week 28 - "learn yoga"



Tree pose

      I have been taking some Yoga classes which were offered at our Church.  The reason I started going was because one of the weekly "adventure" cards said to "learn yoga".  But I have to tell you that I am enjoying it immensely.  There are many different kinds of Yoga and, of course, many different levels.  There are many beginners in the class, like myself, but also several who had been practicing Yoga for decades.  I was really impressed with the 80-year-old woman who felt quite at home unrolling her mat on the floor and bending and stretching in front of all of us.  It was rather humbling.  The Tree pose in the picture is hard (and I'm pretty sure that my foot is supposed to be a lot higher on my other leg).

     Yoga blends body, mind and spirit.  Some of the poses are done standing and some lying on your back or stomach as well as sitting or kneeling.  After an hour of slow breathing, relaxation exercises and stretching every single muscle in your body, you feel really good afterwards.  Just 10 minutes of lying on your back with your eyes closed and emptying your mind of everything except the sound of your breathing and imagining yourself sinking into the floor can do wonders for you.  I even do this at home sometimes - just to relax.  You can feel the tension leave your body and be replaced by energy.

     In these beginning classes, we held each pose only a minute or so, but more advanced students can hold a pose up to 20 minutes.  You should try one:  stand with your legs slightly apart with your weight evenly distributed.  Stretch your arms out to the side at shoulder level and imagine someone is pulling on each arm to stretch your arms even further.  Now see how long you can hold that pose.  After a few minutes my arms feel heavy and my muscles start to shake and I have a great appreciation for what the instructor can do.  I would recommend trying a Yoga class if you can.  We had all ages from 13 to 80 and even one male in class.  If you try Yoga, you will feel as if you just did something really good for your body as well as your mind.