Channeling my inner yogi

My friend invited me to go to yoga with her the other night.  This is all fine and dandy except it was only my second yoga class ever, I don’t consider myself much of a “zen” person, and my first thought when someone mentions yoga is the movie Jacka**.  I don’t mean to offend any yogi out there, I’m just not sure it’s for me.  Am I sore from it?  Absolutely.  Did I use muscles I didn’t know existed?  Um, heck yeah.  Did I almost fall asleep during the meditation part because I was so relaxed?  You bet.  But the verdict is still out (for me) on whether I liked it or not.  Let me explain.

I love going to the gym.  I’m not an athletic girl. I don’t look the part.  As a child I was lanky, not curvy ever (aka flat), a bit dainty, and not good at any and all sports I tried. 

Now as an adult and mom of two boys with a husband who is very much a “guy’s guy” I’ve changed a bit.  I want to not only look strong, but realize that when I feel physically stronger, I also feel mentally stronger.  Maybe it’s that whole endorphins thing, but I like to run until I drip sweat, lift weights and get stronger.  I hate it when I’m doing it, but afterwards I’m on a bit of a natural high.  (And maybe it helps that I can put the kids in the day care and get one to two hours to myself!).

I will never be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness, nor do I ever want to be.  That’s not the look I’m going for.  And considering my small frame, I don’t think that’s even possible without a little boost, if you know what I mean.  But I want definition in my arms and legs….oh and abs…oh and my shoulders too…wait, can’t forget my back.  Well heck, I want definition everywhere except my nose.

Now hard core yogis will argue that I can get all that and a bag of chips if I did yoga regularly.  And I truly believe them based on the class I took last night.  But something about being barefoot at the gym, meditating and listening to “om” music isn’t the way I imagine myself going about it.  That’s not to say I couldn’t get use to it.  I’m a creature of habit and this was definitely out of my habit, so it’s possible a year from  now I may still be going  strong with yoga and loving it.  But for now I’m not gung ho.  When the instructor started talking about focusing on your third eye, I really thought she was talking about the zit on my forehead and that she had some magical cure to make it go away.  Instead it was some sort of yogi talk that I just couldn’t embrace. 

Wikipedia:  “The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring in part to the ajna (brow) chakra in certain spiritual traditions. It is also spoken of as the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness.”

Yeah, not feelin’ it at all.  But…I haven’t written it off completely.  Classes are part of my gym membership so I don’t mind continuing to try it.  Maybe there’s another type of yoga I would enjoy more.   I believe the class I took was Hatha Yoga, or the more classic form of yoga.  There’s also Bikram or hot yoga.  And power yoga, which is more athletic (I bet I would like this one).

Any yoga fans out there want to chime in?