Return to Yoga

I did it!

First a little background. Somewhere around 2006 I started going to Yoga at my gym regularly, pretty much every week. I LOVED IT! Loved. It.

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I began to supplement my gym Yoga with home Yoga, and went to a Bikram studio with a friend a few times. I loved it all.

Somewhere along the lines of life I stopped doing Yoga.

I have no idea why.

For the past few years I have been trying to find a Yoga studio here in Medford or Ashland that fit with my price, location, and schedule. I never felt like anything was a good match for me. Then I joined my new gym on Saturday and one of the things I paid attention to when joining was when and how often they had Yoga classes.

As I noted in an earlier post, I actually took the time to put all the Yoga classes on my calendars (laptop/phone/tablet/paper). There was no excuses then about not knowing when they were.

Yesterday I made a triumphant return to yoga. 

(need to do something about that belly!)

I was nervous and excited. I got to the gym and set up my mat in the back of the class. The woman next to me, Kim, was friendly and welcoming. We chatted a bit. She said it wasn't a "fitness" yoga class, but more of stretching. I was a little worried after that because I wanted something that was going to work me and stretch me. 

I shouldn't have worried. The class was exactly what I was hoping for...had been longing for...had been missing in my life. 

The instructor was male, and he was very good. He didn't go too fast, gave lots of options and modifications, and put together a nice series. 

Everything I love about Yoga came rushing back to me. The power. The strength. The stretch. The meditation. The relaxation. There is nothing I have found that is quite like Yoga. It is hard to explain if you haven't experienced it yourself. It is physical and mental and emotional and spiritual. It is an all encompassing experience. 

I realize not every Yoga class is wonderful, but I am SO grateful and amazed at how spectacular my class was yesterday. And, bonus, I am comfortably sore today. I was also pretty amazed at my level of flexibility and the advanced poses I could easily do despite not having practiced for so long. 

This is called plow pose and, as you can see, there is a progression from legs straight in the air, to legs behind head - toes on the floor, to "knees to ears" pose. I was able to get all the way to knees to ears on my first try. So awesome! 

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Pigeon is another multi-phase pose. The image above shows a middle progression and is about where I managed to get to yesterday. Ultimately, pigeon leads to further progressions like these:

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Amazing. I was so thrilled and energized and relaxed after class yesterday. I can't wait to go back! 

Last night I did make spaghetti squash for dinner and did Meatless Monday, but I didn't just top it with marinara. I decided to make a spaghetti squash "bake." 

I took the cooked spaghetti squash innards, drained them (they are always so juicy), and mixed them with some homemade marinara, onion, mushroom, garlic and olives. Then I put about half the mixture in the bottom of this casserole pan. I spread a bit of ricotta cheese on it and topped with the remaining mix. I sprinkled a bit of parmesan cheese on top and baked it at 375 until it was all bubbly and heated through.

The verdict? It was good. It wasn't great. It was too juicy in my opinion, so in the future I think I would add some bread crumbs or panko to try and soak up some of that sauciness. The flavor was okay, but I think it could have been better with more seasonings (more salt, some pesto maybe, oregano) and a more flavorful cheese or mix of cheeses.

I need to hit the pool today for some swim time (and hot tub time!), do a little homework for my first class tonight, go to class tonight, and that will be my day.

Have you ever done Yoga? Love it? Loathe it? Favorite pose?