Our teacher tells us yoga is ideally done every day. But I can only go to class thrice a week as of now.

Months back, before my gym membership, I tried doing yoga at home. Unfortunately, this did not quite pan out the way I envisioned it would. Space limited my movements. I found myself hitting furniture as I stretched this way and that. Also, telephone ringing jarred me most during Savasana (Corpse pose), the cooling down period.

It was totally non-conducive to self-practice!

After enrolling in a gym, I discovered gaps in class offerings that allowed me to use a large room with wooden flooring and adequate lighting for self-yoga. I now go at odd hours, do about half an hour on the treadmill, then 1 to 1-1/2 hrs of yoga from memory.

Of course, it cannot compare with joining a class led by our teacher Pio. Firstly, the collective presence of other yoginis motivates me to push myself to the limits (and it helps to know na “hindi ka nag-iisa sa hirap at sa hirap”) . So if I have to groan, I prefer to groan collectively with the rest. There is also some belief that the invisible energy around our bodies somehow energizes us in a class, something that cannot happen when practising alone. I also welcome the teacher correcting my pose for alignment and it is always exciting to try out new poses.

I have not yet reached the stage of daily yoga practice. There are days when the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I read somewhere that the first 40 days is the most difficult when trying to form a habit; it gets better and better after that. Geez, I wonder if I can ever do 40 days of yoga straight!!! Nope, I won’t even try to make that a resolution. I will just go with the flow for now and hopefully get to that point at some time in the near future.