NSV: I did 108 Sun Salutations!

I don't have a lot of weight to lose. My main battle has always been my (lack of) strength and endurance. I have hypermobility in my joints (I easily over-extend my muscles and injure myself) and fibromyalgia. Between the fear of injury and the overall persistent pain and fatigue in my body, exercise has always been a challenge for me. I've had instructors push and push and push me, way past my limits because they see a relatively skinny girl with a little padding and think I can handle it. I wish more understood that we aren't all built that way! Some of us cannot push through the pain!

I've been eating well for a few weeks and getting to a yoga class once or twice a week for a couple months now. My instructor is GOOD. She really looks out for me to make sure I don't hurt myself or overdo it. When she invited me to a special class to kick off a month long challenge to do yoga (at least 15 minutes) everyday this month, I was pretty sure it was not for me. They would be doing 108 sun salutations. I knew that would kill me. But she assured me there would be plenty of modifications to make it possible. I decided to try, because I was tired of not trying things that I WANTED to do just because I thought I might fail.

Last night I did 108 sun salutations. I sweat like I never sweat before. I felt naucious. I had acid reflux and a sinus headache and my eyes felt like they would pop out of my head from all the inversion. But I did them all. I drank a ton of water and had a giant glass of chocolate milk when I got home, then soaked in a salt bath for a spell.

And I woke up today not feeling like I want to die/kill my yoga instructor. I am so proud of myself and feel so empowered and encouraged.

And to anyone who is thinking about trying yoga or has never gone to a class, GO TO A CLASS! Even though I've been to probably a hundred classes in my life, I still get so much from having someone there watch what I'm doing and help me to adjust correctly. And if you go to a class where the instructor is not interacting with you, try a different class/instructor!