15 minutes of Yoga after 90 days of inactivity — Here’s what I learned
This sounds bad, doesn’t it?
I used to do yoga everyday. And write about it too. Ginormous informational guides, infographics and tons of articles. And yet, I left it.
Well, I could partly blame it on my nerve infection which made it difficult to perform any pose or exert myself. Part of the blame is on my procrastination gene. I’m sure I have that mutated in my DNA because any other kind of exercise feels like I’m punishing my body for god knows what, and yoga, even though exhausting, centers me. Yoga has a way of bringing back our peace, aligning our chakras and making our body feel valued, doesn’t it?
Anyway, after weeks of procrastination, I decided to start again.
Before warm up
Where the heck is my mat? Oops, it’s dusty. I had a Sophie’s Choice moment there — whether to wash it and lose another day of yoga or just dry-mop it and feel all kinds of germs vacationing over me.
I chose the latter.
Learning: Don’t procrastinate. You won’t die if you take two showers in a day.
Warm up
It felt weird to a yoga sequence not beginning with Surya Namaskar. I continued anyway.
Inhale as you raise your arms — exhale and twist to side as you align your arms horizontally at shoulder level — inhale and raise your arms up as you go back — exhale and twist to the other side.
That wasn’t difficult. What was difficult was doing this without letting my hands drop on the sides. Right after 6th slow breath my muscles started burning up. I kept going.
Learning: When it’s going easy, focus on your muscles. When it gets exerting, focus on your breath.
Main asanas
It was only a 15-minute sequence. So, how many asanas could there be since Surya Namaskar was omitted? It had only 3 — Mountain pose transforming to Warrior pose I, Tree pose, Inverted plank. That seemed easy. It wasn’t.
I bent down in Mountain pose. My heels were touching the mat and knowing that my hamstrings haven’t gone plastic boosted my motivation. Then, gradually moving to Warrior pose, I realised how weak my knees had gone. No pun intended. However, as I raised my arms above and lengthened my spine, I actually heard stress leave my body. My shoulders cracked. Wooohoo!
I sucked at Tree pose. My jammies didn’t allow my foot to rest properly on my thigh and I couldn’t hold it. Before I could figure out a way around this, the trainer switched to the next pose — Inverted plank. I was dreading this — planks are next to Burpees and Jumping Jacks in my Hate List. Surprisingly, it went smooth.
Learning: Don’t underestimate the power of proper yoga pants. Yoga mat is no place for jammies, no matter how comfortable they are.
Cool down
As I lay on the mat and twisted my torso to each side, my spine cracked open. I was far from feeling the mental relief, but that my back going tak-tak-tak felt sooooo…good!
Like many other, Savasana was my favourite asana, not because it’s easy on the body, but because it’s so centering. But, this time, Savasana fell short to relieve me of the stress I was under.
Learning: Do Savasana even if it not preceded by a complete yoga sequence. It’s the most underrated asanas.
Takeaway
15 minutes is nothing when it comes to yoga. That’s some motivation to restart and continue doing it anywhere— it will be over before you know it. But, 15 minutes is enough of a tease to invest in more of yourself. After all, yoga is the only exercise that leaves your body and mind feeling valued — every. single. time.
Tomorrow will be better. I’ll probably add 5 minutes of Surya Namaskar and then proceed with the rest of the 15-minute sequence.
I’m Mansi, a full-time overthinker. I left my well-paying (highly stressful) advertising life to pursue Freelancing. For collaborations or hiring me as a writer, find me at upwork. For more interesting stuff, follow me on Instagram @mansilausdeo. See you around! :)
