I Tried A Yoga Class For The First Time

 Yoga is nothing new to me. I've been watching youtube videos and doing it at home for years now, probably since the beginning of high school. I was never consistent with it so I still can't do the splits or other crazy stretches. I only recently became capable of touching my toes without bending my knees... I mainly did it when I wanted to feel active. There were periods when it became an essential part of my day-to-day routine, but it honestly never stuck the way I wanted it to.

I either didn't have enough room, my family was always around to distract me, or It was hard to find videos that weren't total beginner but weren't too advanced either. Tbh just a bunch of excuses. 

One of my goals for 2023 was to try a class. Take a lesson for something. So I finally did it. I went to an actual yoga class.

My city actually hosts a very wide range of activities and lessons at their multiple rec centers. Ice skating, swimming, fitness, cooking, art, pottery, and of course yoga. They're all relatively cheap too. An average in-person yoga lesson will cost you anywhere from $15-50 depending on the studio and instructor. I got my hour-long lesson for the sweet deal of $8!!! I mean, the instructor did not seem like a professional yogi, but she got the job done.

I was pretty nervous the day of and did not know what to expect. I mean it's yoga which usually coincides with a calm and accepting environment but my anxiety always gets the best of me. I tend to overthink before I enter new environments or meet new people. I'm not always super comfortable with change. This is something I am trying to work on throughout this year, hence why taking a lesson in something new was on my goals list. I want to force myself to try new things because I know that 9/10 times once I get past my anxiety, I'll actually enjoy it. I don't want to let my anxiety control me anymore.

We arrived just as it was starting so we got a spot at the back (my preferred spot anyways, I hate having people behind me). The first half was super basic yoga moves, mainly standing, but they got a really good stretch in. The second half was focused on the floor which was a tad bit harder for me. My legs are naturally long for my height so I've always had a tough time with things like touching my toes or seated forward fold. There were a lot of forward folds. Like I swear we did at least 20 minutes of just different variations of forward folds. seated forward, seated to the left, to the right, standing. In the long run, it will help my flexibility but in the moment I was not loving it. 

I felt pretty comfortable with not being able to do a lot of the moves fully because a lot of others couldn't either. Everyone else there besides me and my friend was adults, most in their 30s-40s.  I think for a lot of them it was one of their first times doing yoga as most seemed pretty new. It was nice though. I always hate learning something while being surrounded by a bunch of people who already know it. It just makes me even more anxious than I probably already am. I prefer to learn around people who are also beginners, or around the same level as me. 

I felt super relaxed afterward, and proud! I actually did it. I said I was going to and I did. It felt good to follow through on something. Far too often I find both those around me and unfortunately myself saying things like "I should do this" "we should go here" but then never actually following through on those shoulds. Instead, I want to start replacing "should" with "will". I will travel this year. I will sign up for riding lessons. I will finally buy matcha to make a drink myself instead of spending $8 on one every few days.

Question: do you enjoy the soreness the day after a good workout?? I enjoy the soreness as it's a reminder that I had a good session and it makes me feel accomplished. My sides were so sore the day after this yoga lesson from the 20 side bends we did. 

Here is to challenging our anxiety and our fears and to truly living. I hope you all are working through your goals lists too :)

Mckenna<3