Kate and I did so many fun things during my recent trip to visit her and Steve. And a lot of them involved movement and health (the rest involved ice cream!) There was lots of walking, hiking and swimming, but my favorite might have been the outdoor yoga at Olde Oak Meadow Yoga.
Olde Oak Meadow Yoga is set in a lovely vineyard with rose bushes all around the raised yoga platform. We were overlooking some beautiful vineyards, under a shade sail (thank goodness). Our session was a power vinyasa class, but others are available as well.
Kate and Steve are regulars to Olde Oak Meadow Yoga, so they knew all the tricks and tips. First, bring your own mat (thanks Kate for letting me borrow yours!) Second, don’t compare yourself to other people. This is a challenge for me. I don’t take a lot of yoga. So I find myself falling behind some of the more experienced people in the class. I have to deliberately tell myself that this is not a competition. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And all that.
Third tip- and this is a good one!- get there early so you can snag a spot up front. Not so you can be the teacher’s pet! (No one would suspect me of that!) But because as the morning progresses, the sun starts to hit the back of the outdoor yoga deck. And it gets quite toasty.
And after the class, I have a couple of tips as well.
- Bring water!
- And a towel would have been nice
- Get a pedicure before the class- seeing my bare toenails was seriously distracting
- Give yourself a break. Perfection is not the goal here.
The yoga instructor started and ended the class with a lovely quote. I like to collect quotes that inspire me (in my commonplace book.) So I’ll wrap up this post with it and the suggestion to try outdoor yoga, no matter where you might be.
Be gentle with you. Inhale solitude, and exhale the old thoughts and strained nerves that once circled and stung around and around before your river began to rise with new water to flush you clear of the past so fresh space and life can softly flow through.
Victoria Erickson
