Longtime readers will remember that we’ve dabbled in the art of Yoga here at the Childsplayx2 household with various levels of success. I have yet to fully recover from my last Yoga session, but it hasn’t quite been a year so I’m thinking I’ll be healed enough to try again shortly. Swee’Pea, on the other hand, has been studying up on the metaphysical aspects of Yoga and has managed to find a balance of equal parts toddler and hippie chick.

Why in the past couple of weeks Swee’Pea has begun to add meditation into her daily routine. It’s not uncommon to find her off in a secluded corner channeling her Chi (When she’s not in a timeout, of course, then she’s just channeling her inner terrorist.).

Lately, she’s begun adding props. I think in the photos below she’s praying to the goddess of plastic fruit, thanking her for a bountiful harvest. And, yes, I realize I’m probably mixing my religious/metaphysical metaphors but my brain is fried and I just want to go to bed. Perhaps I should meditate a little before bed. It seems to work for Swee’Pea…

At the Childsplayx2 household, things can get pretty hectic. For example, I personally feel like we are constantly cleaning up after a room full of monkeys. I mean, they leave their toys, sippy cups, and banana peels in the most unlikely places. It’s pretty stressful to sit down, one hour after cleaning up and find that the monkeys have been let loose once again.

Lately, Swee’Pea and TheMonk have begun to show a little stress as well. I mean, it’s hard work tearing the house up on a daily basis. I’ve become a little worried because they’re beginning to lose their touch. They used to leave sippy cups under the table but now they just leave them lying on top of the table. It’s been a sad decline.

Since I have taken some steps to relieve my stress by attempting Yoga, we have decided that maybe the entire family could benefit from the soothing practice of breathing and tearing ligaments stretching. After weeks of practice Swee’Pea and TheMonk have become quite adept at this yoga thing. See for yourself:

As you may know, I work for the Y. Working down the hall from a weight room, treadmills, ellipticals and even group exercise classes, you’d think I’d be in fantastic shape.

Um, yeah, not so much.

I have been meaning to get back into the exercise thing but the past two weeks I’ve been fighting a cold and I finally went to the doctor to find out I have a sinus infection. (By the way, can I tell you how disappointed I was to find out my amoxicillin was in pill form rather than cherry-flavored syrup?)

After finally getting some relief for my poor sinuses, I decided to start out my exericse regime with a beginning yoga class. Our yoga instructor has been trying to get me to his class for months now and since it was his birthday yesterday I joined a handful of my staff and we all attended his class.

Now, I definitely had some preconceived notions about Yoga. I expected incense and all sorts of metaphysical mumbo jumbo while hearing how my chakras were being aligned. I also had a little fear of being the only guy in the class and not being able to get into any of the positions.

I was the only guy in the class. And let’s just say my groin and hips just can’t compete with those who are biologically predisposed to giving birth. And lets just say that if I knew I was going to be barefoot the entire time, I would have at least cut my toe nails.

But once I got over my insecurties, I gave it my all. I contorted and twisted and strained all while trying to remember to breathe (breathing is a big thing in Yoga). I did find out that my hamstrings are a good six inches shorter than I remember them being and my calves just don’t want to see my heels touch the ground while practicing “downward facing dog.” But I survived.

Or did I? Today, I awoke and as I got out of bed I quickly did an inventory where I was sore:

Right Calf? Yep.
Upper Abdominals? Yep.
Lower Abdominals? Yep, them too.
Hip Flexors? Affirmative.
Pectoral Muscles? Sadly, yes.

Okay, my whole body hurts.

But, hey, at least my chakras are aligned. You can’t put a price on that.