My First Yoga Class! (Fitness Friday)

One of my goals in life is to always be open to any opportunities that life brings me.  Today I got the opportunity to do something I have  always wanted to do. I got to take a beginners yoga class. To some that may not seem to be a big deal but to me it is stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying something new.

I want to really encourage you to try new things becasue you may be surprised at what you find. For example, I always knew that yoga was good for helping your flexibility. What I never knew was that it was also a really good workout!  I can feel it in my arms and my legs, but not in the painful way like  I used to feel after an aerobic class or a spin class. I can just tell that I worked muscles in my body that I have not worked in a really long time. In a really strange way it feels good!

As you can guess from my title of my website I am all for Adventures in Mindfulness. Yoga to me is very mindful. You really learn to pay attention to your movements and how your body feels. You are  not just stimulating your muscles and your body but also your mind by learning new things. It was just a really great experience for me and I am really looking forward to next week. My hope is I can learn some new positions so I can start doing some yoga by myself too. I learned today that I am not flexible but I am working on it. I felt more flexible today after the class than before  I took it, so I know my body is really getting something out of this.   I love journeys that never really end and I love the possibility that I can just continue to learn and progress at my own speed with yoga. I also feel super blessed that I found such a great teacher too. I know a teacher can either enhance  the subject they are teaching or they can hinder it. The teacher I had today was an enhancer. Her name was Angela Thomas and she has a lovely spirit about her that draws you in.  So I want to say a big thank you to her for doing this class!

I want  to share some pictures from my yoga class today, maybe next week Ill get some more and I can show you some of the new positions I am learning.

This was the cutest little yoga studio! It has these beautiful big windows that overlooked some of the  Highland Lake Inn property, which is impressively beautiful!

I dont know if you can tell by the pictures but there are bird feeders attached to the windows, so throughout the whole class all of these beautiful birds are flying up and eating. I even saw some hummingbirds come and get a drink.  I have a special spot in my heart for hummingbirds. My husband used to tell me that he always felt like  when he saw a hummingbird that is was his grandfather coming and checking up on him, so when I see them I feel the same. I never met his grandfather but I know he helped shape my husband into the amazing  man he is so I know I would have loved him.  So it was just really special to see the hummingbirds come up, it just added to my happiness of being there. You can also hear all of the birds singing outside. It is very peaceful and serene.

These were our mats and our yoga room.

This is some of the beautiful scenery of Highland Lake Inn.

I am telling you it is beautiful there!

I am hoping that doing yoga will help me continue to get ready for my 5K which is coming up very soon! I have continued to run with my couch to 5K program app and I can really tell my endurance is picking up. When I first started I couldn’t run very long at all and now I am running longer periods of time and I am not as winded when I am done. Another great side effect is I am toning up. My clothes are fitting better and my jeans are not as tight. My energy is increasing too. I put myself back on my 6 week transformation ( the one I do with my clients) so I am paying more attention and being more mindful with what I am putting in my body food wise too. All of these things are really working together for good in my body.  This is a journey that I am embarking on and I am really enjoying it. I hope you read this and find some encouragement to try some new things, and to find some creative ways to get moving and get some exercise. Just start! Every great journey has to begin somewhere!