10/08/2016
The Ultimate Yoga Experience
It was beautiful Saturday morning and the sun was shining so bright. The birds kept singing their beautiful songs and yes, I felt alive. The most surprising thing is that I was thinking about my first yoga session via skype. Who wouldn’t be thinking about it, especially now that it was my first time? Well I have done yoga before, but the thought of doing it all by myself while the instructor is at another place kept getting me excited. How will it be? Will it feel like any other yoga session? Will I be self-disciplined enough to complete the session? Will there be any interruptions?
The Preparation
Now that anxiety was kicking in I wished time could fly. I had booked a 11 am session and I knew I had to keep time. I prepared myself well as you can already imagine: charging my laptop, checking if the internet connection is perfect and creating space for my practice. By 9 am I was through with taking my breakfast so I decided to read an eBook I had downloaded the previous night.
Time passed by so fast. I forgot to mention, I love reading. I was into what I was reading so much until I received a text message from my yoga instructor, Faith. It was about 15 minutes to time so I knew she wanted to know if I was ready. And yes, when I read the text it was exactly that. I replied to the text. If only she knew that I had been waiting for this moment the entire morning. Well, too unfortunate I couldn’t tell her. “This is my little secret”, I told myself, but now you know!
I checked my internet speeds and for sure I was good to go. Yoga via skype, here I come! Do you ever talk to yourself at times? Don’t get me wrong, I am not insane. But I speak to myself sometimes as it helps in boosting my confidence. It’s just like how you prepare yourself before going for an interview, and you know you need to get hired because it’s your dream job.
Finally, the skype call came and I was more than glad to take it. I had already changed into my yoga attire, ready to rock! “Today I have to do something I haven’t done before”, I told myself. My instructor says “If you can, you must”.
The class
The session began in time and it was already getting hot. I made sure that the room had sufficient lighting. The laptop was right in front of me and I could see my teacher very well. She could see me perfectly too. She asked me if I had any injuries and my aim for the class.
I wanted us to focus on my belly fat because it’s one thing I would like to get rid of. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be skinny. I just want the excess fat I have accumulated over the years to go away. So to get the best out of this session I chose to shelve all my worries and problems and just focus on yoga.
“Well then, let’s begin at child pose”, the instructor said, “Inhale deeply and take long breaths out”. Wow, this was really happening! By the time we were done with the sun salutations, I was already sweating. “I must be doing a good job”, I told myself. So how do I challenge myself? I mean push myself out of the comfort zone? Before I could decide, I thought of how I see my classmates jumping to a high plank position. This must be it. I have to jump through.
If you have never tried jumping through then you know how it looks so complicated. But I had to do it and there, it was just perfect. The next thing my instructor said was, “great”. There was no time for more compliments so on we moved with the session. The most amazing thing is I was so motivated. I even managed to do my balancing poses perfectly because I was all by myself and I could focus more. There were no distractions!
Also, the moment I didn’t do the poses well, my teacher informed me immediately and I would adjust myself accordingly. For instance, there are those poses where you have to open up your chest towards the ceiling. In most cases I don’t do it well, so my instructor could see it and she told me how I could align myself perfectly. Her full attention was on me unlike when I attend a community class; its normally not easy for the teacher to focus on everyone at the same time. It felt just amazing and different. Another advantage was that I didn’t have to endure the traffic and spend more time going to the studio.
By the time we got to the abdominal series, my energy was dwindling. Remember I had to focus, this is what I need to get rid of the belly fat. But the moment I laid on my back, I was sure that it’s my time to shine. This is what I have been waiting for. Motivation kicked in and yes I did the poses so well. I didn’t need my instructor to confirm it because I could already feel it in my tummy.
The rest of the poses were a bit challenging even thou Savasana came sooner than I expected. I guess it’s because I was already having so much fun. The class ended with an acknowledgement of the light in ourselves and of those around us.
I sat upright. My instructor asked me how the class was. You all know what I said, right? Well I did have fun even though I thought it would feel weird because I was all alone. I had saved so much time and it was convenient for me. I knew this is my new routine. Yoga via skype!
I am inviting everyone to try this out. How will you know if you don’t? Maybe you will like it even more than I did, you never know. As for me I know I am not going back and I thank everyone who made this awesome idea a reality. Namaste!
http://web-yoga.org/
