I had an awesome 1.5 hour run yesterday, so thought it would be a great idea to go to yoga today to stretch stuff out. Actually, I would have gone no matter what because yoga has now become quite the passion of mine.
One of the earlier moves we did was called 'the Pigeon'. Actually this move is fabulous for tight running muscles! It gives a mega stretch to the IT band, the hammies and the glutes. My muscles were fighting it, but they were happy for it afterwards.
We progressed into a few warrior poses (my favourites), then did some balancing. I actually love the balancing as well because I seem to have maintained my ninja princess balance. Go figure, I seem to love the poses I can actually do!!
The latter half of the class was a tad bit more challenging...
First off our crazy yogi had us go into a squat position, then we put our palms on the ground with our triceps pressing against our knees. (Think of the position a frog is in before it hops.) We were then to lean forward into our arms, so our feet were off the ground and balance on just our palms. My thoughts...'Really now?!' I tried. I swear I tried. I think I managed to lean forward enough so I could lift both of my feet up so my toes were at least 2 mm off the ground - for approximately a pico-second. You bet your bippy I'm proud of that!
For some reason, the yogi felt he should up the ante a bit. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at this... So he then gets us to go into plank position and he instructs us to 'lightly' hop back into the above described position. The friggin tipping frog position!! First thought to pop into my brain - 'Are you shittin' me?! Serioulsy?!' I managed to hold in my laughter. Someone else in the class did not however. I think maybe two people attempted this. To them I bow down and say 'We're not worthy'. I opted to just try and practice lifting my toes 3 mm off the ground. This will be something I have to work on I think. Afterall, I'm not one to back down from a challenge!
Todays yogi loves binding moves too. (Now, now kidlets, mind out of the gutter!) Perhaps if I were over 6 foot and had the long limbs of a model, I too would love binding moves as well. However, I can only say that I find them, uhm, intriguing...
After the tipping frog debacle I was almost happy to get into the binding poses. Almost. For one pose we had to sit with our legs all bent and crossed over, then twist our bodies so our hands/arms wrapped around our bodies and legs. I'm still using the fact that I'm a quadzilla with pipes as an excuse as to why it is completely impossible for me to become the human pretzel! Perhaps in a year I'll manage to get my fingertips to touch?!
Oh! I almost forgot. Then we had to do this pose where we put our legs in front of us, bend our knees a wee bit, then grab our big toes. (Picture what babies do and you'll get this move.) Then we were to roll backwards so our legs were over our head and almost touching the ground. The girl that laughed earlier ended up doing an all out guffaw with this one. From the position she was in when I looked over, she had gone to roll backwards and basically landed with her back flat on the floor and her legs splayed in the air while she gripped onto her toes. No rolling over for her. So funny. I respect her for trying though! I chickened out and just hoofed my body over into the 'legs over the head' position.
The class was challenging, but boy do I feel great now! All is very well. It's moments like these that keep my day interesting and I must say I'm very grateful for them!
Peace out my friends!
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