Oahhhhhmmmmmm....

Two months ago I bravely signed up with one of my German friends for a beginner yoga course. Just a few blocks away, we figured it would be a great opportunity to get a bit more fit (bit more fit, haha) and to learn something new. An added benefit was the accountability factor, since we were both doing it together. None of the "not feeling like going" when someone's counting on you to be there!

So everything was off to a great start. Well except that I was a bit nervous on the first day mainly because I wasn't sure how my level of German comprehension would hold up in this new situation. Needless to say, my first two classes of "relaxation techniques" weren't very relaxing considering that I was constantly peeking through my "closed" eyelids to make sure I was doing the exercize correctly. An example of my inner monologue: "Did the teacher just say to continue taking deep breaths while focusing on total body relaxation? Oh no, what if he didn't say that? Aah I don't know what's going on! I'm so stressed! Wait, Allison, stop worrying, you need to be relaxing!...at least I think that's what he said..."

But now that we're nearing the end of the course, I'm feeling pretty confident about my level of understanding and am generally able to catch enough to relax when I'm supposed to. Although now that I've told the teacher that I'm pregnant, he's kindly giving me some tips and help with how to modify some of the positions as to not strain the "child within", so it never fails to catch me a bit off guard when his voice suddenly whispers something in German right next to me (remember my eyes are closed because I'm relaxing...well I WAS until the all-wise instructor quadrupled my heart rate by causing me to go into my fight-or-flight German language mode).

And speaking of being caught off-guard by someone speaking German (please note that this is no longer a common occurance [just for the record], considering that I think my brain's finally grasped the concept that I live in Germany), today at the grocery store the cashier was VERY unusually friendly and it totally threw me off-! She was really nice, just chatting away and commenting on some of the things we were buying, suggesting hamburger sauce and reminding us not to forget to cash in our refund receipts (for bringing bottles back). It was just weird to me to encounter such an outgoing and friendly stranger here-! And then the more I thought about it the weirdest part was how weird I found the whole situation, when back in Canada or the US it is a regular occurance. I'm just used to people being very private here and "down to business" and it was somehow uncomfortable to be put on the spot at the grocery checkout by a chatty cashier. But then again she was speaking super fast and considering that most of what she was saying was pretty random, I don't feel THAT bad for not being able to follow her. Although sheesh, who would have thought a bit of small talk would throw me through such a loop-!

Anyway, taking this yoga class has been great, especially in regards to learning how to focus on each part of the body as its own unit, tensing and relaxing it apart from the rest, and being able to identify the difference afterwards. I've heard that comes in handy during labor-! And for the record, twice each week we sit in the "classic" yoga position, legs crossed and hands out resting on the knees, while we breathe in together and then release the air while saying the word "oahhhhhhmmmmmmmmm..." I forget why it's so important, but it sure makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth-!