So, many people seem pretty excited about yoga. I had generally had the opinion of "I'm a runner, I suck at yoga." Admittedly not the best attitude, but given that I am not flexible at all and I can't touch my toes, it seemed a good enough excuse to not go. However, in the past few months, I have given the thought of yoga a second chance and even bought a living social deal to a local studio in order to really test it out. I actually went to a non-deal drop in class with a friend and despite sucking at it (that part of my assumption is still true) I do remember coming out feeling relaxed and stretched out and thinking I'd want to do it again. The instructor, also a runner, was very good about paying attention to me and my inability to do many poses, and helping me, while still paying a lot of attention to the rest of the class. I had a good experience there and was really excited to finally go to the Tuesday night class my friends have been raving about.
So, tonight, I went to the living social-deal local yoga studio. I think we went to Power Yoga or something. Power flow maybe? Anyway, I am pretty sure power was in the title, and it was designed to keep you moving. And it was 95 degrees. I, being new at yoga, was unprepared: I was wearing pants, my water bottle was only half full, and I didn't bring a long towel to cover my brand new slippery mat. But, I was there and ready to give it a shot. The instructor moved quickly from pose to pose and I could only pathetically try to mimic the people around me who were clearly more experienced than I was (not surprising haha). The instructor only commented on my slippery new mat, not really helping me get the poses right. As class continued, I think I figured out some warrior poses, and did a lot of downward dogs. We were constantly moving, which I guess is fun if you know what you are doing, but it sort of reminded me of a kick boxing class I went to in grad school where the coordination and memorization was just as important as the workout! About 45 minutes in, I was wondering, how long exactly IS this class... Eventually we got to the part where we were just relaxing and laying on the mat. That was much appreciated after a long work day and an hour + of dripping sweat.
This class did not leave me the "yoga is fun!" fuzzy feeling that the other one did. It kind of left me frustrated, disgustingly sweaty, and wondering if maybe the 'power' yoga isn't for me. I guess I was looking forward to getting relaxed and stretched out after my hill run this morning, but instead, I was tired out and felt like I sweat more before we even got started moving in the class than I did on the treadmill in the AM! People said that I would enjoy the faster paced classes because I really enjoy all of these cardio activities like running, swimming and biking, but I guess because I spend so many hours a week being super active, I kind of wanted something a little more relaxing. I think I will have to do research into the other classes this studio offers, and what type of class I really enjoyed when I tagged along with my other friend, so that maybe the remaining 4 classes I have left will leave me feeling more satisfied and revive my "yoga is fun" attitude!
So glad you're giving Yoga more chances! :) My two cents:
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like the fast yoga, stay away from anything called Vinyasa for sure, maybe even Ashtanga for now. Ashtanga is generally not as much movement as Vinyasa, but it does have a sequence of movements -- maybe medium paced. However, the movements are the same every time, so the more classes you go to, the more you will memorize the order of the poses, and you can also look those up online. If its a decent ashtanga class, they will always do them in the same order, as thats the way its supposed to be done.
If you like the more relaxing stuff you should look for Hatha/Restorative Yoga, which is kind of whatever and can generally be a meandering pace. If you go to an Iyengar class, they will also be slower, because they will spend a lot of time making sure you get the poses exactly right, and be all about using props to assist you to do this, though Iyengar will be a bit more intense than Hatha.
Hopefully that is helpful and not more confusing :) Keep it up!
hey thanks for the info -- I actually did some wikipedia-ing at lunch today and learned a little bit of what you said, and looked into the studio's other classes- they have a beginner flow and a restorative class (both not heated) that I'm going to try out with my remaining 4 punches!
DeleteI've thought about giving yoga a try too - to complement my running, and because my flexibility sucks as well. (Who knew toes were so far away?)
ReplyDeleteWhen I do take the plunge, I hope I get an instructor like the first one you describe - I'm sure I'd get my downward dog stuck in someone's flying eagle (is that a pose? Tell me that's a pose) if I didn't have some guidance.
Good luck with your next class.
thanks for the comment- i have heard yoga benefits runners- good luck finding a good class! i'll definitely repost with my next experience!
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