Average Jane’s Burst of Self Improvement

Yesterday I had a long-overdue deep tissue massage. As I was paying and chatting with my massage therapist, she told me what I already knew: my muscles were a mess – even worse than usual.

I clench my jaw, I sit in front of a computer way too much and I don’t get any exercise, so by the time I finally limp to the chiropractor or massage therapist, I’m always reduced to a painful mass of tight muscle fibers.

Her advice: get a night guard from the dentist, start taking yoga again and increase my calcium and magnesium intake.

I’d already been considering resuming yoga classes, partly for the strength and flexibility and partly because I’m noticeably gaining weight. Last night I looked up the class schedule for the yoga center in my neighborhood and saw that they had a Level 2 Ashtanga class at 6:15 a.m. on Wednesdays. I set my alarm for 5:45 a.m.

I woke up before the alarm rang and repeatedly talked myself in and out of going to the class until I got up. It’s been a couple of years since I last took a class and I was worried that I couldn’t hack an advanced class. But then I figured that "advanced" just meant "for students who already know the classic poses." Anyway, I got up at 5:45, threw on some hideous workout garb that exposed my pudgy midsection way more than I would have liked, and went to class.

I almost bailed out at the 15-minute mark. I started feeling nauseated and a little clammy, but I sipped a little bit of water and forged onward. I couldn’t do some of the advanced poses, but I made it through the whole 90-minute class and even managed one handstand (against the wall, but still…).  When the class was over I felt WONDERFUL.

After my shower, I continued the self-improvement juggernaut and called my dentist’s office to make an appointment to be fitted for a night guard. Then I retrieved my container of Viactiv from the back of the cupboard, dosed myself with calcium and headed to work.

Now, I’m not saying I’ll be able to continue my progress indefinitely, but it sure feels good to have gotten this far. I’m planning on taking yoga classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning and I should be able to settle into the routine after a week or so. Wish me luck!