Last night after a strenuous workout I decided to attend a relaxation yoga class to end the day right.Only...it ended up not being so relaxing, after all.
Attendance was minimal, probably because of the weather, and most of the people in class were new to the practice of yoga.
My initial concern was that the instructor would, in turn, make the class easier. But luckily for me she held a normal flow class with modified poses for the newbies.
As soon as I realized this, I proceeded as I normally would and even increased the intensity from time to time.
(Editors note: that's the great thing about yoga, you can make it as intense and challenging as you want it. Not that you care.)
Throughout the class I noticed the woman next to me keeping pace with my motions.
Upon further inspection she was a 50-something, frail looking woman, who had apparently been practicing yoga for longer than I've been alive. And this was something she was dying to prove to me.
To test this theory I went above and beyond in a couple of balance poses - and when she followed my lead and subsequently fell out of these poses I was thoroughly satisfied. Not only was I spot on that she was competing with me, but I totally beat her out in the balance category.
Point Ashley.
Then we moved on to a couple strength moves. I dominated.The end of class was focused on flexibility. Not my strong suit. But of course I pushed my hamstrings until they were screaming at me - willing them to stretch just an inch farther. You best believe she took notice of this, too, as she proceeded to fold in half on top of herself, and make it look easy.
Flexibility FAIL.
At the point I wanted to lean in and let her know that "hey lady, I'm a runner, my hamstrings just don't do that."
But of course, after savasana [corpse pose = relaxation, for all you non-yogis], I was all zen and stuff and didn't give a crap.
Honestly, I'm thankful for my competitor last night. She helped me push myself in a class that I otherwise may have taken the easy route through.
Cheers to you, lady. Cheers!
-A
7 comments:
lol, I love it. I totally do that too, but usually I'm the FAIL. Oh well, it definitely makes you push yourself more when you can see other people who have been doing yoga for much longer than you but you can do better at some positions than them.
Competitive yoga?
Make that an olympic sport.
jennie - it's definitely a drive toward improvement.
so@24 - can we? that's be great!
haha..too funny! i'm such the competitive type in group workout classes. except maybe i'm not competing as much as trying not to look like the person who is out of shape and can't cut it! but whatev, the motivation is still there and it pushes you harder which is great! (unless you have a heart attack or something...)
btw, thanks for offering to help me out in Chicago. i will gladly take you up on your offer and will send you an email in the next few days to discuss.
Well done. I want to start doing yoga so badly but they switched the classes on me after I signed up for the gym!
haha, these people make me crazy. but in a good way, i guess.
cc - yeah, definitely don't want to be the guy who doesn't know what he's doing.
susan - it's amazing! I'm not the same person when not practicing.
molly - it can be irritating, but usually makes me push myself for sure.
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