Yoga. An easy, relaxing and chill exercise like a watered down version of gymnastics. I thought I knew all that I needed to know about yoga. Beginner’s class was sure to be a breeze.
I might as well have told myself that the sun rose in the west and set in the east. There was so much more to yoga that I didn’t know! And while my list won’t cover all of them, I will to share with you the biggest realizations, good and bad, I had as a beginner in yoga.
1. I discovered not-too-friendly muscles.
Yoga, easy? Far from it. I thought myself to be fairly flexible before I entered my first formal yoga class. I walked out of it feeling quite like a block of wood. Not only did the different postures bend me at the oddest angles, but the time spent doing each posture seemed like an eternity… of pain. I’ve grown to hate my hamstrings. Not that I loved them before, but you know, I grew to hate them even more. But it wasn't the only muscle I wish I hadn't discovered. Close runner-ups are my quads and my back muscles. But, my point here isn’t so much to complain as to break down the stereotype of yoga being easy, if it ever did to any of you.
2. Yoga music is my cup of tea.
On a lighter note, there were two things that got me through those postures of pain: the calm words of the yogini (female master practitioner) and the music. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of yoga music other than the conventional sounds of nature. But the kind of music the yogini put on for my class was generally a mix of cultural chanting and humming. I didn’t need to understand the language to feel the music’s meditative effect. There is a certain lull and predictable cadence in the sounds that stilled the atmosphere around me. And while I’m aware that there is a whole variety of yoga music out there to which I haven’t listened, I’ve grown to love just one kind of them.
3. It’s a pretty sweaty exercise.
Don’t let the peaceful music fool you. Yoga will get you sweating by the end of the session. All those posters and videos of people doing yoga without a sweat stain — LIES! I don’t think I ever needed to focus so much on controlling my muscles, balance, and breathing than I did in yoga. I also had the habit of letting my hair (with a length just under a foot) loose, so it would always cover my back or face, causing momentary blindness during any kind of forward bend in addition to that inevitable sweaty back. But enough with such talk. I don’t imagine you’ll enjoy hearing more about yoga being sweaty.
4. Breathing is actually hard.
Singers and athletes, to name just a few, are very familiar with controlled breathing. By the end of my first yoga session, it was clear that that I was not. Breathing in yoga is very deep, rhythmic, slow, and controlled. Deep breathing focuses on both the belly and the chest. I’ve always been accustomed to breathing from my chest, so switching to full breathing mode for a sustained period of time was hard to maintain. It got even harder as I moved into more difficult postures that activated many of my not-so-flexible muscles. But what was interesting was that there are some interesting breathing techniques used in yoga. One of them, known as the Single Nostril Breath or Surya Bhedana, requires you to block one nostril while breathing through the other, using your fingers to block and release each nostril.
5. There are props!
To think that there are tools other than the mat! The basic ones are the block, strap, and blanket. The block, which is usually 4”x6”x10”, comes in a variety of materials: foam, corduroy, and wood. I used the foam block for my yoga class, and I found it to be a fairly sturdy and lightweight tool to comfortably support me to attain perfect alignment in various poses. They are also useful in opening the chest and extending the spine. The strap comes with a buckle or a D-ring used to help keep limbs in place or easing into poses while maintaining proper body alignment. But, the blanket is my favorite~ Among its various other functions as a form of support, padding, or elevation, the blanket also is used to cover the stomach in the Śavāsana pose. The popular type of blanket used nowadays is the Mexican blanket, which has beautiful, bold patterns (sometimes with tassels!) and is really warm and thick for its purposes.
6. I realized that I was much older than I thought I was.
With all the stretching and bending, I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that my body is actually older than my mind thinks it is. The muscles and joints in my body speak the language of stiffness. Getting into a pose is one thing. Holding the pose is another. After a while, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear all my muscles screaming expletives. But it isn’t all pain sometimes. There are many poses that stretch your muscles and joints just right that feels so good, you just let your body melt into the pose. There’s nothing better than being your own personal masseuse.
7. Sanskrit is a beautiful language.
I learned the names of almost all the major poses in both English and Sanskrit, thanks to the yogini. She would especially repeat the Sanskrit names, letting every vowel roll off her tongue as we transition into the poses; the Sanskrit terms always sounded so magical. She would say the Sanskrit in conjunction with the English equivalents until she used just the Sanskrit names. I gradually came to learn the names of different poses (aka asanas) and sequences such as Baddha Koṇāsana, Jānuśīrṣāsana, Śavāsana, Tāḍāsana, Vinyāsa, as well as other miscellaneous terms like drishti, namaste, and ohm. Saying these terms was in itself meditative and meaningful, as if each word held a unique power or energy that was transferred into each pose.
8. Always go to heart space.
One of the things the yogini would often say was to bring hands to “heart space.” It’s a pretty self-explanatory instruction, in which one would need to put hands in namaste form and place it in front of one’s chest over the heart. Bringing hands to heart space helps structurally align our bodies, especially in poses that involve twists. I imagine that there’s also a meditative purpose to bringing oneself down to heart space. Perhaps as a physical reminder to focus inwardly.
9. Om/ohm is more than just a sound — it’s music.
Om/ohm is traditionally defined as a mantra or spiritual incantation that is chanted at the beginning or end of yoga sessions. But to me, the sound of ohm resembles a kind of music that pulsates through the body with powerful undertones, as if the great weight of the universe was contained in that single chant.
10. Śavāsana is the best pose of them all.
Of all the yoga poses you may one day learn should you choose to, the most memorable one will be Śavāsana. In the Śavāsana, otherwise known as the corpse or death pose, you lie on your back, arms and legs spread out comfortably, with palms facing upwards. Your eyes are closed and your breaths are long and deep, utilizing breathing from the belly and chest. It probably doesn’t sound as complicated, but it is an important pose in which one should be very physically aware of their entire body, especially areas of tension that could be released. I performed Śavāsana at the end of yoga sessions for about 5-10 minutes and I loved every moment of it. And it’s probably not hard to see why. It requires the least amount of pressure to control muscles or keep balance. It is simply relaxing, relaxing, and some more relaxing.
I guess I wasn’t too wrong about yoga. It has its relaxing and chill qualities as well as more difficult and strenuous ones. But, despite all the struggles (which really aren’t too bad), I would always recommend yoga for anyone, regardless of the goals you hope to achieve through it. All of us could use a little yoga in our everyday lives for the health and wellbeing of our body, mind, and soul~
