Day 86: Yoga and Ben Folds

A large part of my Korean saga has been my various abortive attempts at getting myself in shape - be they short-lived, infrequently used gym memberships, misguided promises to do calisthenics at home, or the more serious contracts with personal trainers. The latest (and probably final, as I've found a routine that seems to be working) addition to this lengthy list began today with my first ever experience with yoga.

It. Hurt.

Let me back up a bit. I was first appraised of the fact that my gym offers free yoga classes with membership about a month ago, when I re-signed with the gym for my final three-month contract. I didn't think much of it. However, last week I saw my friend and gym buddy Bek in there, flopping around on the floor with the best of them. I talked to him afterwards, and he said it was not only an intense workout, but it had helped him with his back problems, too. Now, ever since switching to my new bed last summer, I have had a kink in my back that just never got worked out. I also have noticed a seriously decreased flexibility in recent months, probably due to the rigid mostly lifting-based nature of my workout. So I decided to give it a shot.

The instructor got caught up in traffic and was thus an hour late. I passed the time by running for a little bit, then lifting muscle groups I didn't think I'd be using for yoga (Fact: you use ALL THE FRIGGIN MUSCLE GROUPS for yoga). When the instructor arrived, the yoga group had diminished significantly. There were only six of us: Bek, one woman, three other Korean dudes, and your humble writer, the only white person in the room. Probably also the only person in my weight class (by a couple classes).

The instructor was a pretty 30-something who looked like she enjoyed others' pain. We started with some deep breathing, then moved on to leg stretches and torso rotations and that sort of thing. So far, so good, although I couldn't really get the timing right because everything was said in Korean and I had to either have Bek translate or just try to imitate what was going on around me. What I could pick up from Korean alone still took me a few extra seconds to assimilate.

I found it quite impossible to properly do the stretches that involved sitting on my feet. It felt like I was breaking my ankles, but I guess that will come with practice. I am also pretty sure the instructor was making fun of me the whole time. Things really got intense with these things where we laid on our stomachs and lifted all four limbs into the air at the same time, grabbing left foot with right hand and so on. I was sweating about twice as much as I would have during a 5k, plus I had to lower my face into it every count of ten.

I redeemed myself at the end, I think, and surprised myself, by pulling off and holding a full-extension back bridge, shoving my stomach upwards while supporting myself with my arms and legs fully extended. I haven't been able to do that since I was ten.

In other news, two of my favorite things musical have come together in one lovely little package that surprises and delights: BEN FOLDS HAS CURATED A GREATEST HITS ALBUM. A GREATEST HITS ALBUM OF HIS SONGS COVERED BY COLLEGIATE A CAPPELLA GROUPS. It is fantastic and, while some of the arrangements disappointed me a little (I liked Con Brio's covers of "Army" and "Brick" better, although the soloist on the latter was amazing), the vast majority of them were amazing.

Bonus Jealousy Point: The A Cappella groups that were chosen for the final album got to meet and work with the man Himself for the recording sessions. AND SOME OF THEM GET TO GO ON TOUR WITH HIM. AASGIASAEWGASNHG.