Yoga for Beginners

I went to my first yoga class today. I'm trying hard to work out 4 to 5 days a week. The past two days my workouts were pretty hard so today I needed a break and decided yoga sounded like it could be a good compromise. There was also a spinning class being offered at that time, but you know how I feel about spinning!

The first thing I learned is that attending yoga is similar to attending a Baptist church...the later you arrive the farther in front you have to sit. Class began after our teacher, Sunny, had her therapy dog, Doggie Lama, make the rounds wishing everyone in class good karma. I'm not making this stuff up people. I admit thinking, "this is great blog-fodder!"

I confessed to being a first time attendee and was pleased to see at least another half a dozen people gingerly raise their hands as well. Throughout the class the teacher showed us 2 to 3 variations of every move depending on your skill level. I'm proud to say that I was capable of several level two moves, including the cat/cow, thread a needle, pike, tree and warrior. Frequently I thought the teacher was swearing during the class until I realized she was saying Asian words that referred to different techniques she was demonstrating.

Overall I confess to really enjoying the class. I admit I actually felt fairly "centered" and "focused" afterwards. I think that really comes from the fact that you do have to slow down and concentrate on the most basic thing such as standing because otherwise you will fall down and look like a fool...perhaps that is why we don't commonly stand on one foot with the other foot raised up and out to our side as high as we can lift.

I was disappointed to not win the free yoga mat drawing at the end of class...I was going to take it as a sign to attend again. However, Doggie Lama seemed to like me and came directly to me afterwards and sat down...perhaps that is a sign.