I hate yoga.
When was the last time I tried it? 1969.
Progressive thinkers that they were, my parents made me take yoga when I was ten, believing it would help me to become more focused and improve my grades. I may have told you this before. Every Saturday morning, they drove me into the city for class. While my friends were eating Cocoa Puffs, drinking Tang and watching cartoons, I was saluting the sun and hating every minute of it. I decided then that when I finally had complete freedom to make my own decisions, I’d never go within 10 feet of a yoga mat. Forty-one years later, I’ve held to it. I also remain one of the least flexible (and least focused) people I know. Such is the price of freedom.
Many of my friends and acquaintances do yoga and love it. Being barefooted, moving slowly in a quiet room, is not my cup of chamomile tea.
However, I am aware that yoga has changed vastly in the decades since I first experienced it so unpleasantly.
For example, I recently read about something called “Laughter Yoga.” I might be able to warm up to that. Also called hasyayoga, this discipline involves self-triggered laughter that spreads among people in the class. I assume this enhances the workout in some way.
I’m a fan of contagious laughter, though perhaps not enough so to combine it with exercise forcibly. I laugh plenty in Jazzercise, as my friends and I make faces, exaggerate our dance steps and share dirty jokes on the floor. But that’s genuine, not contrived.
I know there’s also “Hot Yoga,” which involves exercises performed in extremely hot and humid temperatures. Sounds like weeding the yard in July to me.
We have a friend who’s into all sorts of other kinds in a big way, so much so that he recently took a break from his career to focus on yoga full time. As part of a side project, he recently invented something called “In Sink Yoga.”
Setting aside my overall clumsiness and lack of muscular flexibility and strength, I might also find this doable. Here, take a look:
I love this for so many reasons. Did someone say “cleaning fetish?”
Maybe for his next video project, he’ll do Om on the Range.
Word Nymph 
Om on the range…Too Funny
Love Om on the range, too. I actually enjoyed yoga when I forced myself to go, but prefer spending my workout time with the horses. I did flow yoga, it was faster so I didn’t get attention deficit.
I like hot yoga, it can be as good as a massage.Try it, you may like it. (smile)
I cannot get the link above to work, want to see the video!
Carla, if you’re reading via e-mail subscription, try going to the site.Within today’s post, you’ll see the YouTube image, click the play button (triangle in the middle of the image). I hope it works.
“Remember to breathe”, that cracked me up. His obvious dedication and tongue-in-cheek delivery make me want to try more than just Wii yoga (which I excel at even if i am in the kitchen making a sandwich). Once again, I really enjoy reading your posts.
hasyayoga or ha,ha yoga? Love Om on the Range. We had a family yoga class last week with ages 16-86, really, and it was fun! We were not nearly as silly as I thought we would be! A niece had suggested yoga breathing exercises for our Mom.
…and since you never complained, I thought you were loving it! Truly. So much for mother-daughter communication. Bet you can’t remember your teacher’s name…?
No, do you? I do remember the weird smell of my leotard though.
I’m with Deidra. I took Pilates for years, but get more core excercise on a horse than I ever did on a mat! So no Om for me, just a giddyup!
Did anyone catch the secret message?
I don’t know. I caught many puns. If there was a secret message, are you able to reveal it?
Remember to center your awareness and focus
second hint: Remember to look at the whole picture
Wonderfully well executed article
Thankfully some bloggers can write. Thanks for this writing