Return of the Yogi

(Written in Anjuna, March 14^th)

I’m starting to really like this yoga thing.  I know it’s all very trendy, and probably very pretentious to come to India and take up yoga, but hey, it’s fun.  And it’s on offer everywhere, and usually pretty cheap, so what the hell.  I’ve done it sporadically at home, but it’s a lot more fun on a shady outdoor platform in Indian sunshine than in the back corner of some gym somewhere.

I walked to the Brahmani Yoga Centre yesterday, just outside Anjuna.  As the class started at 2 pm, I was walking in the hottest part of the day; that 45 minutes felt a lot longer.  (Maybe this is why no one seems to walk in Anjuna; everyone bums around on scooters or motorcycle taxis.)

But it was worth it, in the end.  The pleasant Swiss-French instructor Sondra is a bit of a nomad; she spends “the season” teaching in Goa (October to March, or thereabouts), and spends the rest of the year working variously in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia.  From the sounds of it, she hasn’t lived in Europe in years, preferring to spend her time wandering Asia and teaching yoga. 

This class was a three-hour “Yoga for Women”, designed to give women yoga routines to help them cope with common physical ailments.  Migraine, for example, or fatigue and insomnia, or painful menstruation.  (Boys, I swear, that’s all I’m going to mention about that last one, so you don’t need to get grossed out.)

Whether or not any of it actually works, I don’t know.  But I’ll have to give the routines a shot the next time I have a migraine, or when it’s “that time of the month” and the cramps are so terrible that I’d prefer to actually die.  (It has gotten better with age; when I was much younger, I used to have nausea and vomiting along with the cramps.  At least there’s some benefits to getting old!)

I think I have to keep this up when I get home.  I really enjoyed my beginner yoga course in Varkala, and the occasional classes I’ve done since (most of them not hours-long like this workshop!).  I haven’t yet managed to put my ankles behind my ears, or hold a headstand unassisted by the support of the instructor or a wall, but I’m ever so slightly closer.  And I can usually get the crow posture now (rest your knees on your elbows and balance yourself on your hands only), and can occasionally even get my heels to the floor during downward dog.  Baby steps.

This could be the perfect complement to running, actually.  I hate to stretch, normally, so I give it the shortest possible attention after finishing a run, really just enough to make sure I can still walk the next day.  But not stretching enough has really hindered my flexibility; I was never able to do the splits, but I never used to be quite so embarrassingly stiff as I am now. 

I’d like to change that.  So if I run, and then do yoga, that could be perfect.  I probably won’t join a gym again immediately after I get home; finances will dictate otherwise for a while.  But I can run for free, as long as I have the gear, and since I’ve already told people I’m going to do the Toronto marathon in the fall I’d really better get on that.  And there are yoga courses all over the city, from the expensive trendy places on Queen West to the free sessions at Lululemon stores.  So I’m sure I can find something that works.

So, new plan, after my yoga reality check ... by this time NEXT year, I’ll be the chick who can put her ankles behind her head.

The Makings of a Yogi?

I figured out that I was in over my head (literally and figuratively) when the instructor had us doing headstands about 5 minutes into the two-hour class.  When a few minutes after that, he had us attempting the crow posture (rest your knees on your elbows and balance yourself on your hands only), I was sure of it.

Yoga is offered everywhere in Varkala, second only to ayurvedic treatments as the tourist activity of choice.  I went to an 8 a.m. class today to check it out, trying to remember when I last went to yoga; certainly not since I've been off work, and (I think) not for a good chunk of time before that.

I had lovely notions of starting my lazy days on the beach with a gentle and restful yoga class, becoming all zen and grounded and in tune with the universe and my third eye, and whatever the hell else yoga is supposed to do for you.  The reality might have been a little different.

For one thing, I think I've lost any shred of flexibility I ever had (not that I had much to start with), what with all that running getting ready for the marathon a couple years ago and all the walking and hiking I've done this year.  Great cardiovascular workouts -- my lungs are in much better shape that they were and my legs have regained a lot of strength -- but not activities that do much for your flexiblity, unless you make a deliberate effort to stretch.  Since I hate stretching generally, I tend to avoid it even when I think of it, and I don't actually think of it that often.

So my hamstrings screamed in protest when I moved into downward dog during the sun salutation sequence, and my adductors/abductors (whichever are the ones on the outside of your hip) said "Oh, no, I don't THINK so!" when the instructor told us to put our ankles behind our heads and hold it.  I could get my foot moved slightly in the direction of my shoulder, but that was about it; my muscles were having none of it and just laughed at me.  My wrist (the one I broke at some point last year) didn't like me much either, and greatly objected to the amount of weight I was attempting to balance on it in some postures.

I was much more pleased by the triangle and warrior poses later on; even if I don't have a lot of flexibility, I have a fair amount of strength and I can hold those without shaking.  My abs aren't bad either (although until I decide to stop guzzling the Kingfishers, you won't actually be able to see my six-pack) and my back is pretty strong, so all the core exercises made me feel a little more competent too.

Just imagine if I did this every day, though.  I could come back from India as one of those pretzel-people who can casually lift her leg straight up over her head like it's actually meant to go that way.  That would be pretty cool.  I imagine it might make a good way to meet men, too; men always seem inordinately impressed by bend-y chicks.

Perhaps I'll start with the beginner yoga course, though.  The added bonus (on top of probably not having to do headstands or crow posture) is that it starts at 10 a.m., not 8.  So I can spend an hour or two on the beach first, when it's quiet and cooler and before the gawkers have come out to ogle.

Done.  You can find me in the yoga hut tomorrow at 10.  And every morning after that until I leave Varkala. And once I get home?  I'll be the chick who can put her ankles behind her ears.