Don't wrinkle your nose at me!!

Yoga. That's right I said it, YOGA! Don't wrinkle your nose at me over it. It is changing me in more ways than one. When I started this working out endeavour the days that were deemed as Yoga days I dreaded... I would even swap them out as rest days only to feel guilty and end up doing them on the weekends. Yoga, in my mind, was something weird, something only granola eating skinny chics with no muscle tone practiced. It had ohms and strange poses named after animals, that can't be right... Right? WRONG!!!

Yoga has been the most challenging and the most rewarding part of my workout. It does take up some time, which I know is a constraint for many. But the cool part about it is it will glaringly point out your weaknesses in three departments. First, you have to be strong to do Yoga. Holding some of those poses takes incredible upper body, lower body, and core strength. If you don't have that you can't do the poses, you fall down, whack your melon, bruise a hip, its ugly! Second, you have to be flexible to do this stuff. I'm getting more and more flexible all the time, thank goodness, because it makes the Yoga easier. I get muscle bound pretty fast when I lift weights, so maintaining flexibility is important, otherwise I can't tie my shoes, or raise my hands above my head, or reach far enough to slap someone silly. Finally, balance. This one is kinda awesome because it pertains not only to my physical balance, but my mental balance as well, which is always teetering like a table missing a leg. If you don't have some balance, once again, you will crash during Yoga, especially in half moon, or prayer twist, or royal dancer, haha, gotta love the Yoga names. But, if you do have physical balance but can't clear your mind while you are doing this stuff, you will crash anyways. If I am thinking about money, or being fat, or what that guy might be thinking, or work, or all of those at once, I can't hold crescent pose to save my life. So, when I am doing Yoga, all I think about is holding myself together, putting my energy into my hands, my stomach, my legs, where ever it is needed. Wild, right?

That is what Yoga is doing for me, its not making me crave granola or having me want to turn my hair to dread locks, nope, no less than once a week it makes me clear my mind and breathe, and sweat, and breathe, and sweat...