Friday, November 6, 2009

Tight groin

I never knew I had a tight groin until today.  Once a week I meet with my yoga instructor Nicole.  I found her on gumtree.co.uk one day about 3 weeks ago while I was looking for a good astrologer - yes an astrologer.  Her prices were reasonable and I knew that I needed to become more flexible so my back would stop freezing up (oh yea and maybe drop some of the excess "lovin" I had accumulated over the past 12 month, but I digress..).  We emailed, she seemed legit and so I went to her house in Clifton (the really really nice area of town mind you) and...she ends up being American!

Yoga Nicole - she is the one on the right

It was funny at the time, although not as funny now on paper.  But, anyway, we talked about what I wanted to get out of yoga and she explained that in the first month we would go through the basic yoga poses before we did an actual flow.  I like this - I never really learned how to "do" yoga, so when I went to classes I was always in the back watching all the skinny ass, yoga pants and tank top wearing, women doing these intricate and painful moves.  I always thought that I had a weak core and tight hamstrings, explaining why some moves were hard for me to do.  Plus, standing over 6 feet tall makes that whole bending over, down, and backwards thing just plain unnatural and awkward looking.  But, today I was proven wrong - my core is actually pretty strong, you just can't see it through my excess layers of skin, yet!  Hamstrings are a bit tight, but nothing like they were before.  No, today I found out that I have a tight groin.  Yes, a tight groin and before you laugh it is painful man.  And really who in the hell thinks of their groin as tight and not think sex off the bat?  When did I find this out you may ask?  I found this out attempting to do this move called "Warrior 2"


 (In case you are wondering, no I have not turned into a skinny white lady who wears yoga pants and a tank top - this is a model.)  To correctly do this pose you have to have a long stance with your back foot pointed at a 45 degree angle - not 60 or 90 but 45 degrees.  The front leg should be bend, but not over the ankle and your hips should be pointed out, not in the direction of your legs.  Your arms come out and you pull back with your arms, but pull forward with your legs.  Point blank - this move hurt liked a bitch and I felt like someone was ripping my groin out of my body.

Yet, at the end of the session my body felt good.  A bit tired from the run this morning, but nicely stretched with sufficent "uh's" and "you want me to do what" released through the session, the overall meeting was good and I feel myself slowly understanding this thing called yoga.  So I continue to go to Nicole once a week until I am confident enough to walk back into the studio, knowing that I can bust out moves like this guy.


 Ok, maybe not...but as least I won't be intimidated by the overly flexible women and half naked men who "do" yoga with their slender chiseled physiques.  With my basketball shorts on and old t-shirt I will show them how this tall brown girl works a pose.

2 comments:

Meg said...

you're fancy with all of your private trainers! but seriously--love your writing and it's damn nice to finally read something non-academic from you, even if it about your groin!!

Alicia said...

haha! I think u could do that crazy-ass move the guy in the last pic does ! I don't go to Yoga classes for those same reasons, but I know it would be good for my body. How come 'beginner' classes always have people in them who have been taking yoga for years?
Keep us updated on the many benefits yoga has on your body!