I had my husband rub some Ice Blue gel into my back and onto my thighs to try and preemptively relax the muscles before they got too sore (this stuff is similar to Icy Hot rubs, goes on cold, heats up to relax the muscles and relieve pain, but this one is awesome, and you run around smelling like a mint for the rest of the evening). I guess it must've worked. They still ached as I fell asleep, but I feel fine this morning. Perfect! More classes today!
So I did another Restorative-style Yoga and really, really enjoyed it. We did a lot of movement on the semi-inflated stability balls which helped to open up my lower and upper back, as well as my shoulders. There were a few of the movements that I struggled to move through. My muscles around my shoulder blades would just lock up and prevent me from fully completing the stretch. So I had to modify and try to ease out the lock. I can't even say it was a knot, because I can usually work out a knot with a bit of massaging and working through it. These were more like solid blocks. « You shall not pass. »
Still, the class was really, really good. I want to go back again next week.
I think at this point I'm going to be sad to go back to work in September because I won't be able to do the weekday daytime classes anymore and what's offered in the evening is extremely limited. I was really wishing I'd brought my phone with me (I'd left it at home) so I could put it to the side and record the session so I knew how to do the moves at home on my own. A lot of this stuff is really easy to do at home with the right equipment. You just have to build enough of a sense of what needs to be done, and I highly, highly recommend doing it in a class with a trained professional first so they can observe and help you make sure you are doing the stretches properly. There is no sense in training a muscle to do a certain movement when you have it wrong in the first place. This is why I like the instructors who go around the room and correct people as they work far better than the ones who sit at the front demonstrating and only cast a half-assed glance around the room. It's like there's an assumption that you know what you're doing so I don't need to correct you, versus an assumption that you're all newbies and I need to help you get it right. Now I know this is going to be very stereotypical, but so far I'm noticing it's the men who move around and correct, and the women who lead by example without really fixing you. Especially when I see that the corrections are often tiny little adjustments - there is no way that you can tell from the front of the room whether I'm in exactly the right position or no.
I was so impressed with the first male teacher I had (this was last Wednesday) that I spent the whole class thinking "this would be really good for my dad to do." He's getting up there (72) and has struggled with a sore back his whole adult life. He tries to stay in shape by walking, and wants to ride a bike, but I feel like Yoga would really be a good thing for him. Especially the Yoga Tune Ups I've been going to. But at $70/month that's a lot to pay for a retired person. (hell, that's a lot to pay for me too, especially when you don't use it for months on end). And if both my parents get a membership... yikes. They may have senior rates, but it's still pretty pricey. My mom would probably benefit too; she's always struggled with mobility - she attributes it to the fact that she walks funny because one leg is shorter than the other, but I think that's 2/3 excuse because she's a little too lazy to get active. She can spend an entire week at home without leaving the house or walking more than ambling from one room to another when she needs things. Sometimes my dad has to nag at her that she is coming out grocery shopping whether she likes it or not. After her surgery last month the doctors have told her she needs to get off her butt and start moving. This would be good. But way too expensive.
So the first male instructor had mentioned he teaches at a Yoga studio over on Bank street. Ok, that sounds pretty good. I've heard that Yoga studios you pay a flat monthly membership and can go to any classes you like. That might be a better plan for them.
It's even pricier than the gym membership. I mean there's a one-month trial for $40, but then the price jumps back up to over $100/month. They'd be further ahead to get the gym membership because at least then they could use the equipment or the pools, hot tub, and sauna if they felt like it. You need to really be into Yoga to have a membership there. I'm loving Yoga so far, but not that much - plus the studio is way the hell on the other side of town. I don't know why, but I really don't like driving on Bank Street. I used to live nearby, and for 6 or 7 years I worked at restaurants along Bank Street, but I still don't like driving it, especially as you head closer to downtown. It's just a weird thing I have, I guess.
So the Yoga studio is definitely out for them.
Buuut... as I was creeping the studio web site (it was easy to figure out I had the right one because they have photos and bios of all the instructors up on the page). It's interesting, I found the right guy, but the photo of the energetic, outgoing, and probably humorous guy on the website was very different from the guy teaching the class. I know it was the same person, but during the class he seemed either very bored like he hates teaching this class, or very stressed like he was dealing with some major personal issue (you could tell through body language by the way he kept putting his face in his hands and pulling his hair back while sitting crouched against the wall and observing). Curious to see which one shows up to next Wednesday's class... I'm really happy that we're leaving for vacation on the Thursday and coming back on the Tuesday. I won't have to miss any weeks of the Wednesday back-to-back classes. Yay!
As I was saying... as I was creeping the web site, I found this link to learning to become a Yoga instructor. I know! Chill the fuck out princess, you've been to three yoga classes and you can't hold your balance worth anything. But still, it seemed really interesting. Mainly because it was a 17-day 200 HR, come learn to be a Yoga instructor in Costa Rica or wherever the heck it was. It looked (from the photos) and sounded amazing. It's in November. Clearly I'm not going to be ready-to-be-a-teacher between now and November, nor am I going to have the $5200 + flight saved up by then, (plus trying to coordinate taking that time off as a teacher would be a nightmare) but it's a goal for next year, or maybe the year after, or the one after that... Maybe I should run this one by my husband first... We could probably all go to Costa Rica for a week for that price. Then I could have sex & margaritas on the beach instead of learning to do stretches on the beach. (ummm.. right, kids).
But now it's really got me thinking about Yoga, and really thinking about becoming dedicated to learning how to do it properly. I don't imagine I'm ever going to quit my job as a high school teacher to become a Yoga instructor, but there's no harm in learning how to do it and maybe teaching an evening class here or there.
Yeah... I guess there's not really much point in learning to be an instructor...
But doing it in Costa Rica would be amazing.
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