It had been quite a while since I last attended yoga class. And so I looked forward to the Flow Yoga class at Studio W in Kota Damansara with mixed feelings. While I was eager to stretch out all the kinks in my shoulders and back, I was a little worried I would be bedridden the next day with body aches.
Thankfully, the class started gradually with stretches and simple movements to warm up the body before Roslin, the instructor, led us to more advanced poses. We went through a series of postures – the downward dog, the cobra, the crow, the camel and the cat pose. Yes, you will probably know that quite a number of asanas (poses) are named after animals.
This is because a lot of yoga poses were created after observing the natural behaviour of animals such as how a cat arches its body when it stretches. Or the downward dog, which the picture below illustrates.
It was good that Roslin usually gave several options during the more difficult poses. Those who were advanced could opt to perform the full pose while the beginners could hold a simpler version of the pose, for example, by bending the knees or only lifting a leg halfway up.
It is always important to know the limitations of our bodies so that we don’t overexert or injure ourselves. In my case, I found that every time I bent over while performing the downward dog, I felt a pang of headache. After class, during consultation with Roslin, I discovered that it was my low blood pressure that caused the headaches and was advised to keep my head higher off the ground to reduce these symptoms.
By the end of the one-hour session, I was drenched in sweat and my legs were trembling from the exercises, but my body felt really good and light. And surprisingly, although I did have a few aches here and there the next morning, I hopped right out of bed feeling fully rejuvenated and raring to go.