Grandma's Ninja Warrior Diary: Yoga




Today, I began my yoga classes. I dropped in to the gym's Flow Yoga class. Earlier, when I consulted with my trainer, Brittany, she suggested that, of the classes that the gym offered, yoga would be the most beneficial for me in my seeking to develop the skills needed for coping successfully with the ninja obstacles.

I quickly saw how well she had identified my weaknesses, the most significant of them being balance. The yoga instructor was patient with me as I topped over again and again. Stand on one foot? No, I don't think so. Not yet, anyway.

My ability to handle positions, like the downward dog pose above, surprised me, pleasantly so. All the work on core with Brittany for the past six months really had prepared me for poses requiring core development. Planks? Not a problem. Contort legs and arms? Not a problem -- for six months, I have also been working on flexibility.

However, balancing on one foot ended up with both feet on the floor or real tipping over. Thank goodness, the instructor, Victoria, had the patience of an angel (or someone quite familiar with people new to yoga) and suppressed any instinct to laugh (if, indeed, she had any such instinct).

Good, good, she encouraged. Well, I know some of it was bad, bad, and other things were funny, funny. Nonetheless, some things I actually COULD do, and that encouraged me to make it through the entire hour.

I learned that Victoria, filling in for the flow yoga instructor, teaches a different yoga class twice a week, combining weights and cardio to yoga. My cup of tea! Just what the doctor ordered for Grandma. Not!

Nonetheless, I begin with those lessons, in lieu of flow yoga, next Thursday. Yippee! Grandma now has visions of flexibility and balance dancing in her head!

MSI Press Blogger: Dr. Betty Lou Leaver (see Betty Lou's books, published under the name of Leaver, Mahlou, and Quinelle)

Note: Grandma's Ninja Warrior Diary will be published by MSI Press in 2022

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