Yoga A.K.A. Human Pretzel Exercises

Is yoga supposed to make one feel like she has been run over by a truck? And not just any truck either a big, honking Mack truck? I ask because when I got up this morning (well not just got up...I after several tries, slowly lifted my aching body from the mattress), I felt like my body had been twisted into weird positions and beaten during the night.

I, along with Denise Austin and some other ladies in the background of the exercise video that are never acknowledged, did yoga yesterday. Not the kind of yoga that according to Wikipedia, "is an Indian spiritual path aimed at achieving the union with the Supreme Consciousness." I don't believe in a "Supreme Consciousness." I also don't believe that yoga can transform one's spirit so much that one can obtain immortality. That seems silly. I did the kind of yoga that is merely a form of exercise, so don't worry. I'm not becoming Hindu--I still love Jesus.

My sister, Courtney, the slightly deranged aerobics queen, teaches a yoga class at the fitness center where she works. Lately, I've been noticing that Courtney randomly puts her body in all sorts of weird positions for no clear reason. I don't know why she'll just be standing in the middle of a room and suddenly wrap herself into a pretzel-like pose. She's just odd--anybody that has met her knows what I mean (I still love you, my sweet, odd little sister). I don't know why she does it, but I don't like the fact that my little sister can do weird things while standing on her toes that I can't do. I guess it's my competitive nature. Trying to be more flexible than Courtney was probably my motivation for buying a Denise Austin yoga DVD the other day. Or my motivation could have been the guy I saw on TV while flipping through channels the other night. He was a yoga guru who escaped from prison my folding himself up and putting himself into a box that was shipped out of the prison! Hopefully, I won't ever have to escape from prison, but he made yoga look pretty cool.

Whatever my motivation was, I found that yoga was actually fun! It's very rare that I say a form of exercise is fun, but it was! It was entertaining to try to balance in unusual positions with names like "Downward Dog" and "Fishtale." The stretching and deep breaths was surprisingly relaxing as well. Colter did some yoga moves with me and kept laughing at me, so that was amusing as well. When I was finished with the 45 minute workout, I was pleased with my $10 DVD purchase.

Even though I'm sore this morning, I am definitely going to try some more yoga. The fact that I'm sore this morning makes me feel like I actually got somewhere in the epic battle I'm having with my Jello thighs and baby belly. Either that or I twisted something wrong, and I'll soon have to be in a body brace.