I am NOT Flexible

As promised, I started Yoga yesterday. I am so glad there was no one around to watch me because I looked so silly, I know I would never live it down. I am not flexible at all. Not one tiny bit.

The DVD is Yoga for beginners by body wisdom. The instructor is Barbara Benagh. Now she's a fairly pleasant woman who could be anywhere between mid forties to possible sixties (she says she been practicing yoga for 35 years) because I can't really pin down her age because she's so fit and relaxed looking. The main menu gives you a five page thing to read to help you get the most out of your DVD experience. It recommends you watch this interview with Barbara to better understand why she cares so much about yoga. It was kind of hard to get through. I guess when you practice yoga you aren't learning anything. You are just rediscovering the knowledge that's been within you your whole life. Yeah right.

So I started the first 30 minute routine and Barb's soothing voice comes through. It was fairly easy and focused a lot on controlling your breathing. I was skeptical, it was TOO easy. But this is how she does it. She lulls you into a false sense of security and then wants you to sit cross legged on the mat, take your right arm and bring it around the back of you and grip your right thigh (like on the inside by your pelvis). At this point I said (out loud, even though I was by myself) "You got to be fucking kidding me." I did the modified pose but holy moly I don't care how much weight I lose, how fit I get, I doubt I'll be able to reach like that. The rest of it wasn't that bad but it was mostly sitting/laying down mat work. The next one I'm going to try is called Sun Salutations. We shall see how that goes.

There are eight different routines some harder than others but I'm gonna try and stick with it. I did feel more relaxed afterward and I like to think maybe one day I can consider myself flexible.