Can you feel the burn?

Yoga always sounded like something nice; something I might one day like to do, like eating a macrobiotic diet, or climbing a mountain, but realistically . . . probably not.

Sure, I’d like to be able to put my feet over my head, but yoga sounded and looked difficult. I’ve seen Madonna and I’m certainly not prepared to do half of whatever it is she does. When I decided to try a free yoga class on the beach, I was curious and a little scared, but was pleasantly delighted after trying it and not dying.

Delighted isn’t even the word — invigorated is more appropriate. After the class, I spent the whole day on a yoga high. Even the next day, when I was completely sore, I was still excited about my newfound favorite exercise.

The free yoga class was outdoors, right beside the Huntington Beach Pier, for National Yoga Month. Sarah Stevenson, who calls herself the TiniYogini, instructed our odd assortment of participants. The class ranged from what looked like — to my inexperienced eyes — yoga enthusiasts, to beginners like me, to passersby who decided to try it out.

Setting up my borrowed child’s mat in between two girls in their early 20s, I started to get nervous as more and more people joined the class and beachgoers stopped to watch us.

Stevenson started the class by saying she was an easy instructor, which made me feel a little better. The deep breathing exercises were right up my alley. As a chronically anxious person, I appreciate a good deep breath, and the minutes we spent focusing our breathing relaxed me.

Having never done yoga before, I expected it to be similar to the difficulty of Pilates or the pain and tedium of ballet. Not knowing anything, I constantly peeked my eyes open to see what everyone else was doing.

The positions were easy to follow and Stevenson constantly reminded us not to do anything to hurt ourselves, and to feel free to modify the movements to make it easier or harder.

Many of the poses were very similar to ballet, and I started to feel comfortable with them. The whole session was relaxing, but I found myself sweating without feeling like I was actually exercising. By the end, I couldn’t believe how awesome yoga was. Stevenson even brought everyone oranges and water bottles.

After the session, I talked to the women next to me about the class, and they loved it too. One of the girls was also a beginner, and was thinking about signing up for Stevenson’s regular Saturday morning class. The idea appealed to me.

I felt great, got some exercise and could see yoga really helping with my anxiety.

I don’t know if I’m quite ready to make the 8:30 a.m. commitment on Saturday mornings — my mother actually laughed when I told her the time — but yoga is something I want to continue.

BRITNEY BARNES can be reached at (714) 966-4627 or [email protected].