Yoga in the park

I've done yoga a few times, but not recently, so I'm pretty much a beginner. After some suggestions from y'all that I give it another chance, I did yin yoga last night. This is the beginner class offered by the Atlanta Yoga Club in Piedmont Park. It's pretty cool to do yoga outside (except for the homeless man who tried to steal the attendance money!) The instructor was great, but I found the class to be pretty difficult. Some of the poses were really uncomfortable.

I think my trouble with yoga is twofold: (a) I am inflexible and (b) my core is weak. I was so confused last night, because we were in some complicated poses, and the instructor kept saying "notice if you have any tension in your shoulders, and let go of it." Same for abs, thighs, etc. I thought, if I let go of the tension in all my muscles, I'll fall on the ground! I was befuddled! And my shoulders do get very tight in some of the poses. (For example, downward dog. There are others that I can't remember.) I have a feeling that my abs and back muscles should be supporting me more, but they're not so thus the shoulder tension. Any input/advice?

The class was definitely good for stretching, which is good after a week of running and a little tiny bit of weight training. I think I'm going to try yoga again next week. Hopefully I'll get better at it after a few classes! For now, I'm off to Denver this afternoon for my good friend Lindy's wedding. Hope y'all are having a good week!

Strength training

Ladies (or anyone else reading this!), I need help. I haven't been to the gym in months--it's terrible. I've been doing pretty well with running, but I really need to get back into a strength training routine. What do you do? Classes, free weights, weight machines? Do you do it on the same days you run or on off days? What keeps you motivated? I always get so bored when lifting weights! But I know that weight training is important to overall fitness. Please help!