Becoming a Yogi

For years, I've been a perpetual yoga "trier". I try, and I try, and no matter what I do....I still hate it (evidenced well in this post from August of last year when I actually left a yoga class because I hated it so much). So a few weeks back, my husband cringed when I said, "I'm going to yoga tomorrow." My dear husband sat patiently waiting for me to come home, cry a bit about how much it sucked, and lament about how I was never going to purchase a Living Social deal for a yoga studio again! But alas, a smiling happy wife walked in the door that day and exclaimed, "I LOVE YOGA!" (Mind you, this was after I called my mother-in-law, the most dedicated yogi I know, to tell her how much I love yoga. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.)

So then I did what any good overachiever would do....I signed up for a two day hot yoga class (yup, when I'd only done yoga twice...I signed up for 14 hours in a 90 degree room). Despite the big bowl of crazy that choice was, it was a fabulous choice. While I had to modify many many poses and wanted to jump out a window during downward dog about a hundred times, overall, I learned an extraordinary amount about myself, and a little bit about yoga, too.

Last week yielded no yoga for me, as I was bombarded with issues at work. But last night, I returned and was, I'll admit, a little nervous. Would I still like this? What if the old "I hate yoga" girl came back? But she didn't. In fact, I felt strong, capable, and poised (except in balancing poses, when I mostly just laugh and fall over). I was happy, and for the first time, didn't hate downward dog so much.

And my biggest accomplishment - I "flipped my dog", a pose that during my first few classes, I rolled my eyes at. But last night, I did it! For those who don't know  much about yoga, examples below of:

Downward Dog

 and the (new favorite pose), coming out of downward dog

The Flipped Dog

I was so happy when I left yoga last night, I spent most of the evening jumping and dancing around the kitchen - happier than I'd been in weeks, forgetting about the crap at work, forgetting about my 7am phone call, cooking, hanging out with my husband, etc. I didn't even turn on the TV last night to relax into the Kardashians. I had already found my zen state.

Who knew? I could become.....a yogi?