Feeling Grounded, Literally
An update on my workout life and some interesting thoughts on being a yoga newbie.
I tried yoga for the first time two weeks ago. I went into it completely underestimating the practice, referring to it as “extreme stretching”. Nonetheless, I decided to try it because I’ve been searching for an outlet to release, and I felt like this might be the place to do it. I also wanted to see what the hype was about. On the morning of my first class, I felt excited, nervous and weirdly intimated. There were only 3 people in class that morning — the instructor, a fellow first-timer, and myself. Strangely, the tiny class made my first yogi experience much less intimidating. It granted me the ability to just relax and sink into the motions. Yoga is not for the weak, by the way. Doing the splits, handstands, and scorpion poses takes a lot of strength, flexibility, and trust in yourself. It requires you to be patient, mindful, and most importantly to me, grounded.
I was on cloud 9 after my first class, recommending it to my parents and even going as far as asking if my boyfriend would do it with me (which was a no, of course). My first experience left me on such a high that I thought I’d kick it up a notch, so I signed up for C2 — the intermediate class. The morning of my second class was an unexpected mess. I woke up on time but couldn’t pull myself out of bed, which of course left me rushing to class. I made it there with two minutes to spare, leaving me with a tiny corner spot in a hot crowded room. In what I thought was almost the end of class, the instructor thanked everyone for attending one of her longer classes and cheered about having one hour left. For the majority of class, I struggled to keep up with the flow. The moves were a bit too complex, the flow was too fast, and I was sweating in a way I’d never seen my body sweat before.
And then I tried Yoga Sculpt, of course. In my research on my studio’s website, I found the idea of hot yoga mixed with light weights intriguing. Get a good sweat in and do it with grace? Why not.
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Something I found really interesting about Yoga is the no sock rule. Prior to this phase in my life, I was in love with Pilates, Lagree, to be specific. My fellow Pilates and fashion girls know that the socks are everything. You can tell a lot about a fellow Pilates lover by their socks — the three quarter socks, the socks with toe cleavage, the toeless socks, the criss-crossed socks — they all tell a story. Not wearing socks to a workout class felt foreign to me. After my first class, I learned that traditional yogis believe socks interfere with the spiritual grounding element of the practice.
It’s strange that going to a few Yoga classes has taught me that I’ve been in need of some grounding myself. It not only appeared in my choice of workout, but also in my outfits — of course.
I bought this pair of clear jelly flats that go with seemingly everything. They’ve become my new go-to flats lately. They’re comfortable, easy to slip on and off, and show off my red nail polish like an accessory.
When I first bought these shoes, I was met with backlash. Hardly anyone saw my vision until I started putting my outfits together.
They add a little bit of oomph to a simple outfit. A sneaker would have felt a little too casual, and a boot would have felt too dressed up. The flat is simple and interesting — the perfect combo for elevating an outfit.
They’re also a great option for transitional weather, when it’s too hot to wear sandals but too cold to wear a boot.
As I was scrolling through Instagram the other day, I stumbled across this post by WhoWhatWear documenting the impact of the jelly sandal, the shoe spearheaded by the Row’s spring/summer 2024 runway. If I’m honest, I wasn’t even aware that this trend had just been started. I just saw what I felt was a really cool pair of shoes and snagged them for a a great price.
How interesting that even my outfit can convey my feelings. I guess I’ll take feeling grounded anyway I can get it.
Namaste. Talk soon after my next 3 classes.
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