Ohm

Like most people, my life has become one Big Ball of Stress. I mean, I have to work 4. Straight. Months before even getting a 2 week vacation. then, it's another 4.5. Straight. Months before I get the next one. Seriously.

Regardless, dealing with 100s of screaming, overdramatic people on an 8 month basis can take its toll. And don't even get me started on the students.

*rimshot!*

Everyone has their own reason for running. Lose weight, competition, blah blah blah. Mine is simply for stress management. Don't get me wrong, losing weight and pushing my limits was a nice added bonus, but I have (had...working on that) running in my life so I don't snap like a dry twig and go off on someone.

In my neck of the woods, it's getting pretty damn cold here. That, and my normal routine of getting up at Crack Ass O' Dawn to go running has been conveniently replaced by setting my alarm for 4:45am and then changing it to 5:45am. It's quite a workout, lemme tell ya.

Enter yoga. Breathing, stretching, hanging out in the back of the studio with women in yoga pants. My kind of activity, right? Well, at my old gym*, they offered a yoga class at 7pm. Perfect. Throw some food down my kids' throats, throw them in the bathtub, hand them off to mom, and I was off to the gym.

The first couple of instructors were pretty good. They actually taught the class and helped out. The next 3 were a hodgepodge at best:

1. The instructor who forgot she was teaching and kept going with poses without a word. This would go on for about 3 or 4 minutes at a time.
2. The instructor who had us standing on our heads within 15 minutes of class "just to try it out and see if you can do it."We couldn't do it and we were all pissed off after the class.
3. The instructor who wore a fanny pack.

Through dumb luck, I found out where my first 2 instructors went to go teach and I went to their studio. Not only did they let me try out the class for free, but it was probably the best exercise class I've been to. 

Was I the only guy there? Pretty much. I mean, there was another guy there, but I was the only guy there (2 snaps up in a circle**). Once the suburbia soccer moms and Neil, their "designer friend" stopped gossiping and started yoga-ing, the vibe was fine. And, after I got over the "you want me to do WHAT?" poses, it went smoothly. And then she put oil on my feet. Weird.

Very. Weird.

Regardless, I continue to go back every other week or so. I suppose if I started running on a consistent basis, I could almost be considered "fit" or "in cross training". 

Ohm.

*at least I think it's my old gym. Depends on if they're going to remember to stop billing me...which they won't.


**I plan on more 90's TV references if I write on a more consistent basis (doubtful).