Thursday, March 18, 2010

A Yoga Thing

So I've been practicing yoga for about three months now, and I am hooked. It is so good in every way you hear advertised: body, mind, spirit. Sure, I'm still a novice (can't give you any of the poses' Sanskrit names), but I notice improvement every time...in my flexibility and strength, and in the ways in which I find myself more focused and aware in my brain and in my heart. I enjoy myself, concentrating on breathing and balance, awakening muscles that have been out of use for ages, doing things I didn't know my body could do (and some it still doesn't, but getting closer)...I catch myself smiling in the mirror. My shoulders are becoming less troubled by the spaghetti-noodle ligaments holding them together. The guy I play racquetball with cannot beat me now. I actually think the guy in the mirror doesn't look ridiculous when I see him doing the poses (not to mention most of the other times).

I am not the least bit hesitant to tell all that to you, dear reader, and yet it's still weird to tell my buddies that I am going to be late to go have beers with them because I will instead be flowing through vinyasas with Dr. Carol (who cannot be recommended highly enough). It's interesting though, that it's only before class that I feel that way...afterward, I have no qualms about telling the guys what I've been doing and how completely badass it is.

And when I do tell guys about yoga, of course the only ones who think it's funny are those who have never done it (and must be unaware of the gender balance generally found in yoga classes). Sometimes I find several of my friends have tried it on the sly, and they know how hard, and how good it can be.

I do wish I had tried yoga earlier, but then it is really a perfect exercise for a 40-year-old guy who's always been in half-assed shape to discover. It's perfect for the conditioning, the challenges, and the fact that one doesn't perform or get judged, one practices, always aiming for improvement...an excellent goal for life in general, I say. Nothing new there, but something I have to remind myself to actually do sometimes.

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