Yoga - my 1st time EVER!

I have been purposely avoiding yoga for a couple of years now, not because I was scared but because I didn’t look at it as a workout. Why would anyone want to waste an hour of their time lying on a mat doing a position called “downward dog”? To me, Yoga was for the birds! My hatred towards the class might have also done something with a little thing called patience. Patience is something that I have never been good at, I don’t care if it is waiting for a microwave dinner to heat up or if it is waiting 9 months to have a child… I DO NOT HAVE PATIENCE! Yoga and patience goes hand in hand and how on earth could I do something that I didn’t have the right “equipment” for? So long story short, I have avoided at all cost.

               Then I met 2 women who would change my entire state of mind about the class, Brittanie Bailey and Mandy Campbell. Brittanie does Bikrims Yoga where you are in a room that is like a sauna and you do yoga… hahaha yeah okay! When she first told me about this class, I looked at her like she was smoking crack! Add to the list of things I don’t like, HEAT! I love the summer and the hot sun beating down on me but ONLY because I can get in the pool or go inside if I get too hot. Why would anyone in their right mind do yoga in the hot, voluntarily? I have brushed Brittanie off so many times and that is where Mandy comes into play. Mandy is a crazy amazing woman who has studied yoga in Hawaii. She would just do yoga on the beach all day and that was her life! To me, it is so odd that someone can dedicate their entire being to yoga. Mandy started talking to me (we sit next together at work, so we talk a lot) about her love for the art of yoga and all the good benefits it has for you. After months of listening to Mandy and brushing off invites from Brittanie, I decided that why not try it… If I don’t like it, I don’t have to go back. I had agreed to go with Brittanie to Bikrims Yoga (yes I am crazy) but life got in the way and we haven’t gone, YET! Since our company has been so gracious to give us memberships to the local gym downtown, I decided that I will take a yoga class in the morning before work.

               My 1^st yoga experience: I went in with an open mind. I tried every pose and if I couldn’t do something I modified it to where it was easier for me but still was a challenge. I won’t lie, I was a major clock watcher but I did make it the whole hour without giving up. I have had a lot on my mind, a lot I needed to pray about and just talk to God about. So for the whole hour, I devoted my time to God and I relaxed and started talking (not out allowed of course)! It was a great class and I will probably go back every Thursday that I can. I encourage you to try something that you have once said you will NEVER do and always remember… Never say never!

               Oh P.S. – At the very end of class we were sitting on our mats and the guy in front of me farted twice really loud… I was warned about this but I am a 6 year old boy when it comes to farts and I can’t help but laugh! So here I am with the guy in front of me just finishing up his farts and I am holding back laughter because no one else in the class acknowledged it at all… I think that had to have been the funniest part of the whole class! HAHA!!!