Adventures with a Wii Fit: Yoga

The beauty of the Wii Fit for the differently thin (as I prefer to think of myself) is that you can exercise in the privacy of your own home. I'm not advocating becoming a recluse but knowing that no one is watching can be a big encouragement and let you try something completely different.

Last night I tried out some Yoga on the Wii Fit, safe in the knowledge that the rest of the family was fast asleep. Readers may put their minds at rest that no Lycra was involved.

As with the other exercises, there are clear instructions to follow for the different moves and I was able to follow them despite a tendency to confuse left and right under physical stress. The demonstration of the moves repeats during the yoga poses and a target appears showing your balance as detected by the Wii Board. Points are awarded for keeping the dot in the centre of the target.

I was expecting to get a little bored but the different poses were harder than I anticipated and provided a reasonable challenge. Thirty seconds can feel quite long when standing on one leg.

Still, I think it may be a little forgiving. It's very encouraging to receive three out of four stars on the first attempt but I'm left with sense it was being too generous. Having said that, moving from three stars to four has eluded me on other games, so perhaps that's where the challenge is.

It has to be admitted that while I dislike pandering to popular social stereotypes (as Terry Pratchett puts it), I did also play about 15 minutes of Rhythm Boxing as well, just as a stress buster. Although without anything to actually hit, it is starting to feel a little unsatisfying.

Sadly I missed my target for weight loss this time round. But only by a little, so I wasn't pushed to offer up an excuse. Hopefully there'll be more positive news next time.