I love yoga. That said, I’ve never been a regular at a yoga class. I’ve taken plenty of classes over the years, but kind of sporadically. I describe myself as fairly flexible…for a runner. But today I went to a pretty advanced class at Kula Yoga in TriBeCa, with my friend Jenny, who is probably the most crazy flexible person I know. Jenny’s a dancer, and a yoga instructor. This is the second time I’ve taken this class with her, and it wasn’t any less intimidating. To convince me the first time around, she explained to me that she thinks the teacher is awesome, and it was a “really great, really hard” class. If Jenny thinks it’s hard, I know I’m in trouble, but she said I’d love it, and I trust her.
The first time we went together, it was hard (I was sweating like crazy halfway through), but I felt like I held my own pretty well. I know I can’t do the ridiculously amazing poses that require intense balance and concentration, so I always opt for the modified version on offer. I thought it would be intimidating to be next to my friend who is so much more advanced than me, but it was kind of reassuring – every time I looked over at her, I would think, ‘Well, if she looks so comfortable and in perfect form, then I probably look somewhat comfortable and in pretty good form.‘ I know it sounds like damning myself with faint praise, but it was oddly encouraging for me!
This time around, it was more packed than usual, I was running a little late, and found myself right up in the front row, no friend by my side (Jenny was also late and ended up way in the back). I was SO out of my comfort zone. All the other people in the room just looked like yogis, you know? Like they do it every single day (and I’m sure some of them do!). But I just began, and focused on my breathing, and tried to forget everyone around me, which was made much easier by not having anyone in my line of sight. (Although, because the instructor mainly used sanskrit names for the poses, I had to use peripheral vision a lot: ‘She wants me to do what now?’ [quick glance around] ‘Oh, downward dog, got it!’). I feel like I got a great workout, loosened up a bit from a couple of hard workouts this week, and even managed to relax and enjoy the poses.
We’re going to try to do that class together every week, and I feel like next time I go I won’t feel like such of fish out of water. It’s funny, I can walk into any gym and feel right at home with weights, but I know lots of my clients have said that feels really intimidating for them.
Have you ever tried something even though you felt intimidated, or out of your comfort zone? Was it as scary as you worked it up to be?
It’s not the weights that are intimidating, it’s the guys who are always there with the heavy dumb bells that put me off.
I hear you! But honestly most of those guys just *look* intimidating. Just plug your iPod in and do your thing! 🙂
It’s only because we were on opposite sides of the room that you couldn’t see me sweating like a pig too!! You’re amazing 🙂