Bendy Stretchy

Back in 2019 when it was okay to gather in groups our church started yoga on Wednesday evenings. It was a spiritual practice. I was interested. But honestly I’d never tried yoga and was nervous about giving it a go. After all I am not very bendy stretchy. Don’t you have to be able to sit cross legged or grab your heels behind your back? And what is a downward dog anyway? Turns out wondering all that is like wondering if you can bake a cake without learning to read a recipe. You have to go into the kitchen and get some instruction. Still, yoga? I’d see folks walking into a studio with little mats and figured I’d never have the nerve to join them. It would be a leap of faith to get me on the mat. So when the chance came to try yoga among friends, in a sancutary, with live music I decided it was time. But nerves persisted. Till a friend suggested I try a video at home first. Hmm. Sounds easy enough. I took her advice and found my way to Yoga with Adriene. I located a video for beginners and got a few jitters out of my system. I never should’ve worried about trying yoga, especially in the safety of sancutary. Christopher Love was our instructor. His gentle practice made it easy to follow and forget the mechanics and enter into the breathe and peace of what yoga has to offer. I was hooked from the first night. I started doing videos every morning. Yoga has been an interesting journey. Just learning to breath deeply has been a revelation. And yes I can stand on my head now and sit cross legged as long as I want. What I really want is so sit on my mat and just breath in the present moment. And that right there is worth all the worry about not being bendy stretchy enough for yoga. I am so glad I gave it a try and was brave.