Nice and Slow

Thursday’s Yoga and Meditation (5/06/10)

I see that I am three days behind in my work-out posts, but that’s okay.  My memory isn’t so decrepit that I can’t remember what happened three days ago.  Wait, what were we talking about?

With all the biking and running that I’ve been doing, I feel like yoga is essential to stretch out my back and my legs.  The two places where I really feel the soreness from working out are my lower back and my hamstrings.  A few years ago, when I was doing my teaching assignment in graduate school, I taught two biology lab sections on back-to-back days.  After running around the teaching lab for three hours straight, I would go home, bend over and touch my toes, and just hang there.  It felt so good—my hamstrings stretching, my back relaxing after being upright all day.  I’m tempted to think that I do yoga just for my back.

Before yoga, I was not feeling so great.  All day I had been nursing a headache and I was in the worst mood.  I also suspected I might be getting sick, and today I’m still suspicious that my body might be fighting something.  It’s hard to tell if you don’t develop more severe symptoms—is it just crankiness or boredom or is it something more serious?

Given my fragile state, I did a very easy yoga routine from yogadownload.com: Lunar Flow.  It was nice and slow, a good choice.  I think this class is better for relaxation than the strength or flexibility benefits one can get from yoga classes.  It’s wonderful to have so many yoga options, from the very challenging Yoga for Strength to soothing Hatha Yoga to the flowing Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga.  I love them all.

After Lunar Flow, I splurged a tiny bit and bought a 99-cent session of Relaxing Meditation.  This class uses repetition of deep breathing exercises to calm the mind and the body.  It worked for me: I came out of the meditation feeling very relaxed!  It’s hard for me to relax, so I’m willing to spend a little money on things that help me to relax.  If I’m spending money on something, I feel like I have to get my money’s worth, so a meditation class is perfect for me!  I’m looking forward to trying more of their classes for yoga and meditation.