Yoga

Went to a 90 min yoga class with the girlfriend yesterday. Go ahead and think to yourself: "wow what a f__ ." Then realize Graham Holmberg (2010 Crossfit Games Champion) does yoga regularly, not to mention the myriad NFL, NHL, MLB, teams and MMA fighters who practice it regularly as well.

Anyways, for about 60 of the 90 minutes I was literally pouring sweat (didn't help that the room was 98 degrees). I would go into some pose where I was looking down and a continous stream of sweat would roll off the top of my head. Pretty gross. (Would not be surprised if I lost 4-5 lb of sweat/water during the 90 mins) While perhaps not immediately apparent, CF and yoga share several common themes. The most notable of these being the ability to scale the movements to any individual regardless of age, gender, background, or level of fitness. The instructor also took great care in reminding everyone throughout the class to be mindful of your breathing and to keep it as consistent as possible, no matter how grueling the position was that you were holding. I don't think the idea of continuously concentrating on one's breathing patterns gets enough attention with olympic lifting or metcons, but I hope to try to apply it to my WODs in the future.

In the end I was happy to give the class a shot as it presented a new physical challenge in line with the CF "learn/master new sports" axiom. Very little about the 90 minutes was easy but the instructor was successful in cultivating an atmosphere that pushed each individual to perform as best as he or she could without being concerned with who could hold this or that pose better or longer. While at times CF can breed a competitive atmosphere, the competition ultimately lies in each individual competing against him or herself. Perhaps these qualities, among others, that are inherent in both yoga and CF lend both communities to welcome all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds while pushing all individuals to find their personal physical limits. Though I probably won't be regularly participating in yoga classes in the immediate future, I enjoyed the challenge of a physically demanding activity that was well outside of my comfort zone. I have no doubt that CF will make me a better athlete overall (as I'm sure yoga will as well). And I look forward to trying new sports and activities where I can challenge myself outside the all too familiar domains of the barbell, plybox, and pull up bar.