Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Yoga Me Happy

My friend D invited me to go with her to a Yoga class tonight. The studio was so beautiful and relaxing. The walls were like a dark red/deep orange and the hardwood floors and woodwork were perfect. The lighting was low and the pictures were great! I have never done Yoga before.

Well, I did a few classes of prenatal Yoga when I was pregnant with Brian but it was more of a light stretching and relaxation class than a work out. Let me tell you, the class tonight was relaxing but definitely a work out. It is now a few hours later and the muscles in my upper arms and chest are still tingling and so are the tops of my thighs. Those same muscles feel totally exhausted and weak. It is a very strange feeling.

I made an attempt at a downward and an upward dog, I worshiped the sun, got myself into a plank and a plow, almost got stuck in the camel, and concentrated on my deep breathing. There was plenty of hip and hamstring stretching too! It was the best workout that I have had in a long time. I will have to get used to how warm it is in the studio. Maybe it was from all the poses where my head was upside down, but there were times when I was a bit lightheaded and really hot. It quickly went away and all was good!

After the hard poses were finished, there was a nice relaxation time. The instructor came around gently massaged our arms, hands, and neck with a lavender oil while we were laying on our backs. It was heaven and just about put me to sleep. I wish she could come over and do that every night before I went to bed.

I know that I am going to be sore tomorrow! But I am a little weird in that I love muscle soreness; it is a reminder that I worked my body and as it repairs itself it is getting stronger and healthier! I think that I am hooked on Yoga! And the bonus is the peaceful 'yoga high' that you take with you!

Oh, and the instructor passed out cards with words of wisdom on them. Mine said something about overcoming grief and loss and learning from it to live a better and fuller life. That was spot on for me over the last few days. Loss has certainly taught me to slow down and to savor each and every day.




the Yoga studio

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wow, that's a really nice yoga studio - i would love to do yoga there!