Namaste: the Rocky road of rejoining the yoga fold

So I used to be all about the yoga. I once did a show where we did 3-4 hours of yoga everyday as part of the rehearsal process. I could do a V sit for hours.

But for the last 5 years? I can count the times I’ve done yoga on one hand.

So today I did it. 90 minutes of power yoga.

It kicked my ass.

At first there was some chanting so I thought - ooo - sleepy yoga. No. There was to be no rest.

Plank. Downward facing dog. Left leg up. Warrior 2. Triangle pose.

Our instructor barked out orders (and by barked I really mean told us in a husky Brooklyn drawl). We followed.

I sweat. My calves were not going to stretch. At. All. But I kept up. Only took a couple of mini breaks.

Then came the “Ninja Death Pose.” Erm what? This is not going to be good.

So…I have a bad right knee. If I exercise it doesn’t bother me too much until my legs get tired. But if I train slow and steady it’s ok.

But, as I said in my last post, I haven’t been training. And working day and night means I’m not sleeping right. And the damn weather is all over the map.

Basically this means I have an achy right knee. But I didn’t give it too much thought. Until….Ninja Death Pose.

What you do is put a folded blanket against the wall. You put your right knee on it and put your lower leg up the wall. Then you lunge with your left leg. Just a lunge with your back leg up. Your legs look like a Z. Easy right?

For my right leg? It might have been one of the most painful things I’ve ever done to it. Not “I’ve hurt myself” pain but the kind of stretch that makes you want to cry, scream and swear. A lot.

Then you are supposed to push your left leg out and go to the floor. I went to the floor. Couldn’t move my leg. So the instructor had to tug it across the mat. The stretch lasted what seemed like 10 years in that position (I think it was 30 seconds) and I collapsed.

Left side? No problem. Great stretch.

So I’m going to add a weekly yoga class in. My body remembers most of it and it let me stretch all the week’s tensions away.

Any yoga tips, send them my way!