Yoga - Day 1 & 2

A new yoga studio opened up close to home. In addition to their grand opening, a Groupon was offered a few days before. I've always wanted to get into yoga, but knew from past experience, it's freakin' hard! I've done a few P90x yoga sessions in the past - which almost turned me off because it was so hard - but I had always heard of the benefits it can offer. I am not flexible at all, so if I could improve that, bonus. I've heard it can improve all other areas of fitness because it improves your stamina. And if I could master the various poses, then maybe it would offer stress relief and meditation.

So, I bought the Groupon and went to their grand opening in which they offered every class for free that day. To my surprise, they also offered a free week of yoga classes to everyone to came to the grand opening. Score! They didn't offer the beginners 101 class that day, so I went to Power 1. Thank goodness I remembered some of the P90x yoga DVD because she was calling all these poses with little instruction. Surprisingly, I did pretty well. I nailed the balancing stuff, but it was definitely intense and I was sweatin' up a storm. I finished up my workout with a wheat grass shot and a free smoothie from a juice shop a few stores over. I felt awaken, stretched to holy hell, and ready to start the rest of the day.

Later that night and the next few days, I felt satisfyingly sore. My abs were sore from the crunches, thighs were slightly sore, but my shoulders and back were the most sore. All from holding poses and planks. I felt like I got a good workout in and removed some toxins.

Day 2 - I wasn't able to make the night class last night, so instead I got up early to go to the 6am class. I have never gotten up that early for any workout, so that's sayin' something. The nice thing about yoga is it relaxes you, so it's not a harsh shock to your body when you begin before the sun does. That's the only reason I could do it, otherwise I HATE working out in the morning. I enjoyed another workout and left refreshed and awaken to start my day.

Any immediate results? I do feel a little more relaxed sitting at my desk. I think I even feel a little more alert. For women, I think yoga is also great to get away, clear your mind, and just relax. We think 24/7, so it's nice to just turn off our brain for an hour. For men, it might be the most challenging thing you've ever tried - at least that's what my husband said. Men generally are not flexible, especially the body builders. But if you can overcome the first few classes, I think you'll start to enjoy the challenge.

I did a quick Google search for additional benefits yoga can offer. Turns out it can lead to a steamier sex life too! ;-)

7 Life-Improving Benefits of Yoga