I used to hate yoga but now I like it.
That sentence right there is one that I thought I’d never write. Ever. When I was a Freshman in high school my mom made me take a yoga class with her. She said it would relieve my stresses and anxieties. I rolled my eyes (mostly because the only thing stressing me out was passing my crush in the hallways and not knowing where to make my eyes go), but I went to the class. For her. Not for me. And that is exactly why I think I hated it. I wasn’t doing it for myself. Ok, I also hated it because, for some reason, when I take any type of exercise class with my mom the instructor, without fail, picks on me. One time my mom almost had to leave a Zumba class because she was laughing so hard AT me and my interactions with the teacher. It’s bad.
But anyways, I think I didn’t like yoga because the first few times I went I did it for my mom and not for myself. Which makes an unbelievable difference. It’s like when someone tells you to eat brussel sprouts because you have to. They’re gross when forced. But if you’re at a fun restaurant and you try them, you’re happily surprised.
Yoga, to me, is metaphorically the vegetable of workouts. Something you hate when you’re younger but then like when you’re older.
So a few weeks ago, my cousin mentioned that I should join her for a yoga class called “fun flow.” She said the instructor was super nice, people in the class were probably around my level, and the music was fun. She convinced me. And you know what? I liked it. Wait, no, I like-liked it.
Crazy. Wild. Insane, some might say.
I finally understand why people are addicted to it. It’s challenging, but there are moments of serenity and calmness. You learn how to listen to your body and feel your breaths. You meditate, but only as much as you want or need to. It’s hard, but if it’s too hard you can simply make adjustments to make it easier. It’s finding the balance of what your body wants and what it needs, which I guess I was incapable of accomplishing when I was 14.
So yeah, now I like yoga. I’m still not sure I’ll ever do a workout class with my mom again, but I’ll definitely give yoga a new ranking on my fake scale of “likes.”
namaste,
chloe