I have discovered yoga. And it is good.

Well, that’s not true. The just discovering bit, I mean. I’d started doing bits and pieces of yoga back in 2005, but I definitely did not practice regularly. Just a DVD now and then, or the Wii Fit every once in a while, and flipping through pages in my yoga book. But lately, I’ve been feeling all bunched up. Just crunched and squished and small. I want to feel lean and lithe. Plus my upper back between my shoulder blades was kind of stiff. I know what it’s from. It’s from a winter of being hunched over, typing/playing on my laptop, or curled up reading, and not stretching and moving.

But that’s changing. I found a yoga center that is walking distance from my apartment, and I dropped in for three classes last week. It’s kind of a luxury, but it’s kind of not. The drop-in classes aren’t terribly expensive, and I feel like there is already a difference in how aware I am of my body, my breathing, and my posture. It’s helping me with my attitude. (I am still kinda complainy/whiny, but that has more to do with whether or not I take my medication correctly than anything else.) At the end of class, the instructor tells us to go about with gratitude in our hearts, and I feel disappointed because I haven’t concentrated on being thankful for things so much lately. I feel like this is going to keep me healthy on so many levels, so it’s something I need to be willing to make sacrifices for.

The soul thing is an side effect that I didn’t expect, but it’s a pleasant surprise. I like how they tell us to really pay attention to the sensations in our bodies. How that feels, and how it affects what’s going on in our minds. Tuesday, I did Tantric Vinyasa 1-2, Wednesday I did Vinyasa 1-2, and Friday, I did Ashtanga 1-2. So far, my favorites are Tantric Vinyasa and Ashtanga. I can’t even describe how I felt coming out of those classes. It was good, though. One day, I’d like to try hot yoga.

I have a habit of starting things, getting into them gung-ho, then abandoning them. I am not proud of that. I’m going to try to keep that from happening with this. It’s too good for me.

And now for a bit of fun….

I’m a Balanced Yogi!

Take the Yoga Journal Yoga Snob Quiz!

Hee hee, the girl in the cartoon even kinda looks like me! I have a pink mat and I always wear a headband!