And Now? We Do Yoga.

It was weird to not do yoga for two weeks after writing Girl Meets Yoga and finally having my tattoo. Both those things were symbols of my love for yoga and life and how I’m curious and all ‘let’s do this!’ but I was stuck at home, sitting still with an itchy tattoo and an irrational fear of showering.

But after those two weeks, my tattoo healed and after I finally convinced myself I really wasn’t going to sweat the words off, I packed my bag, slung my yoga mat onto my back and went back to the hot room. It’s been awesome, since. And not because I am suddenly graceful all the time (my ass still meets my mat unintentionally many times) or because I am now this disciplined super person after the tattoo and the writing. It’s awesome because of two things. One: I feel good. And two: I am doing exactly what I said I was going to do.

I do classes 6 days a week. Sometimes 2 classes a day, but I have one day off a week. I almost didn’t want to do that, because it felt so good to do yoga again I pretty much just wanted to lock myself in the studio and just practice 24/7. But I had already done three 100-day challenges in my mind before I even reached the 3rd day.

So I paced myself. Not because a lot of yoga isn’t good (it really is), but because balance is better. I don’t want to overdose, get sick of myself and not go to yoga for a month because I can’t keep measure. I don’t want to wear myself out. By keeping a rest day and by not obsessing over ‘more, more, more’ I can just keep going. Steady practice is best and this way I can hold both my mind and body steady.

I don’t sit down during class. Because my body doesn’t need it anymore, it’s just my head. Somewhere I knew this, but I had a helpful and supportive mentor-type yogi tell me. She said it was now more about the strength of the mind than muscle. And the funny thing was that the idea of not sitting down anymore has been one that intimidated me for as long as I can remember. I thought of it as daunting and impossible, and always said to myself I would never be able to do that. But once I decided to, it was pulling a switch. I decided I wasn’t going to sit anymore, and then I didn’t.

Turns out that once again, I have no idea how impossible really is bullshit. I really shouldn’t bother with limits & thinking of shit I can’t do: What the fuck do I know?

I just do yoga. That’s really all I do. I change into a little outfit, go sit down on my mat and do everything the teacher tells me to do for ninety minutes. I am just doing yoga. Sometimes I’m like “HOLY SHIT, DID I JUST SEE MY LEG THERE?!” in a pose and sometimes I’m like “Weak, dude” with a little mental shrug. And then I move on. When someone asks me how it’s going I say things are great, but that’s only because I feel great.

But it’s not all simplistic spiritual and non-judgmental musings of course. I’m a total girl and I’ve been practicing Bikram Yoga for more than 2 years in nothing more than running capris & H&M shorts. Since I spent 10+ hours a week in my yoga gear, I splurged on an upgrade.

You hardly feel them on, and yet they cover all your lady parts in even the weirdest of positions. Plus, they’re really cute. I am afraid I’m now spoiled for life. Oh well.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

14 comments

  1. They are super cute! Love the mind over matter attitude, I experienced that with running. People asked me how I managed to run so many KM in such little time. Because I decided to do so. That’s it.

  2. Ik hou van yoga. Ik doe nu Hatha en Vinyasa , maar door jouw stukjes over Bikram Yoga ben ik daar toch ook wel heel benieuwd naar.

    Oh, en aangezien ik nog nooit gereageerd heb: geweldige site, keep up the good work!

    1. Leuk – moet je een keer proberen en laat me weten hoe je het vind! En dankjewel voor het compliment!

  3. Those shorts look amazing. Where did you get them?
    I don’t know exactly why, but this articel really inspired me. Thank you!

          1. Haha lieve meiden, verkocht de H&M deze shortjes maar dan had ik er gelijk 7 gekocht!! Deze zijn van Onzie, een superfijn zwem-yoga-sportkleding merk dat ze verkopen bij mij in de studie. Niet goedkoop maar het alleszins waard!

  4. Ik doe het nu voor een paar weken, alleen dan wel 1 keer in de week. En ik vind het heerlijk! Zo lenig ben ik ook weer niet. Als je moet bukken zweven mijn handen Ver (ik herhaal: ver) boven mijn voeten. Maar dat geeft niet. Andere posities gaan juist verrassend goed!

    Heb op het moment examen, dus sommige oefeningen is fijn om even tussendoor thuis te doen.

    1. Ja een oefening tussendoor kan je ook echt rustig maken soms! En je hoeft echt niet lenig te zijn, dat denkt iedereen alleen maar: je word er juist leniger door!

  5. That sounds awesome. I mean, when you have the discipline take those classes so often, it must be divine, isn´t it? I’ve been wanting to take yoga classes for ages but I don’t actually dare because I a) never get corporal instructions (which kinda sucks when someone tries to teach you a sport) and b) am scared it will be disappointing after everything I’ve heard. But yeah, I should give it a try. Perhaps when I’m back from Paris, because getting those instructions in French will even be more of a disaster…

    1. Re corporal instructions: Sweetie, I was a mess the first time I had to follow the dialogue. I just copied what people in front of me were doing and hoped for the best. Over time you learn to listen and it becomes easier.

      Re dissapointing: It might be different for you than it for others, but if you go with an open mind it probably won’t be disappointing. You’ll always learn something. =)