By the time you get to 63, you've done most of the things you want to do, and a few things you wish you hadn't done. Maybe more than a few, actually! However, one thing I've managed to avoid so far is yoga. It was a conscious decision - I couldn't be doing with chanting vegetarians and stuff, and wrapping my leg around my neck. That's the picture that's been in my head since the 1960's, and it wouldn't go away. However, when I met up with my friend Bev after too long between catch ups, there was clearly something different about her. She'd lost weight, and she looked - well, glowing is the only word for it really. And it was too early in the day for a cava glow.
I asked Bev what had brought about the transformation, and she told me she'd been going to yoga classes. Now Bev is many things, but she certainly isn't a chanting vegetarian, and her leg showed no inclination to wind itself around her neck, so I got to thinking maybe I should give this yoga thing a go. At around the same time, Jessica Laslett set up a yoga studio at El Rancho, Los Montesinos, so it seemed as if Karma was steering me in the direction of yoga. You can't fight Karma, so I rocked up at El Rancho a few days agp.
Jessica is a great advert for yoga - lean but not skinny, with a healthy glow about her. I wondered how long it would take me to look like that, then got depressed, as I probably don't have that many years left! Jessica asked if we had any problems, but when I started to tell her how my husband doesn't understand me, she hastily interrupted and explained she meant physical problems that might make yoga difficult. I don't see my Lupus as a problem, but it is something I have to live with, and it can be a bitch sometimes, so I told her about it, just so she knew if I landed on the deck it was probably Lupus rather than cava related - although you can never be certain with me!
Jessica explained that Hatha Yoga is particularly good for people with auto-immune conditions such as Lupus, Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis. It's low impact, and it helps with flexibility and breathing, opening out the lungs and improving their capacity. Lupus is different things to different people, and for me, my lungs are the worst affected, so it was all sounding pretty good. So, off with the shoes, into the studio, and let's get this party started!
Jessica explained that all of the postures were optional - if you couldn't make it, listen to your body, do what you could, and if the only thing you managed to do during the session was breathe, that was okay, because breathing wasn't optional! Sounds easy, doesn't it, but you try getting the breathing right. I was exhaling when I should have been inhaling, and vice versa, and I thought I would never get the bloody hang of it. Then there were the postures - they looked so easy, but every muscle was protesting. At least for the first 10 minutes or so. Then, with Jessica's guidance, I began to 'get' it. I wasn't relaxing into the poses, I wasn't opening myself up - and no, that isn't naughty. Wash your mind out with soap! Once I actually started to ease into the poses, rather than forcing them, it got a lot better.
Just as I was starting to enjoy it all, Jessica directed us into the Eagle pose. That just wasn't going to
happen. Google the pose, and you'll see what I mean. Long story short, imagine turning yourself into human fusilli pasta - that's the twisted spiral stuff - and you'll know what I mean. I could twist the hands and arms, and I could twist the legs - one or the other, but not both together, and that's what the pose entailed. Still, I managed the cheat pose, and apparently, that's good too. That's the thing with yoga - even if you can't do it all, you're still getting benefits, because you're doing what your body is capable of, and it's more than you thought you'd manage.
I managed pretty much everything except the Eagle, which would not have landed elegantly had I persisted with it. At the end of the class, I was wondering if I'd put enough into it, because I didn't feel as if I'd done a workout. Until I stood up and walked away from the mat. Then everything was wobbly, and I realised that Jessica was right when she said Hatha Yoga was a total body workout.
I expected to feel like shit the next day, but I didn't. Maybe that's because the night I first went to yoga, I had the best night's sleep I've had in months. And although I was hungry when I got home, I didn't want stodgy, fill up food. I fancied a baked sweet potato with tuna and salad, which proved another point. Jessica said we'd feel so good after practice, we wouldn't want to eat crap - and I didn't. I think I like this yoga stuff - can't wait for next week. Why not come along and see what it's all about?
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