Falling for Yoga

Several years ago we joined the new health club freshly built in the neighborhood. Temptations were many: the palatial-type building; sparkling new furniture and equipment; grandiose indoor and outdoor pools; cheerful music in the lobby and the last but not least - a reasonable membership fee.

In summer we particularly enjoyed the outdoor pool: a huge spa-like area where three times a week I practiced my lap routine followed by ten minutes of sun bathing. It felt like mini-vacations.  

The indoor pool, no less impressive (see the post “Two Sides of the Bargain”) presented a bit of an issue – the high chlorine content in its water.

It is most likely that both pools were treated equally, but in confined space chlorine evaporates less actively than outside. The chemical penetrated my skin deeply and the following shower did not remove it. Even the next day I could still smell chlorine on me. And within a month or so of indoor swimming my skin became extremely dry, no lotion could help it.  

With better awareness of various contaminants in our environment and of their possible cumulative effect I became more concerned about regular chlorine absorption. I could easily envision my swimming body acting like a pump sucking chlorine through its countless pores and inhaling it with every vigorous breath.

It just could not be good.

So I started looking for winter alternatives to lap swimming. This is how I turned to yoga.

Why not to cardio kickboxing, or Pilates?

Well, from various books and friendly references I just had an impression that yoga was superior to other fitness routines by addressing both body and mind. Thousands years of its history also appealed to me.

Being totally indifferent to the bohemian aura of yoga (all that chanting-and–incense paraphernalia), in the back of my mind I always meant to try it one day. I did not start earlier thinking that one needed extraordinary flexibility for its pretzel-like positions.

At that moment it looked like a really good idea: instead of using indoor pool in winter I would take a yoga class and my summers were already perfect! 

Surprisingly, my husband joined me without any hesitation. He, however, came to this decision from a completely different prospective. Exactly what kept me away for years - the mysterious side of yoga, its promise of extraordinary flexibility or meditative powers - were his drivers. Unlike me he had no doubts that with time he would bend like Linda Blair.

I entered the yoga class feeling very shy. All people around  seemed younger than me and more athletic. For some reasons I had a strong presumption that yoga group was a sort of  exclusive club where everyone knew everyone, and each member must've been an experienced practitioner.

The obvious logic that other people also started one time or another (and probably felt as vulnerable) somehow slipped my mind.

My first gains from yoga were almost immediate though totally superficial. For years I was helplessly observing my once perky behind gradually “going south” while my tummy – increasingly protruding. Catching sometimes my side reflection in the mirror I was thinking that eventually I would need to wear pants back to front.

After two weeks of yoga I noticed a slight but quite incouraging reverse in this  process. My body also started feeling more resilient to touch and looked as if carefully peeled quarter-an-inch all over.

Then the real journey began.

With all my previous fitness experiences it was always about achievement. As a teenager involved in sports in the former Soviet Union I was always focused on performance. Only gifted kids were accepted in the state supported sport programs and “no pain – no gain” was our ultimate mantra.

Even with my adult swimming experience I tried to measure everything in goals: to do four laps, then - eight laps; to breathe quieter; to obtain better endurance…

Yoga offered an entirely different philosophy.

First of all, it was specifically focused on present sensation: in each position you find your personal physical edge and stay there for five deep breaths. You do not fidget, and do not try to go further – just let your body adjust and eventually, relax.  

And it does not really matter, what exactly your edge is: a basic forward bend with hardly touching your toes, or a perfectly deep folded position. In both cases this period of quite breathing is the very time of gain.

On a physical level slow breathing in intense position activates blood and lymph circulation that stretches and strengthens your muscles while flashing away toxins from your body.

On a chemical level (or may be, it is emotional?) endorphins are released making you feel calm and protected.

Our natural yogi - Masia

A good instructor will tell you that yoga is not an exercise but a practice.

You start in whatever physical condition you are and slowly move toward better health and stress resistance. Important is the process itself because there it all happens. Fitness comes along as a free bonus for diligence.

Though every physical activity can bring benefits, yoga is unique in its ability of healing various physical ails. The more you stretch and breathe, the more nooks and crannies in your body are washed by healing fluids, the more inflammation nuclei are disrupted.

There are also special positions believed to improve particular functions, or address particular conditions. Their effectiveness is still to be confirmed by the mainstream medical science, but at least one thing is certain – they do not cause side effects of profound nature as many chemical drugs do.

With different systems and schools in yoga, the healing properties are usually attributed to Hatha Yoga – “the basic preparatory stage of physical purification” according to Wikipedia.

Though advanced yogi gravitate to its higher stages, like Raga, the most modest promises of Hatha are impressive enough for me.