That's Fit

A few days ago, a friend of mine asked me if yoga was fun, and it got me thinking. I've been doing yoga regularly for about three years now. But don't know if I would call it fun ...

Flash back to my first yoga experience. I signed up for a 4-month, once-a-week yoga class at my gym. Most of my classmates were either middle-aged or a senior while I was a spry 20-something. For this reason, my first class was pretty mortifying -- I was the youngest in the class and yet I was the one who couldn't hold the poses. Downward dog was tedious, painful even. I couldn't touch my toes. I felt like I had the body of an 80 year old.

And for the next few months, the classes only got marginally better.I wouldn't say I dreaded each upcoming class, but I didn't look forward to dragging myself down there every Monday night. I think I'm the only person I know who didn't instantly love yoga, but at the time wasn't very flexible and I didn't have a whole lot of strength so holding the poses was like a gentler form of torture. Nonetheless, I went week after week, each time contemplating whether I would keep it up after the last class.

But fate made up it's mind for me, and when the last class came, I suddenly discovered that I could touch my toes while standing. It sounds like such an easy thing to do, but I'd been inflexible all my life and hadn't touched my toes from a standing position since I was a toddler. I was amazed, and shocked. And it was then that I knew that I had to keep going to see how far I could go with this.

Now, years later, I'm still always challenged by yoga. There are lots of poses I've mastered, and lots I haven't (yet!). And you know what? I've started looking forward to it. Sure, downward dog is still a bit of a pain, but the stillness of mind and the energy I get from yoga makes it worth it.

Back to my friend's question. I told her this: I'm not sure if I would call it fun, but my life is definitely better because of it.

And it's true.