My first yoga class

Yoga is something I have been wanting to try for some time. What prompted me to finally get off my lazy ass and actually try it was a combination of one of my closest friends' getting into yoga, and another friend talking to me about it. It's funny how much your friends can really influence you.

So I finally signed up for some dirt-cheap intro yoga classes near me. Yesterday was my first class. The class was filled with young women my age in their 20s, and older women in their 50s-60s. The teacher looked ANCIENT. She was tiny and looked like freakin Tinkerbell's grandmomma. Honestly, I was surprised to see her to do some of the moves fairly well.


Analysis:

Anyway, several things bothered me about the class. Firstly, it was mostly just phyical and stretchy moves. I guess I was looking more for the spiritual side of yoga (including more meditation). Maybe since I am a beginner I am not appreciative of the physical side of yoga as much; I am sure that the physical and mental side are linked together. I'll give the class a bit more time and see if these moves really "move" me.

[That made me think about why I wanted to do yoga in the first place. Why? Some people like to be flexible. Some like meditating. I guess I am more in the meditative camp. I'd like to have it calm my mind, bring me some peace, really affect my life. hmmm, guess I have to really practice it for more than one day to get to that point at some stage of my life =P]

The second thing that annoyed me was the watered-down and commericialized version of the class. We chanted "Om" in the beginning of the class and it bothered me when she said that the word had no meaning. Uhhh, hello? habla espanol? Hell yes it does. It's an ancient word in Hindu philosophy and has a variety of meanings. It would have been nice to talk about the types of yoga, the history of yoga, and the meaning of yoga. We didn't talk about how yoga can affect other aspects of your life- it was as if it can be contained in that hour and a half of doing "cow and cat" poses. *sigh* Maybe, again, I am being overcynical and overimpatient.


The Real Deal:

I visited my best friend this weekend and hung out a bit with her family; one of her cousins has been practicing yoga for many years and told me how yoga "saved her life," and I thought, "wow." that really moved me.

However, she warned me about these watered-down commercialized versions of yoga and suggested I do some extra-cirricular reading about yoga to REALLY learn about the philosophy and lifestyle of yoga. She told me about how it really has helped her focus her mind, deal with life in a more relaxed and logical way, improved esteem.

She also said there are so many TYPES of yoga out there, and it is really important to find the type that fits you. Apparently, there are various yoga institutes all over the place that give lectures, seminars, and sell books on how to learn more about the traditional and all aspects of yoga!

The Future:

Save me! Does something really have the power to do that? I'm uber-excited about checking out lectures in the yoga institute, reading more about yoga, finding my "fit," or type of yoga, and learning about what it means. I'd really like to improve my life, and it seems like- if taken seriously- learning about the philosophy can really do that. That's what I want. And that's what I look forward to learning.