My week of yoga classes

One of my fitness goals for 2019 was to become fitter and that meant being fitter in an all-around sense, I want (and happy to report am) losing weight. When I first started dropping the weight a few years ago it was almost all cardio and diet-related and it wasn’t until I was near my goal weight that I began to implement weights and some form of stretching/flexibility to my life. So when I regained the weight I intended to bring all 4 things together to be better. I almost think the first weight loss was to prep me for this permanent one. I am now smarter exerciser and eater. Anyway, apologies as I am digressing! One thing I wanted to get more into was yoga and as Victoria is an avid yogi I suggested that we go to classes together and she loved that idea so much that for Christmas she bought us an unlimited visit to a yoga studio.

We had a quick look at the week ahead and before I even realised it we had booked ourselves into 6 classes in the first week and a bit! What was great about it was that they were different, this first week I have been three times now and each one has been a little different with the fourth (Monday 7^th) being another different class! The Mind-body app was very helpful as it gave us a little breakdown of what each class was, so the amateur (me) could understand what was going on.

First class – Vinyasa

This was an evening class and it was a day before I returned to work so I was excited for it! I had no idea what to expect from the class, as I didn’t partake in any research beforehand. I went in blind and almost immediately I was out of my comfort zone and smartly decided to wear my long sleeve training shirt under my short sleeve as that thing was moving up so much and nobody needs to see that much of my bright white flesh!

I think because of my lack of arm and upper body workout training that I had lost some strength in my arms so the one move that Victoria has since told me is meant to be easy was a little hard for me and because of my weight was downward facing dog. I was shaking and struggling like mad, this made me very unhappy as we were continually going to that move! I also didn’t like being at the front of the class, so now I know to come nice and early so I can hide at the back like a good scared man. In the end, though, I really enjoyed the class and we will be back at the one next week!

Second class – Pilates

This one was a wakeup call for sure! Part of that might be because it was 6am. Though I definitely think it was because it was harder as Victoria and myself hadn’t been to a Pilate’s class previously. So I was pleased not to be on my own on this little journey! I found that my hips and legs and well… everything were struggling which was weird as I thought I was quite flexible despite my size. It was difficult and I told Victoria afterwards how much I enjoyed the difficulty of the class. I think it I thought it was super easy that I would not have tried as hard, but because it was so difficult I was continually trying to get myself into the right or adaptive version of the position. One thing about me is that if I find a class or a move hard, then I will work as hard as possible to make sure I am good at it and especially so if I am enjoying it!

The instructor was very patient with me and gave me tips so that I didn’t pull a muscle in trying to complete the move. There was one occasion where I simply had to move on my back where I had to move my foot closer as I was working my hamstring and my glutes instead of just the glute. I have rarely been as relieved as to when she corrected me! I wondered whether because it was the early morning that my muscles and hips were still a little tight. I will make sure that isn’t the case for next week.

Third class – Mellow Yoga

I think I was looking forward to this class the most as I knew it was going to be light and light it was! It was all about relaxing and easing the stress from the week. There were longer poses and if at any time anyone felt the need to relax out of the move they could. I really enjoyed it and felt good the rest of the day from it!

One thing I never really considered about yoga was how different each class can be. In 2018 Victoria and I also attended some taster classes and again they were completely different from the others that we went to this week. Having a quick glance at the upcoming week’s schedule there is Heat Yoga, a beginners class (I should probably go to that one) and even a men-only class which again could be interesting for me to attend, just to see what the difference is. I am looking forward to the rest of the month to see what and how many classes we attend, with a bit of luck I will have improved a bit more by then!

If you are in Belast or near abouts, then I recommend hitting up Yoga Quarter as they are very good, I mean beginners like me are happy to go!

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