Hacking Yoga, I Found I Have Everything I Need Already

Inspired by WorkoutMommy (because if someone with kids can find the time to work out, then surely someone without them can find time too) , I scheduled a workout on Monday. And that worked out so well that I scheduled one for Tuesday and then another for this afternoon.

You see, I finally learned how to do yoga in a way that works for me. I’d never had the time, money, or good location to take classes before, so I’d tried books and CDs. Well that didn’t work because I never got “into” it. I wanted to stick with yoga, however, because it’s mostly what I’m interested in…gentle stretches (I should really do more cardio, but I’ve never enjoyed it as much).

On Monday, I suddenly felt like doing plies instead of yoga poses. Next thing you know, it’s tendus, degagees, frappes, etc. I ended up doing the entire bar warmup that I’d done for years and years back when I was taking ballet classes.

From that I moved into yoga and everything worked like a charm. I was warmed up, so I went straight into the warriors, triangle, and such, then the inversions, then a series of floor stretches to cool down.

Unlike before, everything flowed. I transferred the energy of dancing into the poses. It was amazing. I realized that all along I had all the things I’d needed.

Dancer’s Body

I don’t have the ideal dancer’s body—far from it. However, I have a body that’s programmed with all the steps and routines that one learned in 10 years of classes. I have a body that is still fairly flexible even though I stopped formally dancing years ago.

I also have a body scarred from all that dancing. One that developed bunions from pointe and genetic factors. One that suffered an awful back injury when I was 14, one that left me unable to dance for a time and in physical therapy. The latter finally ended me dancing career. It’s one of the reasons I doubt I’ll ever take formal lessons again, I need to be able to control how much or how little I do.

Dancer’s Tools

I still have my leotard, tights, and slippers (pointe shoes too, but you wouldn’t catch me in those!) in a drawer. So on Tuesday, I formally put those on to feel even more in the spirit. I felt even more energized and got a great workout/stretch/etc.

They all still fit, so more points for the body.

Dancer’s Spirit

I couldn’t get into yoga as yoga itself. The stretches don’t quite warm me up enough. It’s partially a matter of flow and probably a matter of getting my muscles and joints literally warmer.

So there you have it. The next step is for me to make a habit of this. I’ve finally found something that works, that I enjoy on the exercise front. It would be a real shame if I neglected it.

Have you found a way to “hack” your exercise workouts? Might changing your assumptions help?

photo by makeshiftlove

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