Yoga

Well I’ll be dammed I never thought I would be writing a post about yoga, let alone how much I have come to love it. You will recall as part of my new years resolution I promised to try a new thing each month so in January I started with Yoga. I hate exercise. I hate hippy stuff. I hate things out of my comfort zone. But I also think we need to try everything once and it helped that my mum offered to come with me, as a show of support. I don’t think we had any idea what to expect, I didn’t know a lot about it all I thought was it was for hippies that are bendy. I decided this would be one of first things to try as I have read a lot about how its good for stress handling and lots of people who have had fertility struggles have credited yoga. We found a local class and pitched up together, mum much more optimistic than me, I was dreading it. I was about to endure an hour and half of Namaste bullshit about touching our toes and centralising my mind – or so I thought. I’m not gonna lie the bit that sealed the deal for me was the 5 minutes at the end where you have a sleep – now this is my kind of sport! Can you imagine our delight when in the first session we were instructed to lie back, the instructor tucked us in with a blanket and the lights are turned off. Technically this isn’t a sleep time, this is about thinking or the lack of it. Emptying your mind of all troubles and worries and just taking 5 minutes for you. But last week someone was definitely snoring! As I sit here eating humble pie I must admit I am converted. Now 3 sessions down I feel so relaxed after each session. I am amazed at how much I switch off in the session, I don’t think about anything and I lose myself, perhaps in the concentration of trying to bend in ways I never knew possible but it’s a distraction and its me time. Don’t get me wrong I am no good at it I can’t touch my toes and I’m sure in certain poses I look horrendous, shaking like a shitting dog, or like I am about to pop (as I tend to forget to breathe) but in time this could work. This could be my thing, my escape. I love that Mum and I now have something to do together, asides from eat cake. We are very different, her an ex gymnast and me as bendy as a metal pole. We were both a little surprised about how much of a workout it felt and to give you some perspective Mum can run 5 miles quite easily, I can barely run a bath, so very different levels of fitness but we both worked up a sweat. There are times where I feel like I have done ten rounds of Mike Tyson or when the instructor is saying you will feel it in a certain place and I can feel it everywhere else but there! In the first session Mum was upside down for too long she went light headed and nearly passed out and we couldn’t stop giggling at the different poses, particularly when one is called the wind release! But yoga teaches you something, it’s so much more than stretching and strengthening the body, its listening to it and taking some time out. Before I get to hippy about it all I will say is if you haven’t tried it you must. It’s a process, something you can develop and grow and its for you and about you and nothing else. I’ve even done it at home a couple of times! All I need to do now is get my backside doing some cardio….I just wish it came in cake form!