The past two months I’ve started practicing yoga in a general intermediate level class in St. Kilda. I’ve always been a bit skeptical about yoga, and after Kat and I tried a term of Bikram yoga and almost fained each time, I decided it wasn’t for me. Other than sweating from the heat, I didn’t really feel like I was getting any sort of workout from it, and it was almost boring. I’m still pretty flexible from my skating background so the poses were quite easy for me and didn’t seem like enough of a challenge. But lately, as my general level of fitness has continued to decrease, I’ve found a new passion in yoga.
I’ve realized that yoga isn’t meant to be a workout. It’s all about uniting your mind and your body. Now I have to admit that some of this still seems a bit weird to me. I’m not about to become a Yogi and embark on week-long silent yoga retreats, and sometimes the “Ooooaaaaammmmmm” at the beginning or end of the class still makes me laugh. There is a lot more spirituality in yoga than I will ever let myself experience because I’m not an overly spiritual person, but I do appreciate the aspect of connecting your mind to what your body is doing and really just being aware of your body’s every move.
I like the positions we do, and it’s great for slowly getting flexibility back in older aged people. We have a new teacher now that combines several types of yoga into a class that is quite fast paced, mixed with tons of stretching and relaxation. I’m learning how to breathe into different parts of my body and I feel so relaxed when I come out and just want to sip tea and hit the sack.
For those who haven’t done yoga or didn’t fall in love with it, I’d suggest trying it again. I have a friend who got through some really hard times just by practicing yoga each day and using his ability to clear bad thoughts from his mind and cleansing movements of the stretching to treat himself back to health. It’s certainly not for everybody, but if you find a good teacher, a class that’s a suitable level for you, and the time to do it, it’s a really nice break from the outside world. Namaste!
