Priscilla, Queen of the Pretzels

I was hit and miss with our exercise DVD challenge last week. I slacked off on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday I did half of my NYC Ballet Workout DVD  (30 minutes) with my 9-year-old daughter, who giggled more than she exercised. Why did I only do half of the DVD? 'Cause it's hard, that's why. (I didn't say it was a good reason...)

On Saturday, I ventured yet again into the world of budget public television exercise programs. This time I joined Priscilla Patrick for some Hatha yoga. As I began the 15 minute program, I breathed a sigh (a deep, cleansing sigh) of relief when I saw that Priscilla was an older lady. "Oh good," I thought, "This is going to be mellow and easy--just what I need." 

Priscilla's lean, strong physique (which a much younger woman would be proud to have) should have been my first clue that she was not going to go easy on me. 

This was hard enough:

I'm flexible enough for this pose, but I have rather more belly fat than I've ever had before and this pose caused all kinds of pinchy belly fat pain, not to mention my diaphragm was squashed, thus making breathing an impossibility. Priscilla, bless her, seemed to have none of these problems. 

Things got a little more manageable for a few minutes, then for the grand finale, we did this:

(And by "we," I mean, Priscilla did this, and I watched.)

Priscilla is awesome. I bow (gingerly) to her elderly bendiness.