Ahh, yoga. The meditative activity that only a few people would describe as such. Others don't know what yoga is. Actual yogis would probably call it something else. From what I'd heard from Keltie O'Connor's YouTube video, it's a practice that helps you accept and appreciate your body.
Which sounded quite good to me, because I've gained some weight lately (due to trying to learn to eat intuitively) and instead of respecting my body and admiring its abilities, I've felt uncomfortable and gross.
So I took up yoga - the 30-day Home yoga challenge on Yoga With Adriene's YouTube channel. I've so far completed sessions 0 to 6 and three things are already certain:
- Yoga helps me let go of anguish over things I can't change.
- I'm starting to embrace my new curves, even if I still don't feel completely comfortable in my body.
- If and when I manage to finish the entire 30 days, I'll have Iron Man abs.
But before I sound too much like I think yoga will cure the coronavirus, let's clarify a few things. First, the first session was freaking hard. My sinuses were blocked so that I couldn't breathe through the nose and Adriene's voice, telling me I'm not alone in my struggle, made me cry hysterically. Second, I still sometimes dread getting down on the mat because I fear the 20-something minutes will feel like an hour and I can't get to the flow. And thirdly, during session number 6 today, there was this movement of going down from a boat pose and back up and back down again - and it was beyond my ability, so I did it rather half-assedly. (Reading the comments I realized it was beyond others as well.) Perhaps I can do the routine after I get those abs.
Cons? Regular feeling of inadequacy and fear. Pros? Mental calmness and my body's growing abilities.
So no coronavirus cure. But maybe world peace?
RK
