Yoga is one of those things that I (Kelli) have had on my bucket list for a long, long time. When we lived in a bigger city I never made time to look into classes and then when we moved out to our rural little village I realized there were no yoga studios near me. I’d have to drive about 30 mintues one way for a class and well, that never happened.
But as I was breezing through a little leaflet mailer that our school district sent out last week I came across this:
Really? Yoga …. and for beginners? Hooray!
Last night was the first class. I had called and talked to the teacher because I wasn’t sure if I needed to pre-register or not and she let me know that wasn’t necessary. She seemed kind over the phone and when I asked about it being for beginners she said that this group had been meeting for 6 week sessions since January. Uh-oh. That meant I was not going to be in this class with beginners but rather with “seasoned” pros (in my mind). She explained it would be perfectly OK for me to join in and that the class was relaxed and informal.
Then it started in my head. The road blocks that seemed real, reasons for not going.
- Maybe I’ll hold the class up since I know nothing about how to do yoga
- Maybe I shouldn’t do it because of my recent surgery (this is a real maybe – I don’t want to screw anything up)
- I am not supposed to drive, and even though this is 2 blocks away maybe I shouldn’t chance it
- Mr. TCC has the good vehicle so I’d have to drive our beater vehicle
- I feel kind of tired, maybe I will start next week
- I have to pay the $42 upfront and who knows if every Wednesday for the next 6 weeks I will be around to go
- What if no one talks to me at class?
- And on & on….
Do you sometimes put up road blocks for yourself as an excuse for not doing something? I think it is pretty common and something we are all guilty of at one time or another. Usually I am game for most anything but one fear I have is entering a room where I know no one. It’s always bothered me. As I was thinking about all my excuses and watching the clock I realized I was being silly. I wanted to do yoga for a long time. Why not?
I texted Jim to let him know I was going (to which he lovingly responded that I needed to be very careful and take it easy). That committment helped because if I backed out, I would need to explain it to him and that held me accountable. I needed that.
Long story short, I did go to class. The 15+ women were all very nice. I was the only one who had not been there before. I drove, it was fine and I took it easy. There were about 30% of the things that I was unable to do because of my surgery and I knew that so during those times I stretched out in other ways. I paid my $42 and committed – and guess what…..it wasn’t so bad after all. When class was over I packed up my little yoga mat (that I had received as a gift some years ago but honestly had not used much at home) and proudly walked out to our beater truck and hoped in. I did it – yoga.
What is holding you back from trying something new? Why? Don’t let your mind convince you not to try it!
