I have been attempting to “practice” yoga for awhile now (almost a year). Practice is in quotes because, in my situation, it is a rather loose term. I took a class for awhile and learned the basics, but the instructor was a looney tune and stressed me out. What’s the point of taking yoga if you are going to be berated constantly and you leave the class frustrated?

Namaste THIS, bitch.

Ever since my traumatic introduction to the world of yoga, I have been looking for a new class. There is a studio close to home, but it’s so intimidating. Everyone looks super professional. One time I was driving home, and spied on the people coming out of class. I was hoping for a few wayward souls to stumble out that looked like I imagine I might look. But, no dice.

Plan B.

Do some yoga at home with my lady, Yolanda Pettinato! Yolanda and I go way back. I bought Simply Yoga on sale at Borders years ago when I was pretending to study for a midterm, but actually reading fashion magazines and eating cookies.

Yolanda is awesome because (1) her DVD looks like it was recorded in 1992, (2) she is maybe 50 years old (with a 30 year old’s body) and wears a purple unitard, and (3) her routine is very easy to follow.

So easy, in fact, that I almost fell asleep once. We were doing corpse pose, and I nodded off. This is why the Yoga for Pros class down the street is a bad idea for me.

Anyway, Yolanda is great. We stretch together, and I am getting better at downward dog. I try and do the DVD (the complete workout is only like 30 minutes) two or three times a week.

A HUGE bonus: I feel like it is really helping with my anxiety. It helps me chill out at the end of the day.

Just another stop on my road to finding relief from my anxiety and the craziness of my life.

Have you tried yoga? Thoughts? I think you are either a yoga person or you aren’t. Not much middle ground.

thelessthandomesticgoddess

8 Comments

  1. honey my heart

    October 5, 2010

    thanks for the dvd recommendation! i always wanted to try yoga, but was too self conscious to attend a class so i recorded a yoga show on tv. it was hard. i'm not entirely sure i'm a yoga person but have read and heard so many great things about it that i may try again 🙂

  2. Tez

    October 5, 2010

    I was not a fan of yoga. But last year at work, we had a yoga instructor (who was acutally an old co-worker/friend)come out to the office once a week for a yoga session (so convenient!) It was great! Acutally she was great! She no longer comes to our office; I no longer practice yoga. For me, the key to yoga was having a great teacher. Sarah teaches at various locations on the westside, let me know if you want her info.

  3. Rizza

    October 6, 2010

    "Namaste this bitch." hahaha!

    so glad to hear that this is working to ease up your anxiety.

  4. Krista

    October 7, 2010

    Hahaha! Great post! Namaste!!!

    My yoga instructor is great. She's a little loopy – her namaste bow is like 30 seconds long. She often precedes it by saying the light in her sees the light in me. Kinda loopy! But she genuinely means what she says and is truly kind.

    Plus, she's had participants fall asleep in the chavasana (corpse pose) at the START of class and sleep through the class … and all she did was gently wake them up at the end. Ha! She's very easy going, which I like.

    So I'm glad you enjoy your videos. Yoga and/or meditation are both supposed to be very good for anxiety. As one anxiety sufferer to another, I definitely appreciate how helpful it is!

  5. Sarah

    October 7, 2010

    I totally agree, yoga classes can be so intimidating. Everyone is way more experienced and way more flexibly than me. I'm a fan of videos too, I've never tried this one but just might be going yoga video shopping now. Thanks for the tip:)

    http://wearingitonmysleeves.blogspot.com

  6. Mo

    October 8, 2010

    Hahaha…oh Carly I'm sorry you had a sucky yoga instructor! I do go to yoga occasionally, as I think it really helps burn the calories, but it takes a lot of effort for me to go even though I can walk there from my apartment! It takes effort because it's just physically hard and I feel like a total slacker when the girl next to me can do crow pose and I…can't.

    It also really helps my insomnia, I never have trouble falling asleep after doing yoga.

    So I'm glad you found a comfortable yoga space at home! And yay purple unitards, Yolanda looks like she rocks it.

  7. ruthy ann

    October 10, 2010

    I felt the same way with my few yoga experiences…i left stressed. I would love to take private classes so i can get familiar with the moves…bc i'd really like to be a yoga person.

  8. MrsPaetz

    November 7, 2010

    Aww… I'm sorry to hear that your yoga experience was negative. I used to be really intimidated too, then I found this place in Burbank called "Yoga Blend" ( http://www.yogablend.com ) that has a real community vibe, super nice instructors and a down to earth crowd. I really like it. Hopefully you live close enough to give it a shot! 🙂

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