Ohm

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Ohm...

Before you click the "Quick, get me out of here" button, give me a chance! I have not gone hippie dippie or crunchy granola but yes, I do love a good yoga session. Not for the getting-in-touch-with-my-inner-self feeling but more for what it's done for my body. I have yet to see the long term effects of yoga on my mental state however :-) And for you guys out there, I know yoga is often thought of as "girly" exercise, but you'll be amazed at how much strength and focus yoga requires! I suggest you try it before you knock it.

Yoga has been around forever, since the 2nd century BC according to Wikipedia (you can take that info with a grain of salt). The two main types of yoga are Hatha and Vinyasa. I practice Vinyasa, or flow, yoga. This type of yoga keeps you moving as you flow from one pose into the next. My gym offers a Vinyasa class that is heated, much like Bikram, which is a type of Hatha yoga. I LOVE this class. The room is over 100 degrees and is packed, asses to elbows, with people and is usually 75 minutes long. It's smart to get to class early to avoid getting angry stares as you place your mat down! I get a great sweat, stretch, and overall workout. An added plus is I feel much calmer by the end of class. However, the calmness seems to wear off by the time I leave the parking lot! Hah!

To those of you who still say "I hate yoga", I was once in your shoes. I used to HATE yoga. I found it so boring and lame. But really, I mostly hated it because I found it hard. I'm not very flexible, especially in my old age *wink*, and lots of the moves require balance that I do not possess. The first couple of times I went, I felt so intimidated by the regular yogis who can balance all their weight on their hands, do head stands, and who can bind themselves to look like a pretzel. Yes, those people are out there. And yes, you will inevitably have one in your class. But I eventually stopped comparing myself to them and soon realized all the great things yoga had to offer. I can now touch my feet and almost touch my palms to the floor when I stretch. I can now do a full wheel (for 3 seconds but who cares)! Something I haven't been able to do since I was 7. My flexibility, as well as my core strength, has greatly improved. My posture has improved slightly. Now when I catch myself slouching, I am able to straighten up without straining my back. I no longer feel a restricting tightness throughout my body. I actually now look forward to yoga and feel a little bit disappointed in myself when I can't make a class. I have been going fairly regularly and enough that I believe I need a good (not cheapo) yoga mat and bag. Buying cute stuff seems to motivate me more!

So, please, I implore you to try out yoga in the near future. Ladies, if you're still not motivated, go shopping. I think yoga gear is some of the cutest around. They can be expensive but check out places like Target or even Old Navy! Gents, if you're still not motivated, there are tons of good looking women in tight spandex tops/bras and short shorts or tight pants bending over. If that isn't motivation for you, there are some good looking men with no shirts on doing hot yoga too. LOL!

Namaste!