A New Find

I had my first yoga class last night. My cousin invited this yoga instructor to his house so that we could have a more personal slash one-on-one class with him. Since I have not been getting enough exercise, I decided to join in and give it a try. With the dimmed lights and slow music playing in the background, I thought I would fall asleep. But surprisingly, I enjoyed doing all the breathing and stretching exercises even if I wasn’t able to do some of it properly. I did not feel an entire hour has passed by at all.

Our yoga instructor’s name is Herman who incidentally is a German. How apt, meet Herman the German. He has been a practicing yogi for almost 20 years. He has lived in India and Boracay for a couple of years already before finally settling in Manila for a good solid 6 years now. I think he’s the real deal. He IS passionate about yoga. He even took the time to introduce yoga to us prior to the actual class itself. All the positions had an explanation as well. We did Hatha Yoga, which is supposed to be good for exercising, stretching, and freeing the body. I liked the Sun position the most. It’s where you start from the ground and slowly stretch out with arms reaching out to the sky and slowly widening them apart until they reach down to the ground again…never mind, I won’t bother explaining it in words. I don’t think I made sense anyway.

I’m not sure though if I’m into these spiritual meditation/reflection stuff. Yoga requires a lot of concentration and I’m no good at it. My mind usually wanders off easily. When I’m supposed to be ‘flying into the sky’ as what yoga master Herman instructs, I’m thinking ‘what will I eat later?’ Hehe Then yoga requires lots of flexibility and I’m no good at it either. I can’t even stand on one leg, which is already so simple to do. And even if I do stand up on one leg, it’s only for a few seconds.

We’re planning to make this yoga a twice-a-week thing. I don’t know if this current hobby is going to last long. I’m not giving up on yoga just yet. I think it could provide a lot of benefits. It’s supposed to make you clear-minded and fill your body with vitality. I also heard yoga could help you grow taller with all the stretching that you do. So I guess it’s going to be all breathing and stretching for now. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Aahhmmnn…