Yoga

At some point this past weekend Ethan got it into his head that he wanted to try yoga.  I'm not sure where it came from, but if you've ever talked to him for more than five minutes you'd understand how random and seemingly out of the blue some of the things that fall out of his mouth can be.

He rarely follows up on his random ideas for activities, but sometimes something triggers in his mind and he latches on like a pit bull and won't let go.  Typically, you'll know when it's the latter case because he'll mention it a few times... every single moment he's awake.

I'm all for his trying new things and, honestly, had recently been considering taking up the activity myself, so I thought it would be a fun thing to try together.  At the least, I figured, doing it with someone else might alleviate my self-consciousness.

I'd already stumbled onto the fact that our cable provider had a few free On Demand yoga instructional videos, so it came to be that yesterday morning he and I loaded one up and gave yoga our first, best shot.

The yoga video we chose was a relaxation routine.  I figured it'd be pretty quick, light on anything too strenuous, would give him a good glimpse into what yoga was and if he'd like it, and, bonus, I might just feel relaxed by the end of it.

That wasn't the case.

The first thing I realized was that the living room floor while all of the kids were awake was probably not the best time or place for this.  Things started off well enough, if a little awkwardly in the limited space, with some gentle stretches, but soon we moved onto new moves like "Forward Facing Accidental Dog Kick", "Excruciating Back Pain" and "Hitting Head on Couch", which naturally led to "Teaching Children New Cuss Words" and "Deep Regret and Headache."

The second thing I realized was that I'm far less flexible than I even expected or feared, and I couldn't even manage most of the "gentle" relaxation poses, no thanks in part to the fact that I had to crane my neck at awkward angles to watch the instructor on the tv mock me with her flexibility and ability to move her legs without getting them tangled in a baby bouncer or have a three-year-old jump unexpectedly on her tummy. 

The third thing I realized, of course, was that Ethan seemed to actually enjoy it and that there was likely going to be a lot more yoga in my immediate future.  Next up in the queue is a video about relieving back pain that I strongly suspect will make me wish that the follow-up video will be how to manufacture oxycodone out of everyday household ingredients.




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