NewlyNested: The Reluctant Yogi
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a blogumn by Debra Goykhman
After being injured in a car accident I began a long road to recovering from a very annoying case of whiplash. I did physical therapy for several months. Eventually I was told the time had come to heal on my own when I was brought to the state of just slight irritating neck issues. My doctor suggested that it was time to put some resistance, swimming and yoga into my life.
As my friends knew, I was not a fan of yoga. We would go every Tuesday night together in my hometown and afterwards I would complain about how much I hated child’s pose. Therefore, yoga wasn’t something I was looking forward to introducing into my life again. Still, I joined my local gym and began to take a highly recommended class called heated yoga.
Heated yoga comes out of the Bikram school of thought, which is also featured in this month’s Shape magazine. The class consisted of yoga poses held for at least a minute in a 90-degree room. My husband tells me it is the description of torture, but it ended up being the kind of yoga that I liked. I was a little weary when I first went to class and entered the thick, piping hot room, but my instructor assured me that in a few moments my muscles would feel so relaxed that I would really need to pay attention more carefully to my body.
90-minutes and several poses (that I didn’t think was humanly possible) later, I felt like my shoulders had just gotten a deep tissue massage. I realize yoga isn’t for everyone, but this child’s-pose-hating girl found a type that she liked.
Therefore, I say try to explore something that you might not think you’d like. It might just “open your warm heart center like a blossoming flower,” as my instructor would say.
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Child's Pose is neither here nor there for me, but some people really love it — probably the contrast between the rest and the hard work they've just been doing.
But, apparently, it's more than just a rest. Aside from being a counter-stretch for stuff like Wheel and Bridge, I read on a yoga blog a while back that it shuts off the sympathetic nervous system. So, if there's a child (or adult) spazzing out, Child's Pose can allegedly calm them down in a hurry. Unless that person is you, then I guess it wouldn't work.
Child's Pose is neither here nor there for me, but some people really love it — probably the contrast between the rest and the hard work they've just been doing.
But, apparently, it's more than just a rest. Aside from being a counter-stretch for stuff like Wheel and Bridge, I read on a yoga blog a while back that it shuts off the sympathetic nervous system. So, if there's a child (or adult) spazzing out, Child's Pose can allegedly calm them down in a hurry. Unless that person is you, then I guess it wouldn't work.
That's really interesting…perhaps I'll give it another shot. Thanks for the info.
That's really interesting…perhaps I'll give it another shot. Thanks for the info.
I've thought about trying Bikram before — it's so huge in LA — but I always thought that it would be too uncomfortable. But I like the idea of getting a deep tissue massage and a workout at the same time. I'll put it on the list of things to try after the baby.
Child's Pose is my absolute favorite — especially now that I'm pregnant. I'm not surprised that it actually has a physiological calming effect. Nice.
I've thought about trying Bikram before — it's so huge in LA — but I always thought that it would be too uncomfortable. But I like the idea of getting a deep tissue massage and a workout at the same time. I'll put it on the list of things to try after the baby.
Child's Pose is my absolute favorite — especially now that I'm pregnant. I'm not surprised that it actually has a physiological calming effect. Nice.
I have always wanted to try yoga, but at the same time have been very weary when talking to my friends who actually take yoga classes. I guess the main issue is I am not sure I am capable of "relaxing" enough to take a yoga class.
I have always wanted to try yoga, but at the same time have been very weary when talking to my friends who actually take yoga classes. I guess the main issue is I am not sure I am capable of "relaxing" enough to take a yoga class.
I had that fear, too, but it's been my experience that yoga is still pretty relaxing even if your mind is racing the entire time. I find myself coming up with a lot of solutions for plot and IRL problems when I'm in class.
Also keep in mind that everyone's yoga practice is their own. You don't have to be perfectly zen and thinking of nothing while you're doing yoga. Yoga nazis — the ones who insist that you need to do yoga in some correct, thought-free, body-concious way — drive me crazy. Not everyone relaxes in the same way, and my advise would be to make your yoga practice your own.
I had the same fear as you, but I just signed up for a beginning class and I went from there. I am the least flexible person in the history of ever and you know how neurotic I can get. But I found yoga surprisingly easy and really beneficial. Trust, if I can do it, anybody can.
I had that fear, too, but it's been my experience that yoga is still pretty relaxing even if your mind is racing the entire time. I find myself coming up with a lot of solutions for plot and IRL problems when I'm in class.
Also keep in mind that everyone's yoga practice is their own. You don't have to be perfectly zen and thinking of nothing while you're doing yoga. Yoga nazis — the ones who insist that you need to do yoga in some correct, thought-free, body-concious way — drive me crazy. Not everyone relaxes in the same way, and my advise would be to make your yoga practice your own.
I had the same fear as you, but I just signed up for a beginning class and I went from there. I am the least flexible person in the history of ever and you know how neurotic I can get. But I found yoga surprisingly easy and really beneficial. Trust, if I can do it, anybody can.
A creative writing teacher gave me some advice for my racing mind. Just think, "okay, so I'm thinking," to break your thought. You might have to do it many many times, but you'd be surprised just how much the knowledge of a racing mind can begin the relaxation process.
A creative writing teacher gave me some advice for my racing mind. Just think, "okay, so I'm thinking," to break your thought. You might have to do it many many times, but you'd be surprised just how much the knowledge of a racing mind can begin the relaxation process.