Yoga is HARD!

I never thought I would say that!

I always (naively) thought that yoga was chanting & putting your hands in the prayer position while standing on one leg or something, but wow - nope - it's an actual work out!

Last night was my third ever yoga class. The two others I have attended were in the last few weeks. Those two were fine. I was a bit sore afterwards, and I certainly wasn't as flexible as the regulars, but they were enjoyable classes.

Last night - oh my gosh - whole different story.

Because the class was an hour and a half rather than the normal hour I asked at the desk if the class would be at the same level as the others I had been to. She said yes (but I really don't think she knew - she was just guessing).

It started off tough from the word go, that darn 'downward dog'! After we did it for what felt like 100 times, I thought - I just can't take it anymore - I hate this dog! (it's a pose where you stick your bum up and have your hands and feet flat on the floor - kinda like a reverse bridge) Doesn't sound hard - I know - but try holding it for MANY minutes, then jumping up to standing, doing a few other things, then back to the dog - again - for many minutes.

After half an hour I was exhausted! I looked over to Murray and mouthed ' OH MY GOD ' he started laughing silently, then I did too, and had to look away so I wouldn't burst out laughing out loud.

After 45 minutes, one of the girls who's a regular in the easier classes we like snuck out and I looked after her with a very sad 'i want to leave toooooooooo' face. But I continued on.

We did one exercise where we had our arms wrapped around the back of our legs, and that was hard enough! Then I looked over at the girl next to me and she was doing a head stand. I looked over a few minutes later and she was doing a HAND STAND! WHAT? Oh my!

Then we finally got to the part where we balance on one leg, with the other tucked up and put our hands over our head. Felt so relaxing and easy compared to the rest of the class.

After an hour - I was looking at the clock every few minutes. In my head was the running commentary 'oh thank goodness - only 13 minutes left, only 5.5 minutes left, etc etc.'

After one hour and twenty five minutes - we had the last 5 minutes to relax. All you literally do is lie on the mat with your eyes closed. It feels like HOURS but is only 5 minutes, however by the end I was nearly asleep - very relaxing!

So overall, I will not be attending THAT particular class again. It was just too advanced. And oh oh oh am I SORE today! I do enjoy Yoga - but hour classes are enough thank you very much!

However I must say the very loud nose breather in the class kept me entertained. I never did figure out which girl it was, but it sounded like a mix between someone snoring and a dog growling softly. I almost started giggling a few times - sounded SO bizarre!

And yes - now I can say - Yoga is hard - it very much IS a workout - and that Tuesday night teacher - she frightens me! She is super duper fit (I couldn't believe some of the things she could do) but she was also super duper serious about the whole thing - scary! I'll stick to beginners classes from now on!