Surprising Benefits of Yoga

I went to yoga today. Yay me! Seriously, you have to realize what an incredible feat this was. See, Regina and I had to drive to a meeting today that was two hours away for me (and four for her, so yeah, go ahead and feel bad for her, and I'll stop complaining). I had sort of decided I just wouldn't make yoga, because I'd be home too late. Which made me sad, because I couldn't go last week either, so it's like, I'm off to a really bad start with my getting back into yoga thing.

Well, surprise, we got out of our meeting over an hour early! Then on the way home, X called me and invited me to go shopping (I know!). But I was strong and told him no, I'm actually getting home early, and I'm going to yoga.

Then, after I got home, of course, it's so tempting to just not leave the house again. And I actually had not quite an hour before yoga, which makes it even more tempting to just chill a bit and then end up never leaving. So, I decided I needed to just get my clothes changed and GO before I talked myself out of it.

Sometimes if I leave work a little early, I'll go on to the Community Center early and walk around their track. On days when it's really nice outside, sometimes I'll walk around outside before yoga. Today it was nice out, but somehow, I just felt the need to be in that environment with a bunch of other people who are health conscious and making positive steps toward fitness. There's a lot to be said for that.

So, I went on inside and walked inside. Well, here's the thing. The track goes all around the perimeter of the Community Center. Inside there's a basketball court and a weight area. So, basically there's a lot of men. A lot of muscly men. A lot of sweaty muscly men. Who are mostly about 19.

I'm schlepping my exhausted self around the track and just looking around, and everywhere I look is some guy lifting some enormous weight. Most of them were just sort of goofy looking, but a couple were really hot. Oh my. I realized this is one of the unsung benefits of working out at the Community Center.

I mean, I'm not hooking up with some 19-year-old (no matter how much he begs), but I can look, right? And honestly, I work with a bunch of women. There is just way too much estrogen in my life. I was really enjoying walking around in circles and basking in all the testosterone. It kind of made me feel alive.

Anyway, I walked about 20 minutes and then went on in to yoga, and it was awesome, as always. I went one week, then missed a week, then went today, and I could still tell that today was easier than last time. I was more flexible, and I felt a lot better about myself.

I asked the teacher if she's planning to add any more classes, instead of only doing Thursday nights. She said that unfortunately there are no spots available right now. Oh, well. I'll just look forward to next Thursday and all the hot sweaty young men the relaxing and health promoting benefits of doing yoga.