Well. It finally happened. The yoga-bug actually bit me in the butt and it stuck.

Wow.

I've attempted Yoga a number of times throughout the years. It's always sounded great. Still, when it actually got right down to it, I never really got into it. I once took a Hatha yoga class which was three hours long and consisted of mainly breathing exercises. While it was relaxing, I couldn't help but wish I was running, kickboxing or spinning instead. Then there was the Reebok Flexible Strength class that I took which was yoga-based. And while it was a good workout (consisted of a lot more poses which required strength), the only class offered was at 6am and it was honestly not the kind of class that could "wake me up" in the morning. Midway through class, I was again dreaming of all the other exercise options that were just outside the room.

A few other attempts occurred at home. I got a book from the library on yoga and taught myself the "Salute the Sun" series. It was okay. But it was difficult to learn from a book. I was fumbling my way into poses. I wasn't quite sure how long to hold them. And when the book went back to the library, I forgot all that I had, um, learned.

I suppose my most promising introduction to Yoga took place it the form of my Aveda Rituals book. (I admit it, I'm an Aveda junkie.) So, when I got to the section on Yoga, I decided once again to give it a try. This book had much better instruction on the poses and the "Salute the Sun" series than my previous book did. It told you what you should feel, how long you should hold each posture and the pictures where very illustrative. One evening I put in a new age Pat Methany album, dressed in some cotton clothing and did the series. It was nice.

But, still it wasn't enough to hold my attention. Because *that's* just the problem. Yoga was "nice," but not a necessity. I enjoyed it... when I had the time.

When I had the time.

I can't tell you how many evenings I would tell myself, tonight I'll do some yoga poses. Or tomorrow, I'll do the postures from the Aveda book instead of watch TV. But ultimately the same thing would happen, I would never get around to it because I never *had* the time. Or I never *made* the time. It just wasn't worth the sacrifice of an hour in my head. I had other things I'd rather do in that 60 minutes: Attended a class at the gym. Do some cardio on machines. Do laundry. Do dishes. Maybe watch TV.

I just never got around to the yoga. Ever.

Then three weeks ago, I was at the video store because Mr. James-man is (of course) out of town and I noticed a Power Yoga tape under the "Special Interests" category.

Hmmm... I thought. Why not try this for an hour? It beats laying on the couch watching a movie. And the "Power" in the title had me intrigued. It made it sound a little more challenging

And challenging it was. I ended up getting the beginner's video after much debate in my head. I just kept thinking, "But am I really a beginner?" Beginner cardio workout tapes are completely useless to me. My fitness level has surpassed almost all that I've tried. So, beginning Yoga? Maybe I'd just be better starting right out at Intermediate... But I got the beginner one anyway because, well, I just didn't know.

No, I didn't.

The Power Yoga series is hosted by Bryan Kest, guy with a weird eye, long hair and a beautiful body. I find him slightly annoying in a "California" kind of way. But the workout was good and his instruction was impeccable. He was gentle and gave a lot of modifications for beginners and, like promised, I was sweating slightly after the end of the hour. After returning the video to the store, I will admit that although this tape enhanced my affection for Yoga, I still wasn't running out to the store to buy myself a copy. And I wasn't sure why.

Then last week while working out in my apartment complex's fitness center, I came across Inhale, an hour-long yoga program featured on the Oxygen cable channel. I was weight-lifting, but started watching. At first, I was a little taken aback by Steve Ross' sarcastic humor and contemporary music. It seemed to go against everything I thought "yoga" was about. But as I watched him lead the students through the poses, they looked both challenging and enjoyable. And, honestly, this is the first televised exercise show (or video for that matter) that actually "felt" to me like a real class rather than a taped and directed production.

The next day, I pulled myself out of bed at 5am to do the class and it was awesome. Completely and utterly awesome. All that shit about feeling centered and powerful that people say yoga does, it came true for the me that day. I actually *love* Steve's sense of humor and the music is both relaxing but contemporary and upbeat at the same time. He offers modifications for beginners like me, but I can see there is a long way for me to grow with the class. Some of the students in the class are so beautiful and graceful, I can't help but be inspired by them. That afternoon, I surfed the web for all the information I could find about Inhale and Steve Ross. And the very next morning, I got up to workout with him again. I think I even replaced a weight-training workout with Yoga -- that's something I would have NEVER done before.

So, I've become obsessed. I've read all the message boards at Oxygen about the show. I've learned about the students. I've perused Steve's personal site (and silently wish I could live in LA for just a day to attend one of his classes) and more importantly, I began to mourn the fact that while I've discovered the show, I'll soon be moving to an area that doesn't feature Oxygen on it's cable lineup. Worse yet, Steve Ross offers no videos that I can find of his classes.

Bummer.

Still, I'm going to tape every single episode until I move (maybe 9?) and keep them all to use up in the cities because I love them, I absolutely love them. Then, whenever we eventually buy a home, we can get Direct TV and join back up with the cable show. This is the first time in a while that I've been dying to get home to exercise, or to get up to exercise. I'm enjoying it that much. Who knew? I guess I finally found my inner Yogi.

Namaste

A little more info about Inhale: Steve's show features Ashtanga yoga (which is nicknamed "Power Yoga", the same as the tape I mentioned above). I highly recommend giving it a try if you get the Oxygen network. It's shown twice a day at 5 & 8am Central time, Monday-Friday. Tell me if you like it. I know *I'm* a convert.