La Vie en Yoga

Tonight I went to my first public yoga class in a year! I went to a studio I found online while doing research about my neighborhood. The studio is in a block of buildings about a 5 minute walk from my apartment. They have easy online registration for classes, as well as an app, and student discount. I had some trouble getting into the building, as there were numerous gates and codes, but eventually, I found the space. It was a very nice, seemingly new space. At reception, I was asked to remove my shoes. Then I confirmed my registration and was shown the changing area with storage lockers. (Parisians generally do not wear workout wear out and about like we do in the states). I changed and locked up my things and nervously headed into the studio. There were two other students and the instructor. As I stretched nervously thinking, what am I doing here, two more students arrived. This was a relief as I was hoping less attention would be paid to me and my beginner skills. I have done yoga on and off the past 3 years. I started practicing more seriously when I found a wonderful YouTube teacher with 100s of free videos, and some subscription classes. I completed a 30 day power yoga series in July and have since practiced yoga in some form nearly everyday. However, I hadn't been to a real public class in over a year, and this studio was a far cry form the free 24 hour fitness yoga I was used to. We started with breathing and some "omms" and I began to wonder if this would been even too hippyish for me! (which would be pretty crazy!) But, I stuck it out and managed to make it through, and enjoy this hour long class. I don't think I've ever had such an intense workout, but I was really proud of what I was able to do. Some poses I feel like I've mastered in my home practices, and man, with the aid of the instructor, I improved on immensely. I really felt accomplished at the end of the session, but enjoyed the much needed corpse pose at the end. The class was primarily conducted in French, definitely a challenge, as I don't understand most yoga poses in their sanskrit names anyway. However, I managed to understand and watch others if I was confused. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and plan to go back twice a week to continue to improve my practice. One last anecdote: a girl in my class put on stilettos and left the studio, pretty good Parisian image there.

Namaste!