josh vs. yoga

today, for the first time ever, i took a yoga class. they were offering a demo class at work. based on the popularity of said class, they might be able to offer us a weekly yoga class for 12 weeks or so for a fee. up until this point, i never really thought much about yoga. i figured i wouldn't like it. it wouldn't be my sorta thing. i don't like being still. i wanna move and make noise. i'm restless and my idea of any sorta exercise that is health related is that it should involve me moving until i'm exhausted. but i put all my preconceived notions aside and decided to give it a shot. i figured the worst scenario would be that i don't like it and i'll never do yoga again and anytime someone says, "don't knock it till you try it," i can say, "i did."

but i kinda dug it. i don't think i'm any good at it, but i dug it. i think i'm clumsy and suck at trying to position my body into odd angles. but i did it. with every glance at my reflection in the mirror i was thinking to myself, "check out this awkward looking mofo right here.. he's gonna fall over. his face is beet red. it's gonna explode." bottom line, while doing it, i thought i sucked at it. but hey, that's okay. first time out, right? i'm not in this to go pro. so i stuck it out and when it was all said and done, i oddly felt really good. i couldn't put my finger as to the reason why. but it was there and i couldn't ignore it. there was something very relieving about what i had just done.

sure, there's some things i find weird about it. towards the end there was talk of letting go and good vibes and a weird prayer at the end that didn't seem to be directed at any god specifically but ended with, "namaste," a word i've never said and didn't start saying today (not trying to be a crank. but if i'm not of faithful heart, i shouldn't mock it by using it in an empty manner). all that stuff doesn't do much for me. sure i felt like some tension was relieved. but i think that came from crazy stretches, not anything in my brain or in the air or whatever.

so i'm not turning mystic here. i'm about two hours removed from the class now and all i feel is relaxed physically. i don't feel anything magical, mystical, or divine. i'm just feeling the benefits of an under stretched body getting stretched out. i don't think i'll be doing this anytime soon:




but it feels good enough that if they do offer a class for 12 weeks, i'm in. i'm not much of a stretcher but i think my body could definitely benefit from it.

so that's it yoga. i'm giving in. you win. just try not to be too weird.