I might be to fat to yoga. I've had a mat and DVD I borrowed from a friend, for eons. Today I finally decided to crack it. Had my little big girl tank, yoga pants and even a bad ass headband. "Finally! I get to use my yoga pants for actual yoga!" I thought. After trying three sections of the video, I lay on my back defeated, in broken snow angel pose. "I hate you ceiling," I exhale.
Holy shit how do people do this? How is someone like me supposed to do this? How am I supposed to sit on my knees, in "child pose," and breathe at the same time? My arms outstretched in front of me, I can feel my face getting red as i struggle to breathe. My neck feels tight and tweaked. "wait. let me get my-----ahhhhhhh." Roll out = air....but not....quite....enough. This isn't gonna work. My knees, my joints-----ouch! And with some of these arms stretched behind you, interlocking finger doosies, I almost feel the need for a spotter. I mean rolls equal resistance! DVD instructor lady. Don't you know that? And all my weight on my ankles? Are you kidding me? I look like a cow trying to plié. >>INSERT<< very long defeated-couch-sigh here.
To be honest, I always wanted to be the stretchy type but was to afraid I'd screw it up by sucking so bad or worse : a pressure fart. You know the kind, when you're moving furniture and you need all your body strength to PUUUSH! and you push alright, a big ripper. Fart or not, at least I'd still be able to yoga. At this point I couldn't get my Asana in gear even if I wanted too.
But I'm not giving up. According to my research, Plus Size Yoga is a very new trend, so new its no where to be found. Except at the library. Tomorrow I'm marching my bigness over to rent a DVD, YOGA : Just my size. Hopefully it'll feel better than an 18 hour bra. Namaste-not-so-much.
Figurine from Eastern Serenity
One word: Props! You need props! And there is nothing at all wrong with that. All beginners do, and I still use mine. I have a foam block and a strap that I use every time I practice yoga. Before you try again, grab them - at CVS, target, borders, best buy - wherever yoga mats are sold there are there!
ReplyDeleteFor example - in child's pose - make sure your knees are wider than your chest. Your torso should fit in between your knees. (The skinny yoga teachers never ever explain this and I was uncomfortable w/ my large chest for the longest time...) And if this still puts too much pressure on your chest, put your forehead on a block. This will give your chest enough room so that you can breathe - rather than putting your head on the floor. The rectangular yoga blocks have three heights - try them all and find the best one for you. And if one block isn't enough - stack two! There's no harm in it. There are some poses where I need two blocks. After a while, you'll be able to lower the block and eventually get rid of it!
My shoulders are too tight to do any of the arm stuff, so I hold onto a strap to help close the distance and allow me to stretch without killing myself. When I started doing yoga, I couldn't touch my toes - so a strap came in handy every time I needed to do that. Just wrap the strap around the foot and crawl your hands up the strap until you feel a good stretch.
So glad you're trying yoga! So proud of you! Don't give up. The thing with yoga is that you improve every time, and you can really see it - you'll be addicted in no time. Call me if you want any more tips!
xoxo
I love your idea of exploring yoga DVDs at the library--good ones will have modifications so people at different levels and flexibility can do it. I love yoga and even when I'm at my thinnest I still have my Latina curves and am shorter than a lot of the people in my yoga class. Stick with it if it appeals to you.
ReplyDeleteThanks beanie! <3
ReplyDelete@ Em : yeah Im really interested in it so Im definitely not giving up just yet. :o) woohooooooo
Actually yoga was the one thing that we did in my gym class that I felt comfortable doing. I felt like was at the same skill level as the skinny girls in my class. And trust me, I'm not one of those girls who thinks they are plus size at a size 10. I'm about 270lbs and a size 22. That sucks being that weight at age 17. Gym class can be absolutely agonizing. I've gained a lot of confidence over the years, simply because physical education is required to graduate. However, I must admit that it did help alot that my teacher trned off the lights in the room we were doing yoga in. XD
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