Bending is Hard

My friend, who had the initial idea to start up salsa dancing in order to meet ladies, has a new idea in mind. This time he wants me to take yoga lessons with him. I was totally into learning salsa but I'm finding yoga harder to warm up to. I completely agree with his thinking that at a yoga lesson there are likely to be many girls with flexible knockout figures. But we also agree that is the icing on this cake and we have no idea how the substance will be. For starters I'm just not all that sure that I'd be all that into the personalities of girls who take yoga. I sort of categorize girls who take yoga as fanatical liberal feminists. That is probably a bit wrong, but that's the image I have in my head and it's difficult to overcome.

The next problem is that they are going out of their way to exercise. As I take salsa, I take it because I enjoy the activity and want to possess the skills I am acquiring. Yes, I may have started it to meet new people but that doesn't mean I dislike the activity. Whereas I do dislike going out of my way to exercise, and even more I dislike paying to exercise when I can simply go run around outside for free. I don't doubt the benefits I can gain from yoga, but I don't want to mislead people into thinking this is something that I like to pursue and do in my free time. Like if I did meet someone and we start a relationship up, my idea of a good time together would not be sitting on our mats chanting some mantra.

The third and slightly less important aspect of this is that I consider yoga to be a bit feminine in general. In other words the girls in the class may not think I'd be into them in the first place just by my being there.

But like I said I don't doubt the benefits that can come from yoga and I could certainly stand for a bit of increased flexibility. And even though it's spring break and my friend is currently out of town, yesterday I did a little research on local classes.

I found one that meets everyday for beginners. It's called Asana yoga. Asana yoga is essentially a bunch of standing or sitting positions. That alone made me hesitant to start up. Classes are $14 and that seems like a high price to pay to just be sitting or standing around for an hour. Here are couple of poses.

Curious for more information, I called up the place where the class occurs. But no one picked up, so I turned on my TV and went to the sports section where they have yoga exercise videos available. The beginner one was Asana yoga and was 20 minutes long. I lasted 10 minutes. It was very intense. For example take the top picture with the guy touching his toes. At one point in the video I had to do that. Bending as hard as I could, the top of my head just barely went as low as the top of my knees. That guy's head is well below his knees. Then we had to perform what you see in the second picture. This too was insane. Notice that guy's heels are on the ground. Get up and try this. You can't appreciate this otherwise. Go on, this post isn't going anywhere.

So while I highly doubt I'll start up these classes, I have left with a far greater appreciation for yoga and the benefits it can bring. My legs are still sore today after yesterday's 10 minutes. But instead of exercising, today I found a place in town that offers monthly cooking classes. Next month they are making avocado mango chicken. I'm no avocado fan, but I think any type of cooking class is a great idea. The only problem with these classes is that they are $50. You get to cook the meal, education on how to do it by a chef, and they wine and dine you but it's still a high price. My friend says he's going to research the yoga campus offered on campus so maybe something will come of that, but for now I'll be working on sitting and eating tasty foods.