For months, okay for years, I’ve been talking about trying yoga. In July 2011, I made it to one class with my friend, Katherine, and didn’t like it at all. It had nothing to do with my being unable to do everything; it was simply too slow for me. I was bored.
When Shawn was injured, I tried to convince him to try yoga with me. He was intrigued but not enough to go into a studio. Shawn needed me to go first. “Check it out. Let me know what it’s like.” The truth was, though, that I needed someone to go with me.
On New Years Day, a year and a half after my first class, Miss Monica texted me with an offer that I couldn’t refuse. “Do you want to come to yoga with me? It’s a hot studio.”
Hot. Looking out at snow-covered roads, I loved the idea of being somewhere ‘hot’ even if it was in a yoga studio. An hour later, we walked into a steamy room full of athletic bodies. I watched the man next to me put down his mat, lift his legs into his elbows and proceed to do a headstand. Yes, I was intimidated. “This will be fun,” I told myself. “Yup, fun.”
And it was. This was a Power Yoga class, which is faster moving and not as meditative as I expected it to be. Many of the positions and moves I could do (as many are similar to the stretches that I do at home) but many I could not – at all. Nonetheless, I felt that I was in a good spot.
Later in the week, I checked the studio’s schedule and found a Friday night class that works with my committments. I didn’t have to worry about getting work finished for the next day, my boys never do homework on a Friday night and, best of all, Friday is typically an “off-running” day for me. When I talked about going weekly, Hubby Dave encouraged it. “It will be good for you,” he said. “You should go. It’ll be worth it.” Still hesitant, I called Katherine, who went to me to my first yoga class over a year and a half ago, for moral support. The next night, the two of us walked into that same steamy studio, filled with athletic bodies, to try Power Jam, a 75 minutes class of fast yoga. It was just what I needed.
Before we left, we each bought a pass so that we can keep it up for the rest of the month. I’m excited about this new form of cross-training and seeing if, and how, this will strengthen my core for running. I’m excited about the challenges that it brings. And I’m excited about getting out of the house on a Friday night to unwind.
Without a doubt, yoga is something that I’ve wanted to do for months. In the past few weeks, I’ve been adding a few simple poses to my stretching routine at home. But it wasn’t until a friend invited me to a class and a different friend came with me to another that I was able to make that change. Good friends help make good things happen.
