My First Yoga Experience

When I talk to people about yoga, I usually get one of two reactions. It's either “Oh! I love yoga! It's so peaceful. Namaste!” Or “Oh, yoga. That's for sissies and hippies.”

Never once did I encounter the “Yoga is an exercise that will totally kick your butt” reaction. So, imagine my surprise upon trying yoga for the first time at The Spinning Yogi, that I found my butt had been completely kicked.

See, I had never envisioned yoga as a workout. To me, a workout was lifting a lot of heavy objects, or running into infinity on a moving track. There had to be grunting, it had to smell like sweat, and there had to be bad 80's music playing in the background. Mostly, however, there had to be that guy who was far more muscular than I am, who—although the gym was pretty much empty—decided to work out right next to me.

As you may have guessed, I don't enjoy going to the gym very much.

Yoga, however, was a completely different experience. The instructor was really nice, and had a noticable peacefulness about her. The room smelled good.  The people in the class with me seemed genuinely happy to be there. They were laughing. They seemed eager to speak to me. I even had one lady inform me (with just a touch of jubilation) that if I took my socks off I would probably fall down less. The whole experience was brilliant.

The best part is that I was genuinely tired afterwards. I felt like I had just been through a three-hour gym workout, and most of the muscles that were sore the next day were muscles I didn't even know I had.

The moral, I suppose, is don't ever, be afraid to try new things. I was apprehensive to try yoga, but in the end I finally found a workout that I really enjoy. I definitely plan on going back, and I may eventually even get to the point where I see yoga as being a peaceful meditation instead of a near-fatal workout.

Namaste!

FeelGoodNow Contributor: Frazer Lockhart

Few people have ever actually seen Frazer's face because it is usually buried behind a camera. When he isn't filming for FeelGoodNow, he is usually working on his own documentaries (although he does make it a point to take regular hiking and skiing breaks). He has an insatiable case of wanderlust and an incredible capacity for lattés. 


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