YOGA IS AWESOME
I went to my first real live yoga class last night. I'm not quite sure what's different from doing this with DVDs, besides that there were a bunch of different poses and, well, a live instructor, but by the end of the hour-long class I was bendy, floppy, full of goodwill, and absolutely drenched in sweat. I'm totally going next week. It fucks up my sleep schedule, but the hell with it, I'll deal.
Things I have learned:
1) I ought not to be lurking nearby on a recumbent bike when the class before yoga ends. By the time I was off the bike and headed for the mats, all the proper mats were gone and I ended up making do with a weird cushy foam one that really did not give me the traction I needed. By the time I grabbed a dumb cushy mat, a bajillion people were already in place and I had to scrabble out a little room for myself behind a pillar.
2) If possible, I need to get on the right-hand side of the class area, because the left-hand side is open to entirely too much noise from various exercise machines and the acoustics get all wiggy. This is particularly important because there is apparently no such thing as a headphone set for instructors; while the guy doing the hardcore ab class at 7:30 had a bellowing voice that carried easily over the booming music to the back of the room and beyond, the gal doing our yoga instruction was soft-spoken (either by her own nature, to suit the nature of the yoga, or both) and I had to strain to listen.
3) I shouldn't be startled by the mirrors. Yup, that's me, and no, I don't look like I think I look, and yup, my hair goes insane when it's sweaty, and yup, I am indeed wearing that in public. Nobody cares.
4) Do not eat beans before yoga when one is going to a class in public. I think this may be self-explanatory.
5) I can actually do this. This shouldn't have taken me by surprise; I've been doing yoga via various DVDs for almost three years now. For some reason I still expected that going to an actual class would mean that I'd get shown up, exposed, embarrassed, and so it was a shock to discover that I was keeping up with the class perfectly well. Maybe it was that there were some complete newbies there, so I had something to compare with and realize that hey, I've come a long way. I recognized all the poses, either from experience or from glancing contact via websites, and while I wasn't the greatest in the world at some of them (particularly the new ones), I could do them. I remember that back when I started I couldn't hold downward-facing dog for very long, and that I couldn't lean over and touch the floor, or sit on the floor and lean down to grab the soles of my feet. I'm okay. I'm on my way.
Tonight is my first free session with my personal trainer. Still nervous, but looking forward to it. My Hub is cranky about the fact that, since he just did his weight-lifting day yesterday, he has nothing to do at the gym while I have that appointment; the only class that's running at that point is a hip-hop dance class, and my woefully uncoordinated Hub is not up for that. Oh, well. He'll figure out something. I told him that he didn't have to come along, but he figures that the more days he goes to the gym, the better.
In specific Hub news, he's still trying to lose the remains of his pudge, but mostly at this point he's trying to get stronger and more muscular. He's eating more as a result, and is finding it difficult to eat more while still eating clean. His general mood is much improved, though, because since his blood sugar is never really low, he never has a chance to lapse into one of those hunger-fueled grumps of his. Needless to say, that is totally fine with me. If I can avoid having to deal with a grumpy Hub, my life is ten times easier.
In other news, preliminary investigation into childcare and school costs seem to indicate that we could afford a baby (particularly combined with the fact that we'd get to put money in a pre-tax savings account for childcare purposes). Buying a house, on the other hand: not so much. We need more for a down-payment so we'd be able to afford the mortgage payments. I'm hashing out a vague plan based on this information: kid first, condo after. It hurts nothing for us to rent for another few years.
Things I have learned:
1) I ought not to be lurking nearby on a recumbent bike when the class before yoga ends. By the time I was off the bike and headed for the mats, all the proper mats were gone and I ended up making do with a weird cushy foam one that really did not give me the traction I needed. By the time I grabbed a dumb cushy mat, a bajillion people were already in place and I had to scrabble out a little room for myself behind a pillar.
2) If possible, I need to get on the right-hand side of the class area, because the left-hand side is open to entirely too much noise from various exercise machines and the acoustics get all wiggy. This is particularly important because there is apparently no such thing as a headphone set for instructors; while the guy doing the hardcore ab class at 7:30 had a bellowing voice that carried easily over the booming music to the back of the room and beyond, the gal doing our yoga instruction was soft-spoken (either by her own nature, to suit the nature of the yoga, or both) and I had to strain to listen.
3) I shouldn't be startled by the mirrors. Yup, that's me, and no, I don't look like I think I look, and yup, my hair goes insane when it's sweaty, and yup, I am indeed wearing that in public. Nobody cares.
4) Do not eat beans before yoga when one is going to a class in public. I think this may be self-explanatory.
5) I can actually do this. This shouldn't have taken me by surprise; I've been doing yoga via various DVDs for almost three years now. For some reason I still expected that going to an actual class would mean that I'd get shown up, exposed, embarrassed, and so it was a shock to discover that I was keeping up with the class perfectly well. Maybe it was that there were some complete newbies there, so I had something to compare with and realize that hey, I've come a long way. I recognized all the poses, either from experience or from glancing contact via websites, and while I wasn't the greatest in the world at some of them (particularly the new ones), I could do them. I remember that back when I started I couldn't hold downward-facing dog for very long, and that I couldn't lean over and touch the floor, or sit on the floor and lean down to grab the soles of my feet. I'm okay. I'm on my way.
Tonight is my first free session with my personal trainer. Still nervous, but looking forward to it. My Hub is cranky about the fact that, since he just did his weight-lifting day yesterday, he has nothing to do at the gym while I have that appointment; the only class that's running at that point is a hip-hop dance class, and my woefully uncoordinated Hub is not up for that. Oh, well. He'll figure out something. I told him that he didn't have to come along, but he figures that the more days he goes to the gym, the better.
In specific Hub news, he's still trying to lose the remains of his pudge, but mostly at this point he's trying to get stronger and more muscular. He's eating more as a result, and is finding it difficult to eat more while still eating clean. His general mood is much improved, though, because since his blood sugar is never really low, he never has a chance to lapse into one of those hunger-fueled grumps of his. Needless to say, that is totally fine with me. If I can avoid having to deal with a grumpy Hub, my life is ten times easier.
In other news, preliminary investigation into childcare and school costs seem to indicate that we could afford a baby (particularly combined with the fact that we'd get to put money in a pre-tax savings account for childcare purposes). Buying a house, on the other hand: not so much. We need more for a down-payment so we'd be able to afford the mortgage payments. I'm hashing out a vague plan based on this information: kid first, condo after. It hurts nothing for us to rent for another few years.
posted by Meg at
9:25 AM
3 Comments:
When I have tried in the past to do yoga at times I find it hard because how do you know if you are doing it right?A class would be great,but I went to a pilates class once and they sort of just dove right in without any thought to the new comers.Good for you.Good tip about the beans too.The mirrors ARE ghastly.
By
lisa jane, at 3:21 PM
Yoga is pretty much a learn-as-you-go experience, which is why I'm kind of glad I did most of my learning/going in private. (The first three months, I wouldn't even let my Hub in the room.) These days, I'm still figuring out how to adjust things so that they work better; every session is like a little bit of detective work. "Oh, hey, I haven't noticed that muscle before. Maybe if I... DUDE, that helps!" I suspect it's like that for a lot of people, a lot of the time.
By
Meg, at 6:33 PM
Yoga: The thing that's amazing about having teachers is that you can ask them questions when class is over and they usually love to help. A couple of them have spent 10 minutes with me on different occasions just trying to explain downward dog and where the arms are supposed to be and how non-obvious it is (and really, really difficult to stay in). Or when doing lunges bothered my back foot (more than being in warrior one), they explained the need to "energize" that whole leg so that I'm not just resting all of the weight on the ball of my foot. A lot of the things I might want to try to make things easier were not the things I should do (though you might be smarter than me!) and the smallest, subtlest adjustments which make things harder but help work the pose. Enjoy!
Good luck with the house/child decision. The financial planner in me cringes: houses have a big up-front cost but it stays level, whereas kids are an increasing cost. On the other hand, I've chosen to keep renting despite having money for a down payment because 1. the housing market has been crazy and renting is cheaper than buying right now 2. it's not entirely clear that I'm staying in my current city for long enough (5 years) for it to make sense to buy.
By
Anonymous, at 7:08 PM
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