2.06.2012

Ravings of a Mad Man: vol. 6.42 (Pride in yourself is required to get out of bed)

                     Ravings of a Mad Man: vol. 6.42    

It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid then open it and remove all doubt

-Mark Twain

 

There are several moments in my life that I have thought that what I am doing or did was beyond my abilities as the cruddy human being I tend to be. Such events or accomplishments include but are not limited to and are in no particular order of importance: Finding a girl that would tolerate me, being patient enough to have two children, writing a thesis, graduating college with an above average GPA. When I looked at this I thought that there would never be any accomplishments in the realm of physical activity. I would be stuck remembering scoring my first goal on the high school varsity team, sinking several free throws in a row to help my 5th grade Jr. Jazz team go undefeated, and hilarious plays in my team sports classes (there are been a lot of them since I took like 4 team sports classes while stuck in high school). I don't like to run long distances or ride bike for extreme exercise so my accomplishments of physical activity were becoming more and more limited as I grew into an older man. This past weekend, after a lot of asking, Jenny invited me to yoga, not just regular yoga but Bikram Yoga. This version of yoga is performed in a room heated to 105F. So you can image the amount of sweat generated in one class could probably water a typical Utah residential landscape. I was very skeptical of my ability to maintain a straight face as I was being instructed to perform the postures. Each class is 90 minutes long. Not only do you have to maintain concentration but there is no talking. I don't go 90 minutes while sleeping without talking. As the sweat being beading up in several places the class began. I sat starring at myself in the mirror enjoying my beard and how handsome I look with my shirt off when the difficult part began. We were instructed to take deep breathes inhaling, making a humorous noise and exhaling making an even more humorous noise. I will say this, if you can make it through the first part without laughing you will be okay. Because from then on out you are just trying not to embarrass yourself this requires the utmost focus. I will admit that I have to make the yoga experience a game otherwise I couldn't make it through. I know they say that there is only person you compete against while doing yoga, yourself but I like to compete against the people around me. I don't tell them this but when I see them pull out of posture it fuels my fire to dig deeper. I will admit the first time I did it I probably was the 4th worst of the cluster of 7 people but I have never done yoga. This morning when I did it again I ranked 4th again. But the competition was a lot better this morning. Soon enough I will be 3rd then if I pick my spots well I could potentially be 2nd out of 7 people. I don't think I will ever be first unless I cheated and started pushing people over. It could happen, I love to win. To make a long story a little bit longer I have once again found a physical activity that I can leave feeling proud of what I have accomplished in 90 minutes. I recommend that everybody try it at least once. Even if you don't like at least it you have been sweating out all of those toxins in your body. It was much needed for me after last night's super smorgasbord of sugars and fats.

 

Trivia Time: When have you been the most proud of yourself?

 

Quote of the Week: The instructor quoting Bikram (almost making me chuckle), "You can spend 90 minutes in hell or 90 year of hell."

 

Have a good week I know I will

Eric Jones

www.oprahismymom.blogspot.com


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This message was approved by Eric Jones

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