I had my first yoga class yesterday afternoon in Shanghai. I was fully expecting a classroom full of six or so people. Um… I was the ONLY ONE! The lady at the front desk told me that every class needs a minimum of two people, otherwise there is no class. And since the classes I want to go to are in the middle of a work day, it may or may not happen. 

Well, guess what? The studio (at the spa) called me and told me to come into class at 3pm. To my surprise, I was the ONLY ONE that was there. The teacher made an exception for me since it was my first class in Shanghai. *cue angels singing*

To be honest, every time I take a group class… I get a bit nervous, anxious and wish I had a friend to go with. So for my first class, I was happy to be by myself so I can get the hang of the kind of yoga, without feeling strange that I have experts next to me.

Why the sudden spark to take yoga? Actually, I looked up a lot of yoga studios in Shanghai when we moved here. I wanted to be fit, I wanted a stress reliever and I wanted to be healthy. I looked up prices, tried emailing different studios and I was bummed because the price seems comparable to NYC and most studios didn’t write me back. It was really just excuses though, if I enjoy yoga… and the prices aren’t THAT bad (with membership), then it’s worth it right?

My doctor recommended that I do yoga for stress relief, exercise and to help my neck/shoulder pains. Of course, like the lazy bum that I am, I just said ok but never did it. While we were visiting America, I had a revelation talking to my BFF, my friend Jess (NCMC) and being filled with love from seeing everyone.

1. BFF and Jess (who oddly enough have the same English name first and last) both told me: They wouldn’t change anything right now and their lives are filled with love because of their children… they both feel they would have an equally fulfilled life if they didn’t have children. Told me to enjoy the time I have with my husband sans children because once you have children, it’s all about them. And they didn’t mean it in a negative way but how everything shifts. Hearing that in person and seeing them with their children, I understood what they meant. They LOVE their time with their children but they are right, it’s hard to do things on the fly. 

2. I want to take more action with my health. Clearly, I’m not good at handling stress. So I will use yoga or meditation/whatever else to help me balance that. Right now I will try yoga but if that doesn’t help, I will try things until I find what suits me best. Plus my SIL raves about hot yoga and I told her I would try yoga when I returned to Shanghai. (Thanks Jenny!)

3. I had a shift in my thinking. For so long, I kept thinking… “Why can’t I get pregnant?”, “what’s wrong with me?”, “Of course I’m not pregnant….” etc. I think moving to a new country (where I don’t speak the language), being mistaken for an ABC (American Born Chinese) and getting slack for it, not having a lot of friends really BUMMED ME OUT. It’s so weird, I went home… I saw my family, friends and I felt a change. I came back to Shanghai and it felt like home. I am thankful that the three or four friends I have here have been WONDERFUL to us. Instead of wanting MORE friends, I want to take these few friends and get to know them even better. I want to live in the NOW with the people who are in my life.

4. My health. I’ve let my health decline because I haven’t been happy. All I could think about was getting pregnant. I know that will be top priority, I will continue to go to my fertility doctor and find ways to make it happen. I will also try to eat healthy, exercise and have FUN. I want to LIVE my life. 

I don’t know what or why I feel a sudden change and excitement after returning to Shanghai. I really hope this lasts for a while and becomes life changing.

Has anyone else felt like this?

I haven’t felt this excited since I got into Juilliard for grad school. 

Hope this all made sense. I have so many thoughts running in my head and I am not a writer… I’m sure you can tell. LOL 

And this blog is seriously so therapeutic. I know when I have my good days, you guys cheer me on. When I have bad days, you cheer me up. 

Thank you so much.