My Turn: A seasoned athlete meets her match with a yoga class

By Sharkie Zartman, Contributing writer

I hate to admit it, but I used to think that yoga was just for the super-calm flexible people who floated on clouds and hummed. Being an athlete, a hard core coach and a person with a double-A personality type, it was not something I wanted to try.

My only exposure was my husband's old yoga book that featured an anorexic looking young man with a pointed, shaggy beard wearing a loin cloth sitting with his legs crossed behind his head. Whenever anyone asked me if I wanted to try yoga, I visualized that picture and said, "No way! I have better things to do than contort my body into strange shapes."

But one day, I decided to give it a try when a yoga studio opened down the street from my house and a friend asked me to try it with her. When I started to resist, she reminded me the first class was free. She had heard it was a great workout, so what did I have to lose?

I reluctantly agreed and met her at the studio wearing my baggy, volleyball sweats. Not smart. We started the class with deep breathing exercises, and I looked at my friend and almost started laughing. What did I get myself into?

As we started moving slowing in and out of poses that resembled strange lunges and squats and a dog-like pose, people started to move together as if they were linked energetically in a choreographed performance. I was totally out of sync. And then came the balancing poses. Everyone was performing perfect trees and eagles while I was hopping around on one foot.

After an hour of movement, I realized that my sweats were dripping wet, and I felt like a deer in the headlights. How could I be so bad at something that looked so easy? At the end of the class, we rested in corpse pose (how fitting).

Then, it happened.

I felt an unusual wave of calmness flow through my body and my mind was in totally new place. Even though I was the worst student in the class, for some odd reason, I didn't care. My competitive ego had just gotten a well-deserved timeout. I was hooked and bought a package to the studio, and went on to get more than 500 hours of training and added the class to our curriculum at El Camino College.

I knew that there were probably a lot of people like me who didn't think yoga was for them because it was either too weird or they feared that they were not flexible enough to do yoga. However, I wanted them to have a great introduction and hopefully would continue to make yoga an essential part of their lives. It is truly a practice that integrates mind, body and spirit and is also a great way to manage stress.

So if you haven't tried yoga yet, or have and never went back, here are some tips to find a practice that works for you.

Get some information about the class before you go. What level is it? What style? Who is the teacher? Make sure you know what to expect, so you don't end up like I did the first time — a deer in the headlights. And no, that's not a pose.

Tell your instructors if you have any injuries or limitations. If you don't tell them, they won't know.

Remember there is no competition in yoga. No one cares whether or not you can do the poses perfectly. The instructor is the one who will monitor his or her students and give modifications as needed.

Your body talks to you when you do yoga. Make sure you listen and never push into the pain area. And always rest as needed.

Make sure your instructor is certified. That should ensure your teacher knows what to do and, more importantly, what not to do while teaching yoga.

Remember, if you don't like your first yoga class, that's fine. I've gone to classes that were so bad, I walked out. Keep searching until you find one that you like and fits your needs. Ask your friends, search online and be willing to try something new and be a beginner.

Yoga practices can be easy, restorative, creative, spiritual, and also very challenging. That's the beauty of yoga. There is so much variety that there is a style out there for everyone.

So get out there a find a practice you like. Give yourself the gift of yoga. Isn't it time to do something just for you?

Sharkie Zartman is a Hermosa Beach resident, professor at El Camino College, author, speaker, former All American athlete and coach, and radio host at healthylife.net. 

Do you have a personal experience you'd like to share? Submit your My Turn column to newsroom@dailybreeze.com. Keep submissions to no more than 700 words. Emails only. Include brief biographical information and a high-resolution photo of yourself in jpeg format. Please do not include the column or biographical information in attachments.