Downward Dog: Yoga with Zido

For years, my doctors have been telling me to either try yoga or swimming in order to train my heart to not wig out every time I try to work out. Well, whenever I swim more than just a couple of feet, I start to look like a cat thrown into a bathtub. And when you're trying to be cool with your friends, looking like that just doesn't work...

So, yoga. Late last year, my dad found this place about 10 minutes from my house called Honest Soul Yoga. My mom and he checked it out and found out they had a 21 day, unlimited trial package for just $21. They figured that would be a great way to get started so they signed us up. After my finals were over for last semester, I decided to give it a go. Now, I like to consider myself kind of flexible and not a total weakling. I mean, I've done PiYo (I hadn't in like 6 months) and I've been to the gym (I hadn't in like a year) so on my first day I was thinking, "How hard could yoga really be?"

In walked the teacher. She's probably one of the kindest, sweetest, women you could ever meet. But, like every instructor at the studio, when she teaches yoga, she. teaches. yoga.

Of course, I brought Zido's blanket so he would have his own little yoga mat to stay on. I wasn't quite sure what my heart would be doing during this "Align and Flow" class (sounds relaxing doesn't it?) so I had no idea what Zido would do. Well, we got started and focused on our breathing. Not too bad. Then came the stretching. And the bending. And the planking. And the side planking. And the "lifting one leg and crossing it over the other while twisting your arms around each other." Oh and let's not forget "resting half-pigeon." Zido kept his eye on me the whole time, but never alerted. I was thinking "Okay this is awesome. I really REALLY feel like I'm getting a workout, but it doesn't seem to be doing crazy things to my heart."

After 45 minutes of some pretty intense stretches, holds, and movements, we finally reached the best time of yoga: shavasana (aka "Yoga Nap Time"). Our teacher had us stretch our legs up the wall and close our eyes while focusing on our breath. I was sore, but I felt so good and so calm. Immediately, I heard Zido move right next to me. I opened my eyes and watched him stand up and look at me with "the look." I'm not sure if my heart had just reached the point of no return or if my blood pressure did something funny, but an alert was happening. I knew what it meant, but it was at that moment I realized I had never told the teacher what he would do if he alerted me. I knew that everyone else had their eyes closed, except for her so I watched as Zido made his way to my side, turn around, lift his leg, and proceed to sit on me while staying alert about our surroundings. Now, I've gotten pretty used to this, but the teacher certainly hadn't. I can only imagine what she was thinking when she's telling us to breathe and relax, and all of a sudden sees my 64 pound lab sit on me. Needless to say, she started laughing, which made me laugh, which made the rest of the class open their eyes, which made the teacher explain what had just happened, which made the whole class laugh. All in all, it ended up being one of the best working-out experiences that I have ever had, and when my 21 days were up I immediately signed up for a membership.

Zido meditating with one of his new "friends"

Each class, I have at least one person come up and say how impressed they are by the fact that Zido just lays there. He always makes me chuckle when the instructors tell us to breathe in and I hear Zido take a deep breath and sigh it out next to me. I'm just happy that I've finally found something I can do to feel healthier. I can definitely see a difference in my body after just a couple months of doing it, and I really appreciate the friendliness of the Honest Soul staff.

I'm sorry this has to be a short post, but I have a ton of work to do! This week is supposed to be a beautiful-weather week, so be sure to get out and enjoy it! If you're into yoga, do it outside! If walking or running is more your thing, go and do it! I've learned that no matter what disability God may have blessed you with, He's blessed us even more with a beautiful world. Go out and breathe!

Up next on the blog: "Why Your Fake Service Dog is Ruining My Life"

Love and blessings,
Zee and Me