Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Yoga Girl Saves the World



This post's title is inspired by my daughter, who will kill me if and when she discovers I've relayed the following story here. When she was younger and it was bath time, she revelled in getting naked and would run through the house yelling, "Naked Girl Saves the World!"


By the way, I love this print above, and if you click on the picture it will direct you to the website where you can order it.

Yesterday was my first yoga class. I wasn't sure what to expect, either from the instructor, my classmates, the location or the intensity of the poses. I turned out to be a small class, consisting of me and two other ladies. I'm guessing here, but one was in her 50s, and the other was maybe late 60s or early 70s.

Our instructor was Rachel, who I liked immediately. She had such a warm, inviting demeanor that I felt comfortable right away. She's my age (30s), with a cute blonde bob that looked very easy to maintain. What I liked about her was that while she was definitely toned and healthy looking, she was by no means skinny, which made me feel even more at ease. Is that being discriminating? I don't really have anything against skinny people per se, but knowing that my instructor isn't looking at me thinking "what in the hell is this fat broad doing here?"made me feel better.

The room was dimly lit, some nice relaxing music was playing in the background, and the air conditioning was a relief from the horribly hot and humid weather outside. The hour of yoga was a nice combination of poses I knew and some that were new to me. Some were easy and some challenged me a little, but none were impossible for me to do. Throughout the hour Rachel would read snippets from a book that talked about being conscious of our bodies, tapping into our positive energy and seeking out our spirituality.

When the class was over I felt mentally relaxed yet energized, even though some muscles in my legs were definitely feeling the work I had done. Rachel said she thought I did great and couldn't find anything to correct as far as posture, etc. It felt so good I wished I could go every day!

I know there's nothing stopping me from doing yoga at home every day -- except for my daughter, my husband, the dogs, the telephone, the doorbell, household chores and errands... As you can tell, there are a lot of distractions and "shoulds" that keep me from doing it. That's the great thing about this class -- it's paid for, so I'm more inclined to "get my money's worth," and it's away from the house, so I don't have all those interruptions and to-do lists to use as an excuse. It's time set aside just for me, and it's time spent toning my body, centering my mind and rejuvenating my spirit. You can't get much better than that.

*****
My husband left this morning for his Alaska trip. For months I've been looking forward to this husband-free week. You know, those little things like stretching out in the middle of the bed, not putting the toilet seat down every time I go to the bathroom, or picking up his dirty socks in every room of the house. And there have been times this summer, with him home on summer vacation from school, that I was counting the days -- heck, the minutes -- until I could get him out of my hair for a little while.

Yet when he hugged and kissed me goodbye this morning at 4 a.m., I really felt sad. And instead of enjoying having the entire bed to myself, I tossed and turned and couldn't get back to sleep. Mabel was missing Daddy this morning, too. But I know once we hit the road tomorrow and get busy with shopping and visiting we'll be fine.

Now that I have Hubby shipped off now it's my turn to pack and get everything ready. I'm taking my laptop along because our hotel room is supposed to have free wireless Internet, so I should be able to blog on the road. I just need to install my photo card reader on the laptop so I can upload pictures from our trip. So many things to do... it's always something.

4 comments:

Ty said...

I took a yoga class earlier this year and loved it. I felt so calm and relaxed afterwards.

I know when my husband leaves I will be sad and worried about his trip. But I am looking forward to the break of having to cook big dinners!

I hope you and Mabel have a great trip. I wanted to take the kids somewhere when JR was gone but if Ally makes the field hockey team we won't be able to.

Grumpy Chair said...

Andrea, your yoga class sounds so nice. I wished I had enough nerve to go to one here. . . maybe I will start working on it and try in the Spring.

Grumpette likes going without a shirt on in the house because Fang Jr. does it.

Bea said...

Thanks Andrea, just thanks.

I tried doing yoga at home with a video. I pulled my neck so bad I had to go get muscle relaxants. I have since thought I need to be shown in person how to do the poses. But...maybe not. I want to do this. I am going to investigate more videos.

I had a slice of good toast with peanut butter and apricot jam, and some strawberries for breakfast. Had a cup of great coffee with real cream. Not an ice pick in sight.

Anonymous said...

I read so many people enjoying yoga, but I guess I'm just too 'naturally hyper' to get into the 'flow' of it. So I get massages instead! I even had my first pedicure last week - boy did I feel like a 'lady of leisure' - lol :)

I know what you mean about having a hubby-free time. I ought to jump up and down with JOY! that my hubby goes out golfing each week. I do get some things done - like the Foods & Feelings workbook - while he is out of the house. But we actually both miss each other (when we think about it that is ;-) Now if he took the dogs with him, THEN it would be a totally relaxing day for me. I can dream.... LOL.

Have a grand time on your trip too and crossing my fingers every thing goes smooth with your laptop and camera too.