Yoga a Stretch for the Round and Stiff

I have been participating in a yoga class.

Take a moment to let that sink in.

If you've known me for a while, you know that I am not the yoga type. I make fun of anything where someone might say, “Ohmmm.” Until last September, I wasn't the working out at a gym type either, but people can change.

Yoga is great exercise. It’s non-aerobic, so it's easy on the old knees.

Did you know there were a lot of different kinds of yoga? Some types are more mystical, others more physical. There is hot yoga. Bikram yoga. Ashtanga yoga. Power yoga. Tantric yoga. Naked yoga. I'm just in Beginning Yoga.

After the first class, I felt quite righteous about my healthy new lifestyle choice - until the sore stomach muscles kicked in. Who would have thought that sitting and lying on the floor, extending legs and arms, and twisting could lead to such pain? My body, I have learned, is not very flexible.

I’m also ignorant when it comes to muscle composition. When told to stretch our quads, I have to look at the person next to me. I don't know what a quad is.

The instructor is very nice and patiently bends my arms, waist, and ankles this way and that to conform to the pose of the moment, but I'm stiff and my body's not the ideal shape for yoga. I'm not long and thin. I'm round.

But I'm plugging away and I hope to be more bendy real soon.

Namaste.