Another Love

Not quite an obsession, at least not yet, but a definite love for Black Swan Yoga. After dealing with my stress fracture and my health hitting an all time low last year I knew it was time to get serious with my stretching routine or lack there of.

I finally bit the bullet sometime last spring and decided to go to some yoga classes. At the time I was working retail so for once in my life I could attend the wacky hours of a yoga class. They always seem to have classes starting at 9am, which made me think perhaps, this hippie habit is really for the trust fund babies (disclaimer- I have no problem w/ hippies or those with trust funds) just trying to get my stretch on, and yoga classes are offered at some odd ball times, alright getting back to my point. This whole post is about my new found love for yoga. I'll be honest I would only attend classes were the attendance was rather low. I was pretty sure I would topple at some point during a class causing a domino effect and taking a whole row of people down with me. If you've ever wondered about the lack of balance in my feet join me in a yoga class, I should be embarrassed.

The first class I ever attended was sweaty yoga. I'm not sure on the temp maybe 97/100 degrees. Plenty hot in my humble opinion. I walked in, first girl I spot is chillin' in a head stand, I almost about faced and sprinted out of the joint, but no, I prevailed into the back corner for a private spot. I had done no research on sweaty yoga, so really wasn't sure what to expect for my first class. Let's just say I was about to get schooled in some hot yoga fast. About the time we are on the ground on our backs and my naval is shoved upside my nose I realized I did NOT allow enough time for my lunch to be digested. However, if I was going to vomit and didn't want anyone to know this was the position to be in...lesson 1 learned.

Fast forward to lately. I wasn't religious about my yoga but was slowly getting into it. I could hardly do any of the challenge poses they mention in order to get in a deeper stretch...apparently, I was so stiff when starting out that that was challenge enough for me. However, lately I'm able to pull some stunts I didn't know possible. All I've wanted to do this whole post (assuming you aren't drooling on your keyboard yet) was brag about some positions I can bust out. That really doesn't sound good, but not meant to be perverted, I swear. My friend, Christine, is my good luck charm...whenever we go together I can push a little further and do an extra challenge I never thought possible. I was with her the first time I busted out the wheel. Oh my, my lower abdomen is some kinda tight. What's a wheel you ask? Ah, visuals, my fav.

Oh, this never hurt so good. I was stoked to finally be able to hold this position. I love it know when the instructor says towards the end of class if there is a pose you wish to hold in order to complete your practice now is the time. Oh, yeah baby, now I have one! The superstars do their headstand, showoffs!

Ok, 2 weeks ago, Christine and I attend another class. We're in January and to say the class is crowded is an understatement. We're so close it's about to become partner yoga. WOW! Resolouters are killin' my workouts. This class we're going through poses and the instructor, Tyler (my fav) is setting us up for a balancing act. He's leading us in and I've never held this pose before. All of a sudden I realize I'm in it, like holy shit! Check me out. NOW! I'm petrified to breathe to say anything, but I totally need to be noticed, much like a toddler when he goes #2 in the potty all by himself. One should be so proud.

And the crow pose looks like:

Needless to say I'm really diggin' the yoga classes at Black Swan. I think I've found the day that works best for me and slowly but surely, I'm going to unravel this mess of tight muscles I've created.