Today I went to class 3/3 of Vinyasa Yoga (as in, every time I told myself I would go to yoga, I went).
It was a tough sell for the second class. I was in an INCREDIBLE amount of pain from my first class, and the thought of resting in downward dog did not sound appealing. I was also nervous that I would hurt myself further. I sent out a tweet in the morning asking the twitterverse: “Went to yoga on tues, painfully sore from it, but I wanted to go again today. Bad Idea? Should I let my body rest or push through? #help”
I then got an overwhelming number of tweets and texts from my friends (and some acquaintances) encouraging me to push through the pain and go to yoga, and that it might even help my soreness.
I trudged through the second class, feeling better about each move and feeling slight improvements. I knew I was holding each pose a little longer, or pushing a little bit more each time. Practice makes perfect, and stretching leads to more stretching.
The third class tonight was a little bit different. I felt more challenged and was falling out of poses or unable to stretch as far as I thought I could. I couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged because I thought I was improving, but in yoga, you’re supposed to leave all of your negative energy outside the studio, so I tried to stay positive by telling myself “at least you walked through the door.” As we completed the session, stayed in dead man’s pose for a long time, rolled around in happy baby, and bowed our heads one final time, I felt the familiar lightness that yoga gives me, but slightly more foggy. I tried to get rid of the negativity, but it still sat there on my ride home. As I pulled into my driveway, I was convinced I had rid myself of my “bad” class, but I eventually took it out on my family when I got home, which is never good. I realized it was because of how exhausted I was – Vinyasa is not easy! I finally ate something, making me feel better. Rule number one about me: food makes my mood skyrocket out of any bad situation.
Credits:
The Twitterverse —- have a good support system.
Negative Energy —- find out where you get your energy (physical or mental) from. Do your best to combat negativity with positivity.
Dinner —- om nom nom.