Flexibility = -3

On a scale of 1 to 10 on flexibility, I'm at about a -3. Seriously. I blame it on my incredibly large and toned muscles and because I am "athletic," which I have heard a lot lately (I'm beginning to think it's a nice way of calling someone fat).

As part of our training, the coaches encourage us to participate in strength and flexibility exercises, like yoga and core strength. I went to yoga for a good four months or so back in 2007 with my friends Erin and Kristi at Planet Granite in San Mateo, which I would highly recommend. The instructor (is that what a yoga leader is called?) was awesome and the workouts were intense, to say the least. I noticed my flexibility increasing, even if I spent a large portion of the class trying not to laugh at some of the things we had to do.

Before that, I had tried yoga once at the Genentech gym, but decided not to go back after the instructor asked me, in front of the whole class, if I was trying to lose the "baby weight." What baby? Recently I started going back to the Genentech gym, who has since swapped instructors, and I'm finding the flexibility I gained in 2007 is completely gone. In fact, it regressed. Thus, the -3.

Yesterday during yoga class I noticed an odd trend. The poses everyone else could easily do, I couldn't do. And the poses nobody else could do, I could easily do. When we were doing poses I found difficult, I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself. When we were doing poses I could easily do, I was proud and cocky.

I may not be able to fold my legs over each other and have the soles of my feet lie flat on the ground on the opposite sides of my body, but I can hold a warrior-1 for hours.