APerez_NYU

A different kind of lesson - Part II

(As I was getting ready to type this, I had to start wondering... what if nobody reads it? If you blog and nobody reads, does it still count as a blog? Or would I be better off just typing it within 'notepad'? )

D. and I went to the class last night. If you have ever taken a yoga class, then you will know that the day after a class you discover that there are muscles you did not know existed! If you've never taken a yoga class then allow me to try to explain.

The day after a class, the muscles that are close to your shoulder blades are probably going to hurt the most, that is because in some poses, you stretch them slightly more than you do in your day to day life. In other poses, you use all the muscles that surround your spine (or that run close to it), so it almos feels like your spine is sore, but it's really all in your muscles. In my case, I get to combine that with a slight soreness in my shoulders (an old shoulder injury always makes itself known) - all in all, I feel great!

The class itself was tough, I had to stop a couple of times during the class and just catch my breath (and stop my heart from running away!). The room was not as hot as in a Bikram class, but it was still over 100 degrees - you know it's a hot room when you walk in, and you're not doing anything (except sitting on the floor and breathing - like you normally do) and you start sweating. Throughout the class I discovered that it is true that you can sweat out of every square millimiter in your body - it was a fabulous experience.

We think we're going to do this once a week, D. is a runner, so this will help him stretch, I'm a couch potatoe, so this will help me use all my lost muscles.

Needless to say, I had to do something today, so I opted for twenty minutes of swimming. Don't worry, I won't bore any of you with the details. I will only tell you that it does wonders for sore shoulders, overstretched hamstrings and an awakened spine.

Namaste

posted by ap @ 4:36 PM