Friday, January 12, 2007
maha challenge, day fifteen
Yes, halfway done. Somehow, it feels a little disappointing. Part of that is because I'm hooked and don't want it to end. Another part of that is because of today's class.
There's only one evening basic class on Fridays, and I knew I would miss it. Since I was missing it for a work-related event tonight and I have another work-related activity tomorrow, I decided to flex my morning and take this morning's hatha basics class on the east side.
Taught by none other than KGUN 9's Guy Atchley.
The class was extremely low impact. I didn't even break a sweat. I was the youngest person in the class by at least 20 years, and the only male student. It definitely had kind of a Desperate Housewives vibe to it, like those women were really only there to hear Guy say things like "point your buttocks to the Catalina Mountains" or "ver-te-bra by ver-te-bra" (it sounded like there were five extra syllables when he said it) in that newscaster voice of his. I must admit, I did find it a little titillating too.
Hatha is the school of yoga upon which anusara is based. Guy's class is the only one at Yoga Oasis that is purely hatha with no anusara. If I didn't know the difference before, I think I do now. Today's class may as well have been called Stretching 101. It really was not very challenging for me at all. This frustrated me immensely during class.
Then I took a step back to try and find the positive in the situation. Turns out there are a couple.
First off, the low impact was good for my body coming at the halfway mark in the maha. It gave me a chance to rest but still feel as though I was doing something.
The other major benefit that really surprised me is the fact that I got frustrated because I felt like I wasn't getting enough of a workout. That means that I was looking to break a sweat, to feel the burn (though as Bruce says, "no pain, no pain"). I have never before in my life been disappointed when I didn't exert myself enough. This is a major shift for me.
I'm such a jock! OK, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.
I'm off to do a headstand, then go to bed. I need to get some kind of exertion in today.
There's only one evening basic class on Fridays, and I knew I would miss it. Since I was missing it for a work-related event tonight and I have another work-related activity tomorrow, I decided to flex my morning and take this morning's hatha basics class on the east side.
Taught by none other than KGUN 9's Guy Atchley.
The class was extremely low impact. I didn't even break a sweat. I was the youngest person in the class by at least 20 years, and the only male student. It definitely had kind of a Desperate Housewives vibe to it, like those women were really only there to hear Guy say things like "point your buttocks to the Catalina Mountains" or "ver-te-bra by ver-te-bra" (it sounded like there were five extra syllables when he said it) in that newscaster voice of his. I must admit, I did find it a little titillating too.
Hatha is the school of yoga upon which anusara is based. Guy's class is the only one at Yoga Oasis that is purely hatha with no anusara. If I didn't know the difference before, I think I do now. Today's class may as well have been called Stretching 101. It really was not very challenging for me at all. This frustrated me immensely during class.
Then I took a step back to try and find the positive in the situation. Turns out there are a couple.
First off, the low impact was good for my body coming at the halfway mark in the maha. It gave me a chance to rest but still feel as though I was doing something.
The other major benefit that really surprised me is the fact that I got frustrated because I felt like I wasn't getting enough of a workout. That means that I was looking to break a sweat, to feel the burn (though as Bruce says, "no pain, no pain"). I have never before in my life been disappointed when I didn't exert myself enough. This is a major shift for me.
I'm such a jock! OK, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.
I'm off to do a headstand, then go to bed. I need to get some kind of exertion in today.
