By Martin Ramirez-Cauich, staff writer
A couple of weeks ago I started to try something new that I’ve never done before or even thought of doing. The new activity I started to do is yoga. Yoga is something that I always see as something for older people to do so that they stretch and get their daily movements going.
The reason I started to do yoga was because I saw that on social media a bigger sized man was doing yoga and he explained how it helped him improve his mobility right after he was done working out. The results that I hope for when I do yoga is to be moving more during the weekdays especially since when I’m in online school I feel so stiff just staying in one place and not having much movement. Yoga is a great way to solve this problem I wanted to fix just because some days I can’t even go outside for a walk.
Yoga is an old discipline which originates from India. It is both a spiritual and physical kind of practice that uses breathing techniques, exercise and meditation. I decided to try yoga the day after just because I was curious and wanted to try a new way to get active.
To my surprise I found yoga really relaxing and helpful because when I was sore the stretches I was doing really helped me get more comfortable. Usually I just do yoga about 3 times a week but for this week I thought I’d make an exception and record how my sessions went and show what I do everyday.
Day 1 (Monday):
I started my week off by waiting until after online school was finished to start doing yoga, just because when I’m in class I usually stay in one place so still so it’s good that I just move around right after. I usually stay in my room to do yoga just because there isn’t that much space in my front yard for me to do yoga. I searched up a youtube channel called “Yoga with Kassandra” and I just followed along with the video. At first it feels very uncomfortable since I always start off very shaky since holding a specific position I’m not very used to is difficult. The pose I did for this day was one that I had to stand up straight and start to almost do the splits, then just touch the ground while trying your best to keep that position for 30 seconds.
Day 2 (Tuesday):
This day I went for a quick jog around the neighborhood just to prepare myself for some yoga I’ll do later. I went to the same youtube channel and I started a different video and went along with it. This time the pose I had to do was difficult for me because i had to keep a straight leg on the ground and have both my hands reach the bottom of my foot. Today felt really relaxing especially after coming from a run and just stretching in all the right spots really helps me have a much comfortable sleep.
Day 3 (Wednesday):
This day I decided that after online school I would just start to do some yoga. I kind of got the hang of the sessions of yoga I should be doing and so I don’t open up youtube to do yoga. I started to notice that weirdly I’ve begun to become more flexible since I’ve been doing these poses with more ease. Some poses I’ve begun to become more comfortable and less shaky like for child’s pose, in the beginning I was really shaky when doing that but now I dont shake as much.
Day 4 (Thursday):
This day I went on a jog just to try and be more consistent and have the same feeling as tuesday. I started to play the youtube video this day just in case I have missed something important. I ended up going for an extra 5 minutes than my usual 10 minutes just because my leg was hurting and I thought that extra leg stretches will help.
Day 5 (Friday):
This day I lost a bit of motivation to just do yoga because I felt like I didn’t have time to do a session.
Day 6 (Saturday):
To make up for yesterday and since it was the weekend I decided to go play soccer. After I was done running I decided to just do yoga on the field and just hear the instructions through my phone. I tried to focus more on my breathing and learned a new trick where you inhale for four seconds, then you hold it for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds.
Day 7 (Sunday):
Since I had more time this day I just decided to try a 30 minute session. I searched up a video from the same youtube channel and I just did it twice. I noticed that my sleep has also been better and ive been able to go to sleep more relaxed.
What I took away from doing yoga this week was that I have become more flexible and able to move more than I used to. I noticed this because when I was doing yard work it felt easier squatting down and getting in uncomfortable positions. I also feel like I’ve been able to sleep more because of the breathing techniques that I learned through the videos and I just apply that once I need to go to sleep. In conclusion, I feel that everyone should give yoga a chance because the process was fun, and trying something new helps expand your mind and learn.
