written by Melanie from (@chompchompblog / chompchompblog.com)
The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs found me in a really weird place in my life. After attending a couple of exciting and electric games with Julie, I was really and truly excited about something. The beginning of 2018 was personally rough for me and having something to look forward to was really important.
The thing is… playoff hockey is fucking stressful. Duh. But I was (and still am?) a new hockey fan. I had no idea how much I was going to get invested, so I ended up an absolute fucking ball of anxiety. For some reason, my therapist thought it was important for me to find a way to de-stress. Maybe some exercise would help me start sleeping through the night like a person again?
I didn’t have extra money to join a gym and I’d never stepped foot in the sad free gym in the leasing office in our apartment complex. However! In college, I took a yoga course so I wouldn’t have to, god-forbid, go running or something. This is what I suggested as my physical way to get some energy out and maybe get some better sleep. I didn’t know where to start, but I knew someone had mentioned Yoga with Adriene as one of the more relaxed instructors on youtube, so I checked her out. I planned to branch out but she was so much fun and her routines were so effective, switching it up doesn’t cross my mind anymore.
I’m not sure how it started, but during a second intermission, I uncurled from my stress ball in the corner of the couch, rolled out my yoga mat and took 10 or 15 minutes to do a short routine. I couldn’t tell you what game it was, but the Caps must have turned their game around and kicked some ass, because a beautiful superstition was born. I kept doing yoga during the second intermission and the Caps kept winning.
I knew I was going to a game, so I learned some “street yoga” I could do in the stairwell. Another time, a friend was having a party, I started a video up on my phone and we all drunkenly did that same routine. The Caps won. And we all know how that season turned out.
Even the other night, when they were getting killed by the Panthers, I went into the kitchen and did some quick yoga and they turned around to score three points in the third. So, okay, they still lost because they love to let some empty net goals in. It’s not magic, y’all.
So this year, I’m officially resuming my playoff second intermission yoga and in the hopes of [redacted], Julie wanted me to share my highly effective and not at all magical thinking superstition activity. Please enjoy the playlist of yoga videos and go Caps!
Puck 'Er Up 