An hour of yoga

Yesterday, I stayed at our boarding house the whole day, but I must say, I was productive. I had a good sleep the night before. After eating breakfast, I did the exercises prescribed for my back. And then I went on to do yoga.

Yes, yoga.

My back has been troubling me for the past couple of weeks. I had it checked last week, and the problem lies on my muscles. I am not nursing an injury nor do I have a spinal problem (save for my scoliosis with a mere 13.5-degree tilt to the right). The pain is probably caused by poor posture and lack of exercises.

I was given a set of exercises to help strengthen my back. They include what I hate the most: Planks. Especially side planks. I cannot hold a plank for a minute. I can only hold one for 30 seconds--the longest thirty seconds of my life. Side planks? Let's not talk about it. I cannot even hold my body up on a side plank for a second.

And so I did the prescribed exercises three times except the side plank. I tried, but I failed. Hahaha. In order to make up for it, I decided to do some yoga.

So I took my laptop and my towel mat and headed to the vacant room on the third floor of our house. I had the place all to myself. It was quiet, save for the sounds of the vehicles outside. It was perfect for some me-time.

I searched for yoga videos on YouTube. I found what I was looking for at this channel called Yoga with Adrienne. She has videos of yoga for back pain. The poses are also easy--perfect for beginners like me.

I spent an hour doing yoga. I followed what was being instructed on the video. I followed Adrienne's instructions for breathing and for doing each pose.

Every time she introduced a new pose, Adrienne would say, "Take your time getting there." And I loved hearing that because it meant that I didn't have to rush or force myself into doing a pose. It helped me be aware of what my body could do and find a position where I could breathe freely while doing a pose. It was just what I needed.

Surprisingly, I didn't think of anything else while doing yoga. I was just listening to the instructions, breathing, and being mindful of each pose. My poses weren't perfect, of course. But I could feel my muscle stretching. And when I was able to do a pose without pushing and pulling strings, I felt calm. Maybe that's what it meant to find your center.

After two 40-minute yoga videos, I felt I could still go on, but I decided to stop. I had enough for the day. Following Adrienne's last instruction, I lied down on my towel mat with my arms and legs outstretched as if I was a five-pointed star. I closed my eyes and breathed. The video had already ended, but I stayed in that position. I let my back muscles relax. Somehow, I managed to empty my mind even for just a short while.

Maybe I should do this more often. Tension has been piling up inside me. I need to let go. I need to devote even just an hour to thinking about nothing and doing nothing except creating a blissful and quiet zone.