Yogi Young

Ommmmmm

Anyone who has ever done yoga will be familiar with the fact that it isn't just about stretching and bending but has a whole philosophy surrounding it, including vegetarianism. Sounds right up my street being the aging hippy that I am! But I tell you what, in the last week I've not only realised my physical limitations but literally had them shoved down my throat - all self inflicted of course.

Being in the land of Buddhism and spirituality inspired me to do something I've wanted to do for ages, and so I signed up for a 10 day introduction yoga course. So enthusiastic was I that I even went along to check it out prior to signing up, and was very impressed by the instructress (Nandini) that I met, the studio etc etc

On the first day I turned up, mat in hand, pillow at the ready, white top and trousers (for purity), feet washed, shoes off, keen as mustard. By day 5 I had been reduced to a shadow of my former self. All of the above still apply, except the keen as mustard - at that stage I seriously wanted a sick note! I don't know about you, but the word introduction suggested to me that it would be paced for complete beginners (i.e. yours truly). Well, approximately the first 15 minutes was and after that I was bending, and stretching and being bent and stretched into positions I would not have considered to be physically possible if I hadn't been the one with my toes touching the ground behind my head (whilst maintaining a straight back - straighter!).

I kid you not. And yes there have been moments where I truly felt a sense of inner peace, but they were few and far between by comparison to the moments of excrutiating pain, frustration at my own ineptitude and embarrassment at the look on the instructor's face. The look is a picture - abject disbelief that someone can walk the earth who is as stiff and unsupple as me! In fact I'm sure the only reason she continues teaching me is that I'm vegetarian .....

So with only 5 more days of pain to go (and counting) I had brunch with some American friends, and love 'em or hate 'em, I think the great thing about the Yanks is they are so positive. They reinforced for me the reasons why I started the course in the first place, praised my courage in the face of considerable adversity and reminded me of how much I'm lllleeeeaaarrrnnniiinnnggg. All good stuff, as long as you remember the deep breaths, positive thoughts, live for the present, blah blah blah

Postscript: So I'm now at day 8 and LOVING it. I've broken the pain barrier, done my first headstand in circa 25 years and am truly feeling invigorated. I don't even notice when the trishaws roar past as I'm trying to concentrate on my breathing, and the exercises that on day 3 nearly had me in tears from pain and frustration are now really quite easy (though I'm not sure that we need to be quite so finickity about the position of my toes when I've just done 25 consecutive rounds of Salute to the Sun!) Ommmmmmm