Every year about this time, I begin to wonder how I'm going to keep myself from succumbing to a long, lazy winter of hibernation.
I'm not the world's most motivated exerciser, yet I have been known to complain when, from about late fall to late spring, I feel myself getting "soft" thanks to spending a few too many nights wrapped up in blankets on the couch after a hearty comfort food meal.
It's not that I'm inherently lazy; it's that I hate being cold. And, usually, if don't have most of my body covered in a protective layer of something fuzzy, I"m cold.
All summer long I ride my bike everywhere, go on walks, hike trails and go swimming. But as soon as it becomes scarf season, I become a shut-in and I feel crappy. Not even a good snowball fight excites me anymore.
I know; I need a better system.
The past couple of years I've tried yoga, which seemed to do wonders. I impressed myself with my season-long commitment to Yama Yoga in the Third Ward, but after a while, the weekly sessions can start to add up and not being able to find a parking spot in a snow storm was annoying.
Earlier this year I ventured over to the new Bikram Yoga studio, which I totally loved, but never quite figured out how to incorporate into my schedule. Since it's 105 degrees in there with 40 percent humidity, you sweat your ass off, which meant a quick session before heading into the office in the morning was completely out of the question. And after work, I am always way too hungry for dinner to be able to withstand 90-minutes of intense calorie burning. And any rigorous workout after 7 p.m. means I'm wide awake way later than I want to be on a work night. All those endorphins just won't let me sleep.
This season, I'm determined to save time, money and my sanity by attempting to do yoga at home. I've bought two DVDs (in case one really annoys me, as exercise DVDs have done to me in the past) and a yoga mat (if you don't want to drop $40 for the fancy ones, Target sells them for $9.99 -- if you don't mind magenta.)
My plan is to give everything a test run this weekend. My biggest fear, however, is hurting myself. Although I endured yoga in a class setting for months on end, there wasn't a single night that my instructor didn't reposition or adjust me in some way. If she's not there to tell me my downward facing dog is looking more like cow, am I really doing my body a benefit, or a disservice?
I guess my biggest question is, how difficult is it to keep on eye on the screen while in a pose?
Has anyone else found success in DVD yoga?
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
