Yoga...it works!

Oh. My. Gosh.  I just finished a 10 minute yoga routine, and noticed I was feeling a bit more flexible than usual.  So to test this theory I bent down with my legs straight to see how far off the ground I could reach. 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life, I can bend and touch my toes quite comfortably with straightened legs.  This has never happened before!!! Not even in all the years of gymnastics I did growing up (I could do the splits, but I couldn't touch my toes).  I am shock-ED and amaze-ED, people!

I've never really been into yoga.  I guess I always thought it was all about relaxation and meditation and funnily-named poses.  But the first time I actually tried yoga, I realised it's actually hard work, and it works muscles you didn't even realise you had.  It left me feeling a little sore and rather tired!  So I have since been "enlightened" and realise that it's more about working all the muscles in your body, and a yoga routine is simply a means of achieving that end.  

So after trying yoga I am no longer a skeptic, but I actually haven't been doing it for very long.  Earlier this year, after a minor back injury, my physiotherapist recommended I try some yoga or pilates to build up my core strength to help prevent future injuries.  So I had a look on YouTube and tried out a few routines, and soon found The Yoga Solution - Beginner series with Tara Stiles.  

And so for a few weeks, here and there, I've been doing her routines.  I admit she goes through it a little fast, but I figure with more practise I'll be able to keep up a little better.  The last couple of days I decided to try and do one every day as they are only 10 minutes long.  Possibly even morning and night if I have time, because I'm always so stiff and it seems to help.  So yesterday I did it twice, and today after work I did the "Building Balance" routine, which must be pretty funny to watch as I wobble around and try unsuccessfully to steady myself as I tumble over yet again, and concluded it might be a while before I had this yoga thing down.  But I persevered! 

At it was at the end of this routine when I noticed this sudden flexibility and then made the amazing discovery regarding my new talent. And so...it works!  I'm already so much more flexible.  It may be a temporary thing for now (because the body is just like that), but hopefully with regular yoga it will be more ongoing and I will feel more loose and relaxed.  

So, will I be continuing with this daily yoga thing?  Heck, yes!

*(In hindsight I should probably add that tonight I first got halfway through an advanced flexibility routine before I realised it wasn't the beginner one and was out of my capabilities!  So I guess that may have had something to do with my ultra-flexibility)

Here's the routine I did today, but I recommend all her beginner videos: