Mind-body health:
confessions of a yogi in training

By Cecily F. Cornelius-White, Psy.D.

Sure, we’ve all heard the myths, made the excuses, avoided the issues, and decided to just have a beer instead. "Yoga? A bunch of tree-hugging ‘flower children’ sitting around stretching and yakking on about ‘connectedness’? I don’t think so; you see, I need a real workout!" Well, banish the myth, because yoga actually works!
I recently began attending classes at the Yoga Works studio just off McPherson and, I must admit, it was definitely a hard sell for me in the beginning. "You’ll love it!" they said. "It’s so fulfilling!" they pleaded. "And it’s fun!" they reassured. . . . At which point I pulled out my three-page-long laundry list of reasons why yoga simply was not for me:
• I’m a triathlete, so I’m in really good cardiovascular shape. When I work out, I want it to be challenging, not just some pansy excuse for exercise that requires me to sit on the floor and chant.
• I’m not flexible at all, and according to the pictures I’ve seen, I figure you’d have to be a human slinky in order to be even mediocre at yoga.
• The love handles accumulating on the sides of my belly haven’t allowed me to do a proper side bend since the college days.
• And, furthermore, if you think I’m wearing spandex yoga pants anytime soon, you can think again, bucko!
So I put it off, for weeks. Finally, with the promise of a mocha cappuccino and a sticky bun from the local coffee shop motivating me to get through the class, I agreed to do it. Just once, mind you. And, in the interest of preserving the dignity of my thighs, I held fast to my vow to avoid yoga pants if at all possible.
I’m still not sure what I was expecting, but that sure wasn’t it. First of all, who knew there were that many ways to breathe! And judging from the almost instant increase in my strength and endurance, I now believe that I may have been doing it wrong for the past three decades. Go figure!
About five minutes into the movements I noticed that I was sweating and, after five more minutes, my arm and leg muscles began doing that vibration thing which, to me, indicates that they would really prefer to be sitting on the couch watching re-runs of Will and Grace, holding a bowl of Ben and Jerry’s.
About this time I looked around to see how the other troopers who had dragged themselves into the class on this fine Saturday morning were faring. I noticed, with envy, the incredible ease with which the 70-year-old woman behind me was executing the movements, and the grace with which the 280-lb. man to my left was moving through the positions. The yoga instructor, Alejandra, seeing that I was obviously new at this, took some time to come over and help me with each position, coaching me gently, and giving clear direction until I could feel and move exactly as I was supposed to. Almost immediately I felt a shift. Something clicked, and my body fell into a rhythm with the rest of the class.
Don’t get me wrong. My muscles were still complaining, and I was still sweatin’ like a sailor, but it actually felt pretty good! Alejandra kept checking in with me, and Joy and Ethel, the assistant instructors, served as great models for what I was supposed to be doing. Admittedly, this only coincided with what I was actually doing about 50% of the time, but something that Alejandra said then helped a lot: "Put your ego away." And, not unlike the Grinch, my Yoga Heart grew three sizes that day.
If we let them, our egos and our unrealistic expectations of ourselves can do a lot of damage to us. Think of the negative messages you give yourself: "I look fat in this outfit," "That work I did was no good," "I’m never going to get all this stuff done!" "I should have. . . ." "Why didn’t I just. . . ." Maybe sometimes it just feels as if we can never be good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough. Somewhere in the middle of that yoga class, those things stopped mattering and, just for a moment, I forgot to be so judgmental of myself. Who knew inner peace could come from a second-story dance studio with a picture of Ricky Martin on the wall!
And here’s the good news: Even though I sweat more and worked harder in that class than I do on a six-mile jog, I didn’t leave the class with joints aching, knees crunching, and feet pounding like I usually feel after a run. Instead, I felt invigorated and energized, ready to take on the world, my job, my family, and a double helping of that sticky bun, thank you very much! I felt stronger and, with each class, I continue to feel stronger, more balanced, and even a little more flexible. After two months of going only once a week, I find that I don’t get injured nearly as easily when I do run races, I can now take the four flights of steps up to my office at the university without getting winded and, when I play chase with my dog, I can change directions faster so I now have at least snowball’s chance in hell of outrunning her! Also (in some ways this is the best part since the holidays are coming up), because I now have more muscle tissue and less body fat as a result of yoga, I can eat a lot more, do a lot less aerobic activity, and not gain any weight. Proof positive that muscle burns more calories than fat. . . . And you bet my love handles are happy about that!
So, whatever your health goal, be it weight loss, fitness, mood enhancement, anxiety reduction, or simple self-esteem improvement, yoga works! Try it. They won’t even make you wear yoga pants! Alejandra and Ana teach classes for all levels at the Yoga Works studio (go to the end of Commerce street, just across McPherson from ACE Hardware) on Monday and Wednesday evenings, 8-9:15 p.m., and Saturdays, 10-11:15 a.m. Morning classes are also offerred at 8:15-9:30 a.m., Monday through Thursday. Just leave your ego, your self-doubt, your defeatist attitude, and your bucket of insecurities at home. Try it! The worst that can happen is you’ll make a few friends and get invited to some dinner parties. I love Laredo!

(Dr. Cecily F. Cornelius-White is an assistant professor of Psychology at Texas A&M International University. This is her second year at the university. She previously worked as a clinician in Chicago and at Northwestern University Counseling and Psychotherapy Services.)