't apply to me.
At all.
While I'd love to discredit the entire experience as being a little too hippy dippy - the instructor was a man wearing pink bunny ears, we spent a great deal of time playing with a ball of electric energy we'd created between our hands, and the experience ended with a "sharing circle" (I swear I'm not making this up) and a hug - it was a much harder workout than I'd been expecting. I must have been the youngest person there by at least a couple decades, but geez, those little old yoga ladies are limber!
With the lights dimmed and soft music playing, we laid on the floor and raised our legs in some sort of relaxing breathing exercise. Simple, right? I could not get my legs to stop shaking! The instructor came over and lowered my legs below the level of the other students, saying that would be easier for me. Then he lowered my still twitchy legs more. Finally, he said I could just lie flat on the floor.
Next, all the little old yoga ladies reached out to hold their still elevated ankles. I tried and barely made it to my knees!
And the next day? EVERYWHERE hurt! I even skipped my annual post-Halloween hunt for free pumpkins and discount Halloween candy.
Just 29 classes to go.
Oh, and I never did get the 'electrical energy between my hands' thing. That 10 minutes was spent glancing around the room and copying the hand motions of my classmates. Like a boss!
*Update*
I went a few more times and was finally able to form a ball of electricity between my hands, which I was able to expand and contract. I really was. It was amazing! The practical part of my brain still thinks that's baloney.
*Another Update*
I thought I'd stumbled upon the weirdest yoga class in Albuquerque. Well, guess what? It has since gone out of business and a little online research led me to news stories about it being a cult.
Whoops.