Ahh the relaxation of Yoga, until tomorrow

As many of you know I decided a couple of months ago to take on a new endeavor. Something that would challenge but also improve me. So I decided to take a Yoga class that so many people rave about. Going into a class that is comprised almost completely of females is not as easy as you ladies might think. Just once have I attended an aerobics class and I couldn’t last more than half the class, and I would like to think I am in shape. Entering a class of nothing but women you represent the male gender, you represent every egotistical, macho, muscle bound male that has ever swaggered by a female as they are doing ball exercises and snickered. You feel the looks on your back as they see someone who has invaded their domain, and now they challenge you to see if you can keep up.

You walk into a darkened room with soft music playing in the background. Figures lay on mats scattered around the floor in no particular order except the vague direction toward the front of the room. You see bodies contorted in unnatural and seemingly painful and unimaginable positions. So as a male in an uncomfortable situation you try to blend. You don’t know how to do those crazy stretches so you rely on your normal stretches like you were about to run a race or play a game of football. The other members of the class smile to themselves as they can see a large neon sign hanging over you saying YOGA VIRGIN! Then the teacher comes in. She speaks in a ghost like voice. Swishing in and out of your hearing range as you strain to hear the directions. The rest of the students begin to fall into the yoga like trance with a sense of calm in this otherwise crazy world. Their eyes clothes as they let their bodies move to the sound of that whispery voice. You on the other hand are still as rigid as a 2x4, eyes wide open trying to grasp the subtleties of every move. What seems easy to others you are straining to achieve even a small percent of. In minutes you are perspiring with the strain of moving undiscovered muscles in directions you never thought possible. Fear of the mirth you are sure others have toward your lack of knowledge or skill provides a reverse affect tensing up those very muscles you are trying to relax.

By the end of the hour your body lays tired on the mat, a quivering puddle of skin, bone and muscle. You slowly get up, limp your way to the door and immediately retract as if burned to the bright glare of the overhead lights. You continue to walk guardedly to the locker room, pick up your clothes and move into the blissfully cool night. Only there in the stillness of the night do you feel all the anxiety, pressure and strain from your day was lifted in that hour of seeming muscle torture. A smile forms on your face as you realize how good you feel. Sure you need a good muscle massage, but such a feeling you haven’t had since your last vacation sitting on a beach.

So now I have been taking the class for a number of months, and have now been welcomed into the family that has developed in the class. No longer do I feel the need to study every move of my teacher, instead letting it flow without watching. No longer do I ache for days after, well maybe only a day now. I am moving my body in ways I never thought possible. So now all of you who know what to expect, I say try something new. Go ahead, try it. You never know you might like it.

Namaste