Yoga Shmoga

So today was my first yoga class. I greeted the sun in the mountain pose. I don't know if anyone knows this, but the mountain pose doesn't look anything like a mountain and I'm pretty sure the sun doesn't need greeting. But, I'm a good sport and I did it anyway.

I also contorted my body into child's pose. Again, I've never seen a child go into this pose, but I did it anyway. The classes are free, so I won't complain. We then did some other pose that I could never pronounce nor could I ever begin to spell, but it had to do with scooping the floor with our upper torso. I won't complain about that one because it actually felt really good to stretch out my spine. And then came the downward facing dog.

Downward facing dog? Seriously? Who comes up with these names? If I ever saw a dog in this position I would really be concerned with the poor thing. Regardless, I bent my body in half, rear sticking straight up, legs straight back, arms straight down with palms touching the floor ahead of me -- trying to make a perfect V -- and I wondered, "Why isn't this the mountain pose?" But no one asks me, so I just went with it. The instructor came by and adjusted my hips because, I suppose, they weren't downward doggish enough.

As I posed there, staring at the wall through my legs, I began to think through the blood rushing to my head -- why do we go through so much work for relaxation? To relieve stress? Couldn't I have just taken a nap? However, we got out of downward facing dog and went into table and brave warrior. I had no idea all the various positions I could bend my body into. Remarkable. Or asinine. Take your pick.

But I made it through the hour long yoga class strangely feeling stretched out and mostly relaxed. I even told the instructor that I would return next week. Which made me already an expert on another yoga pose: sucker.

Meanwhile, in other news, look what I found on my camera today. How can you resist a face like this?