Month of Yoga, Episode One

Today I did something that I've totally been meaning to do for a long time, and totally can't afford: I bought an unlimited pass for a month to the yoga studio a couple doors down from my apartment. I figure I'll only be living here for a couple more months, and it's a great opportunity for me to deepen my practice (which has been more than a little lax lately) on a consistent basis. I'm not so good with getting to class every day when I have to, you know, walk a few miles or drive and lose my parking spot. I'm pretty good at talking myself out of going to class when that's the case. So now that I've dropped the money (or, really, put the money on my credit card) I'm excited to see what happens with my body and my mind and my soul after a month of much more frequent and consistent practice than I've been having.

Today I went to a level two class, and I was really scared that I was going to totally suck. With my lax practice and all the Easter candy, I've been feeling really, really down on myself and I was not excited about making a fool out of myself in front of the studio I sort of just committed to. My fears were... um... heightened considerably when I walked in to the yogini in front of me doing a beautiful, unsupported handstand. I had to stick myself into a child's pose to keep from running out the door.

But one of the things I really like about yoga is that it's a fear thing. Everything about yoga is something that I used to be afraid of: forward folds, inversions, wearing tight clothes... every class is an opportunity to overcome a fear of mine, and same goes for every time I teach. So I stuck around, and I'm glad that I did. The experience level of the people in the class allowed for a lot of individual movement (at the end, the instructor just told us to do a few wheels, do a counter-pose, and stick ourselves into the resting pose of our choice). All the benefit of my own practice with all the benefit of having the guidance and support of a class! I also added a couple of new motions and poses to my rep that I think the more advanced women in my Sunday class might find interesting.

Then I ate some Easter candy. But after that I cleaned the bathroom, which I haven't been able to motivate myself to do for a whole week. Can't win them all, but I forgave myself for the sweets... I feel great right now, and think I might actually hit two classes tomorrow: one taught by my yogini goddess friend, and one at my new temporarily-home studio.