What rhymes with Yoga? Besides toga...

I've been meaning to try yoga for a very long time, thanks to the rave reviews given by several friends. Since the Kinsmen Rec Center was offering free admission (and drop-in classes) last night, I finally stopped procrastinating and actually went. My friend Sophie, a kind and understanding person and yoga veteran, took me with her, showed me around the place and explained about wooden blocks, foam pieces and straps.

I normally hate the beginning of any new physical activity. Particularly public activities where you can compare your performance with the people around you. Yoga was no exception: I am not a very graceful or coordinated person, sadly. Happily for my ego, neither were several of the people around me. I learned that I'm actually fairly flexible and can touch my toes and grab my feet in positions where this is not a given and other people needed straps. However, my balance is in need of work - I wobbled and wiggled all through the stand-on-one-leg poses, and my strength is pitiful.

I also need to learn what the heck the instructor is talking about in her directions. Some of them are easy enough to understand -- push your thighs into the floor or point your arm at the back wall -- but others never made sense to me. How does one soften one's throat? Or put pressure on the base of one's big toe AND the outside heel at the same time? Sophie mentioned that this instructor is perhaps not as helpful as some of the others who use more analogies and go around giving specific directions to each person. Since I sometimes have board meetings on Thursday nights, I may try the Sunday and Tuesday classes and see if those instructor are easier to follow.

Overall, the experience was fairly positive and I want to keep doing it.