Yin yoga. I've never done it before; most of the classes I've taken are of the more active vinyasa or ashtanga variety. I had a half off coupon to a local yoga studio, and this was one of the most convenient times for me to go. Plus my calves are in desperate need of some stretching.
In yin yoga, you hold poses for 3-5 minutes. In an hour and a half, we did maybe 10 poses. Maybe. At first I thought my short attention span and natural need to be bouncing off walls would make this a disaster. However, the instructor was so relaxing. At first, he kept talking, which kept me from going insane sitting so still. After a while, I realized he wasn't talking anymore and I was content to not be moving. I got a little restless in spots, but holy cow - I didn't realize how much more of a stretch I could get just by holding some of my favorite poses for a while longer. My hips and back especially are loving me right now. We started out lying on our backs, and my lower back absolutely hated it. It hurts when I lay on hard surfaces - I keep my side of the sleep number bed as low as it can possibly go! When I was laying there, I was thinking, hmm, this probably isn't SUPPOSED to hurt so much. By the end, same position, back felt fine. Aaaaah.
Need to make a habit out of this. After I dropped my membership at my old gym, I haven't been able to find a yoga class I liked as much as the one I used to attend, so my regular yoga practice has been much more sporadic (and mostly limited to my impatient self doing stretches for a few seconds at a time at home.) I forgot how much better I feel after a bit of yoga and how much of a difference it made in my being able to run comfortably. Going to get a pass to the studio - which is ridiculously close to my house - and do this sort of thing more often. (Local peeps, let me know if you'd ever like to check out a class with me - www.youdoyoga.com is the place!)
I LOVE THAT STUDIO AND I LOVE THAT CLASS!! So glad you tried it out! I keep telling all my running peeps that if they're creeping up in mileage they should try this class because it will make such a difference in recovery.
ReplyDeleteAlas, some days I feel like the girl who cried Yin.
Hmm, that sounds lovely. I'm definitely more on the ashtanga camp, but I could be convinced to give this a shot.
ReplyDelete@Nota - I just now am hearing about the studio. They opened one in my neighborhood about a month ago, and one of the coupon book things that comes in the mail had a half price coupon. Since I haven't been happy with the gym yoga classes, it's lovely to have them now!
ReplyDelete@Jene - it was lovely. I think the more active styles are still my favorite, but yesterday I just seriously needed some stretching and a dose of calm the f down, and that did it.