First off, my thanks to Giselle for advising me to take yoga rather than cycling the night after Zumba. My abs were on fire yesterday from Zumba, so yoga was definitely the better option. Good call, Giselle!
Yoga was the opposite experience of Zumba. Zumba was crowded, loud, crazy and intense. Yoga was extremely quiet and calm. While I didn't take Zumba seriously going in, yoga intimidated me. I tried taking yoga years ago during undergrad, and it was a disaster. The classroom was insanely full, so there was no room to really move. The instructor expected everyone to already have knowledge of the poses so I was completely lost and had no idea if I was doing anything correctly. I was miserable. I wasn't looking too forward to yoga last night, but decided to give it another try, encouraged by my fiancé’s aunt, who teaches yoga, and my friend Scott, both of whom have said many good things that convinced me to give it a chance.
Last night after work I walked into the gym and immediately felt good about my decision. The room was quiet and dimly lit, except for a single overhead light and some white Christmas lights in trees in the corners of the room. Less than 10 people took the class so there was plenty of spacing between the mats. The instructor introduced herself to me and put me at ease by asking me knowledge and comfort level and assuring me that she would demonstrate the poses for us, and also walk around to check our alignment during the class.
I was surprised that I was able to do all of the poses with no problems. I think in my mind I had built up yoga to be extremely difficult because of my past bad experience, but it actually feels really good. The instructor had a very calm voice and was good at explaining how to do each pose. She also told us what each pose does, (cooling, flexibility, etc) which I liked.
I tend to have a billion different thoughts in my mind at any given second and also have a tendency to be fidgety, so at first I had a little trouble staying in a pose for extended periods because I was impatient to move on to the next one. I think it’s good for me to have an activity that forces me to focus on a single position and clear my mind. At one point I realized I hadn’t thought about anything since the beginning of class – I hadn’t made mental checklists of things I needed to do or worried about work or family or friends or weekend plans. It kind of felt magical and indulgent. When the instructor said we only had a few minutes left I was shocked. The hour passed so quickly but I didn't feel exhausted as I had with Zumba. For the final stretch we had our backs on the floor and our legs straight up against a wall, which we did for about 5 minutes with our eyes closed. It was awesome.
I am really glad I have overcome my fear of yoga. I felt great after class and I'd like to make it part of my weekly workout plan. So with positive Zumba and yoga experiences, my fitness week is a success so far. I hope to have another good experience with tonight’s indoor cycling class.
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