an ounce of Prevention

i love Prevention magazine. it's a health-and-wellness monthly filled with all kinds of interesting information about fitness and eating right and all manner of health-related issues. my mom subscribes, and finding a newly arrived copy on her coffee table when i go to visit is a tiny bit like finding a huge piece of cake -- i can't wait to get my hands on it.

aside: it's usually my bedtime reading when i stay over chez mes parents. i put george to bed, set the house alarm and then climb into bed to read the entire magazine, cover to cover, until i can barely keep my eyes open. last weekend, i actually had to stop 1/3 of the way in because i was getting sleep-monstrously drowsy. i saved the remainder to finish in the morning, since i knew i'd be up at least a half-hour before everyone else.

anyway...

for a long time, Prevention's focus seemed to be on getting fit and losing weight (nonetheless containing heaps of useful tips, tricks and tidbits) but, within the last year, its editorial team has changed and its new focus is along the lines of "living well when you're in your 40s, 50s and beyond." there's a greater focus on the mind-body connection, and on fostering a healthy you physically, emotionally and spiritually. there are still plenty of recipes for nutritious meals; lots of Q&As with noted physicians, nutritionists and medical professionals; and a ton of step-by-step guides to adopting different exercise regimens or fitness practices, all geared towards building endurance and strength over time (instead of forcing the reader to dive head first into something far too intense far too quickly). but feeling great and being great are now as important as looking great.

each time i read an issue of Prevention, i get a little buzz. i suddenly want to go out and buy new running shoes or cook a bunch of dinosaur kale or head to the community pool to swim laps. i don't know how they do it -- maybe it's language? imagery? design? subliminal messaging? -- but i always feel ready to do something by the time i get to the last page of the magazine. it's pretty great, actually, and the same thing happens to mom and trix when they read it. i think part of it is the wealth of easily digestible information and advice. for the most part, articles are concise yet value-packed. there are longer features, but those are often first-person accounts of achievement, conquering fear and doubt, or just learning to live a better life.

all this to say: yesterday, thanks to the issue i read over the weekend, i decided to try after-work "calming" yoga for the first time.

they'd discussed it briefly in the print version of the magazine, and encouraged readers to check their website for a set of nine postures geared towards helping you stretch and unwind and relax your muscles at the end of the day. ever since i started working at the office on a regular basis -- and despite walking to and from work most days -- i've been feeling like my body is slowly stiffening up on me. i know my posture blows, and parking myself at my desk for eight hours a day wasn't helping.

so, i checked out the website. i've never been a fan of yoga. i've never been able to really get into it, and i don't get the fervour surrounding it. we used to do it fairly regularly in my meditation group, but i always groaned quietly inside whenever it was announced as the practice for a given night. after looking over the suggested postures in the Prevention piece on sunday night, i decided i'd try it monday when i got home from work.

i printed out the move-by-move instructions, moved my dining table to the side to create a space big enough for yoga, unrolled a fluffy towel (i'm not buying a yoga mat just yet, thanks) and got to it.

it was challenging!

i kept wondering how this was meant to be relaxing. i was amazed at how out of shape my body seemed as i struggled to hold simple postures for more than about 15 seconds. and then i thought back to all those stories i've heard about people who weren't able to hold any postures when they started yoga, but who had evolved into the kind of headstand-doing, limber-bodied, namaste-saying devotees.

as such, i cut myself some slack. i heard my inner voice wanting to throw in the towel (*rimshot*), but i kept going. i decided that my goal for the first week was to try all the postures and to hold them for as long as i felt able. if that meant five seconds, so be it. if it meant 20, great!

and, in about 22 minutes, i finished the full set. i was tired, and pretty sure my body would be sore this morning (turns out: only my arms!), but i felt weirdly accomplished. which is why, when i got home tonight, i did it again. i can't do a downward dog to save my life, and my back and arms are aching tonight, but i'm hoping to keep it up -- at least somewhat regularly -- going forward. we'll see.