Officially Technological
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Things I Learned From Yoga
Last night I did Yoga for the first time. I had been doing Pilates, but Pilates is pretty horrible and I wasn't doing that either. So, it was strongly suggested to me to start doing Yoga for the following reasons:
- Build muscle strength (since I loathe weight-lifting)
- Improve balance (which if any of you know me at all, you know that I have lousy balance)
- Improve flexibility and range of motion.
So, here are some things I learned while doing Yoga last night.
- Our bodies were not meant to be folded over and tucked in.
- They say that Yoga is very "spiritual" and I believe it, because I know for myself, the whole time I was praying that God would allow me to walk again.
- The best thing about Yoga is laying on the mat and "breathing" at the end of the workout.
- The "tree position" is where you "plant" one foot into the floor, and bend the opposite leg and place the heel at the top of the "planted" thigh. Then you slowly raise your hands and put them palms together over your head. This position is impossible. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. It's pretty much not a pretty picture. I could do the leg thing, and then I would lift my arms, and fall right over. Meanwhile the little instructor dude is like, "If you sway a little, it's OK. Trees sway." Uh-huh. Sure.
- When you've got one leg behind you, one in front of you, one arm straight up in the air, and the other behind your front foot, and your forehead on you knee, and then you are instructed to "breathe and enjoy the pose" you will feel a little resentful.
- Feeling the ligaments ripping from your bones is unpleasant.
I made it through my first Yoga lesson, and this morning I felt pretty good. No pain anywhere, which was amazing considering I didn't think I'd ever be able to peel myself off the floor. So, maybe it's not so bad after all. I'll keep you posted.
10 Comments:
Trees also get cut down and turned into paper, which little kids draw on, and then they end up on a fridge somewhere until it gets knocked under the grate....15 years later, when the mother and father have to replace the fridge, they will move it, discover the drawing and cry.
I'd cry to if I had to replace my fridge. Those things are expensive!
So what you're saying is... it's a good thing that I can't be a tree?
No...I just went on a tangent....I couldn't relate.....that's how I handle issues and people I'm uncomfortable with....I just avoid their issues and go on with mine. That's why I'm such a horrible conversationalist/person.
:)
:) So let's see if I got this straight. Horrible Conversationalist = Horrible Person... :)
I did yoga once at the Rec. All I remember was the Downward Facing Dog. It was easy. I thought we all looked like apes who fell on their hands and couldn't get back up.
A lot of my friends (who were guys) did yoga. As a string player it was supposed to disolve an muscle imbalances that may have developed. It was also supposed to put you into shape to play the violin. My question is...what makes it easier to play the violin? Yoga, or getting really fat and strong. Clearly I made the right choice.
Horrible person does not necessarily equal horrible conversationalist. I'm just a special case.
Mare reads Julie's YOGA blog...
YOGA! *Gasp*
(Mare falls to the ground and after a few moments picks herself up. She's determined to speak her mind and bravely confronts Julie.)
But, Julie, my mama always told me YOGA was the bad - freeing your mind was part of the new age movement, and once you put your body in one of those positions it would never come back out....
Oh, wait...but then again my mama also told me that all people do in the movie theater is make-out, that all Judy Blume books were bad, and that rock music was from the devil.
Sigh.
(P.S. I love my mama.)
All valid points. Though horrible and weird, I didn't detect much spirituality in this particular form of Yoga (unless, of course, you count the intense praying that I would be able to get out of those positions). :)
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