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On Sunday, I did yoga and brunch with some of my Coeur Sports teammates. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about it. I’m very good at brunch, but I’m not so good at yoga. In fact, I’m not sure that I had ever taken an actual yoga class before. I’ve done videos, have a book that I try to use, and been in classes that included some yoga poses, but I had never taken a full yoga class.
The studio’s website had a “for newbies” section, so I read all about it. Bring a towel. Check. Studio will be around 90 degrees. Yuck, but check. Be ready to sweat. Check.
The class was definitely a full one. So many people there, but what was immediately awesome is that there were people of all shapes and sizes. Some people looked like yoga pros, others were there in their shorts and t-shirts ready to challenge their bodies.
What I absolutely loved about the class was that it was so challenging and fast moving that I didn’t have time to worry about what I looked like or what anyone else looked like because I was just trying to keep up and work. I didn’t worry about if this bend made my belly flub hang out. (I did worry that it might be possible to drown in my own sweat, but that’s a different kind of worry.)
I’m still not sure if I absolutely loved this class or absolutely hated it. It was challenging for sure, but that makes for a good workout. I liked that I wasn’t the only one in there having to modify poses or pausing to chug water or wipe the sweat off of everything. I was sore for days, which tells me that I need to get back to my strength workouts and actually do the workouts in the yoga book I bought.
This class definitely isn’t something I plan to do every week, but I think it may show up in my plans again sometime, possibly for a great workout on a step back weekend. It was perfectly timed, since I was still in recovery from my race and healing up some pulled muscles.
But most importantly, this was a reminder to just show up. To not worry what I look like or how good I am at something. Just show up. No one cares how good you are, everyone’s just there trying to better themselves.
I never liked yoga until my first hot yoga class at CPY. Even then, I probably wouldn’t have gone if I knew what I was getting into. But there was something about the flow of the class in the hot room — and the sweat! — that got me hooked. Now I look forward to my weekly class.