Oh, Yoga

I’ve always loved lifting weights. I’ve never really been great at it, per say, but it makes me feel strong, confident, and powerful. It still does, and I enjoy the feeling I get when I get to kick the weight up a bit – proof that I’m getting stronger.

Given the struggles I’ve had with depression, though, I thought it would be worth including yoga into my more regular routine. Like most people, I’ve heard tons about the benefits it has for you, physically and mentally. I’ve dabbled in it before, but never really got into it, aside from wanting to paint “Namast’ay in Bed” on my bedroom wall.

Well. This week, I’ve been into it.

And by Tuesday afternoon, all of me hurt and I felt like I was dying. (Hey, I never said I wasn’t a drama queen.)

In spite of all of my training and research, I failed to realize just how much impact yoga would have on my muscles and strength. Sure, I suppose it depends on what kind of yoga you do. I mean, I could probably stay in corpse pose for days, but let me put it this way: Tony Horton’s daily yoga routine is anything but relaxing. (The video there doesn’t work, sorry – but if you’re a Beachbody on Demand subscriber, you can still find it on the site.) It’s also a little hard to concentrate when they have to bleep out the yoga instructor and you’re moving into “warrior friggin’ one!” but the routine was good, all the same.

It just wasn’t corpse pose.

I’ve already tried a range of yoga in my time, even before this. Tony is on one end of the spectrum, and the chick who instructed you to stick your tongue out as you breathe is on the other. (#NoJudgies, but I’m not doing that. Thanks.)

This week has been a great reminder that yoga is deceiving. Breathe, stretch, reach, and set muscles you didn’t even know existed on fire.

Consequently, I feel great, and I like being able to experience the yoga practice from a variety of instructors. I’ll work through the Beachbody 30-day calendar, and from there decide which ones I like best, and then stick with those.

Now, in the midst of all of this, I’ve come down with some sort of bug. But I thought, “OK, I don’t feel well, but it’s just yoga.”

It’s just yoga.

Don’t ever let anyone say that to you. They’re lying to you, and they’re not your friend. They’re setting you up for, “Good god, what have I done?” so that they can laugh at you during the next child’s pose.

People might argue with me on this, saying that there are so many different types of yoga, and that there are kinds that you can do that are truly relaxing and restorative. Sure. If you want to split those hairs. I consider that more meditation, but to each their own. And I’m not saying that as if it’s a bad thing – meditation is amazing, and I need to make time for that before bed – but it’s not what I’m talking about here.

So that’s been my adventure this week, and it’s been a delightful challenge. We’ll see if it helps move the needle on the happiness scale. So far, it’s done wonders for me all the way up until I have to deal with real life.

I’ll work on that.