Not your average yogi...

Clumsy. Non-athletic. Bad knees. Overweight. Combine these adjectives with the age of 57 and you begin to get a glimpse of me at the beginning of my yoga experience. There is a lot more to describe, but these five things have the most to do with walking into the yoga studio for the first time.

My daughters made me. Despite being reared by someone described above, or perhaps because of it, I have two adult daughters that have adopted extremely healthy lifestyles. They eat right, they work out, they even cook. They have been worried lately about my falls. Nothing too serious, a few staples in my head after a spill down some stairs at work. Well, and the falls after having my ACL repaired. Oh, and the rabbit hole I stepped in - it left me with a limp that I nursed for many weeks. The elder daughter comes home for a visit and takes me to a yoga class at a new studio that is less than a two minute drive from my house. With their price structure, it made sense to buy a 10 class package.

Class one. My daughter tells the instructor I have knee problems. I learned to put a blanket under my knee so I can at least kneel. I am sure they are speaking another language that everyone knows but me. I have trouble with child's pose.

Class two. The blanket still feels good, I successfully transition from table to downward facing dog. I really like corpse pose, and the relaxation at the end of the session.

Class three. The knee pain is gone. Yoga has my attention and I purpose to make it part of my daily schedule. I really like walking, sitting, and standing without knee pain.