I love going to my yoga class on Monday. It’s a Vinyasa practice and the instructor is always throwing in new ideas to keep it fresh and to continue challenging us.

Yesterday was no different.

Roll Up!

We arrived in the studio, set up our mats, stretched out into a child’s pose and waited to be guided into our sun salutation warm ups.

But… instead, the instructor told us to roll up our mats and follow her outside. I (and the rest of the class) was a little hesitant, but I’ve made myself a promise to take challenges head-on… so, out the door I went!

Getting Outdoors

We’ve had an unusually warm few weeks here in MIchigan, so I was glad to be going out into the evening sun that was still burning at about 70 degrees at 6:30pm.

And – who can argue with fresh air? It’s so nice to breath outdoors.

“Outside” is Filled With Distractions

But… let me paint a picture for you… my gym in is in the middle of a strip mall on a fairly busy street in our country-like suburb. Right next door there is a Dairy Queen, which – as you may have guessed on a warm spring day – was filled with people.

Here’s the street view in an image I pulled from Google Maps:

The yoga studio is in the building on the left, there’s the Dairy Queen in the middle.

See the grassy area over to the right? Yeah… that’s where she had us layout our mats.

Getting Through Distractions

When we started, I had a hard time with all of the noise. I heard EVERYTHING. The engines, the voices, car doors, birds, children yelling – it was really hard to concentrate.

But, after I relaxed and got over the fact that maybe, someone that I know would drive by and see my butt up in the air – all of the noise sort of blended together like one big ocean.

Reaching that point was really rewarding… I didn’t think I had it in me – but was really happy to find it!

Staying Warm

Along with figuring out how to deal with the noise and getting over my fear of public humiliation as the ice cream customers stood there and oogled at us as they ate their sundaes… I wondered how we would get warm enough to have a good practice.

But, no need to fear! The instructor simply had us hold each pose a little longer. So, even though we weren’t in a 90+ degree room, I was still able to get into each muscle group, warm it up, stretch it out and get it nice and strong.

Playing Outside

The best part was – it felt like we were playing! Doing a “yoga headstand” sounds so official and proper…. but propping up and falling over on the grass made me feel like a kid again!

So – if you get a chance to do so – get outside this spring and summer – I think you’ll find it’s Pretty Hard Work and a pretty cool experience!

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