My super chum, Therese, thought we should sign up for the class. We had no background in yoga and she and I were on this otherwordly wavelength in which we could infect the other with from-the-gut, tear inducing, hysterical laughter without trying. My entire college experience and years beyond were full of raw joy because of this supernatural power we shared. Put us in a dark yoga class with an earth mother, chakras and ohms and we were probably just rude. After the first few classes, we stopped giggling and just used it as a time the take the corpse pose and catch up on the sleep we were missing by catching the bus at 5:15am for crew practice. I wasn't ready to embrace the impact of yoga when I was 19.
My next run in with the practice was, again, encouraged by someone else. At age 27 my boyfriend/friend/boyfriend/friend, told me about a class at 24 Hour Fitness. I went with he and his buddy, who was certain there would be hot chicks. His buddy wore his black socks and basketball shorts even though the instructor suggested bare feet. After the friend dropped off for lack of interested chicks (?!), the boy and I continued. Although I thought it was a waste of workout time, (time spent exercising needed to involve sweat and hard breathing and pain and competition) I continued for the quality experience with my bf/f/bf/f. I couldn't help but notice how good I felt afterwards. And how toned my muscles were. And how much more motivated I was to do yoga, than, say, run on a treadmill or do the stair-stepper or kick box. I started asking the instructor questions about my technique and brought some yoga instruction into my first grade P.E. class.
The next time I did yoga was at the community center in St. Johns, a neighborhood of Portland, where I bought my house. My friend, Lodi had moved into my tiny pad with me and my cat. St. Johns is about 15 minutes from most places in Portland so it was hard for me to make it to the gym after my commute from teaching in the suburbs. The St. John's community center was close to my house and offered yoga. Lodi wanted to do it, so I thought it would be better than no workout. We took our yoga mats to the underfunded rec center and held poses on a bouncy floor with blue, musty carpet. Lodi took yoga more seriously than I did. I watched her get into the "zone" while she was moving. There was no eye contact or giggles between us, and that allowed me to focus. At this point, I was still looking at the people around me and comparing my pose to theirs. If others were lowering their lunges within six inches of the floor, so was I. If people put their legs behind their heads, I, too, pretended it didn't hurt. Not really what yoga is about.
Enter Corepower Yoga. Lodi told me to go there for a free week. I ended up addicted. I always wanted to sweat so much my hair was wet, like the girls on the Nike posters. With room temperatures of close to 100 degrees, Corepower had me dripping from every angle. You must have a towel on your mat to absorb the drips or your hands and feet will slip and slide in all the sweat. I paid big money for my membership there, but justified it. When winter came, I got out of the routine and started to feel like I wasn't going enough to make it worth the chunk of change. I found out you could clean the studio for four hours a week and get free yoga. I got the Sunday from 2-4 shift and Wednesday from 7-9pm. With work and social life, this left me little energy for yoga. So I quit the janitor gig, and, in effect, yoga for a while. Lodi and my sister and I had a standing Sunday date for unheated yoga for some time. Then there was a standing date at 24 Hour Fitness for Monday nights with Carrie and my sis, followed by The Bachelor and wine. A stint this summer when Patrick was gone brought a successful 8 day run of yoga. I also did some free weeks in Denver. EVERY TIME I do yoga, I learn something new, grow a deeper appreciation for the time with myself, the grounding effect it has and the fitness levels I enjoy.
Being someone who played basketball, volleyball, ran track and even won a medal for weightlifting in a wrestling singlet, (it was for my clean n jerk and snatch lifts, not the singlet) yoga is an EXTREMELY different way to exercise. See the chart below for a comparison.
Cardio workouts/competitive sports
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Yoga
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Now I love it so much, I hope to get certified to teach it some day. The next twenty blog posts about my twenty day yoga streak are meant to inspire and entertain anyone who wants to read it. As I explain my learnings to you, I will solidify my own knowledge. The best way to learn is to "teach."
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