It’s been almost 2 months since I started the Ted Naiman workout plan.

It’s been even longer since I did any yoga.

That is, until over the weekend when I did the most “girls weekend” thing possible and signed up for a yoga class in a vineyard, complete with wine tasting. Yup. It happened.

I skipped the wine, but I loved doing yoga outside. The wind and getting dirt on my feet during some of the poses made me feel way more comfortable with my body and yoga in general.

Yoga is typically a workout that’s fine for me, but it can sometimes be frustrating to not execute a pose like it should be. Sometimes it’s flexibility, sometimes it’s strength, but as a yoga novice, rare is the time when I do a good yoga pose.

However, this summer I’ve been building muscle.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything, because I haven’t lost much fat and there are only so many push-ups I can do in a row.

Other time, I can see steady improvements.

Doing yoga is one of those times. Movements that used to be nearly impossible for me were suddenly doable. I didn’t have to cheat and modify poses. My muscles didn’t start shaking when I held a pose for slightly too long.

The biggest change I noticed was in my back. I’ve never consciously built up my back muscles before (in fact I avoided it because my back is weak and it hurt), but in my quest to do a pull-up I’ve been paying more attention.

Back muscles make it easier to do yoga.

So do shoulder muscles.

It’s very gratifying to get positive feedback in a functional way that these workouts are actually working. I’m building muscle, but most of all, I’m building strength.

That alone is worth it.