Happy Day

Oh, the power of positive thinking.  I received some very, very good news shortly before class today--excellent news for my husband's career and for future planning!  So by the time I got to class, I was still beaming with positive energy.  I changed, laid out my yoga mat, and thought "Man, I look good in my yoga pants" (Okay, so I'm vain).  I was absolutely ready for a stellar practice.

Kate affirmed this when she was asking us to set an intention for today's practice, to acknowledge the day's events and to allow them to inform today's class.  I harnessed the positive energy bouncing around in my chest, broadened my smile, and applied that joy throughout each and every posture.

This isn't to say that I didn't struggle today.  We held the warrior poses for what felt like forever and I could feel my quads shaking, but rather than think "Ugh, are we done yet?" I thought about how much stronger this would make me, how happy I was to be in yoga class, and deepened my inhale breath.  Besides, how boring would yoga be if we were automatically perfect at everything?  Really boring.  I love that there's always something to strive for, some new adjustment to make, a new and different posture to master (but never actually master).  I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.

It's funny to think how negatively the snow affected my energy yesterday and how much better today's practice was after good news.  It really goes to show how much mood and energy can affect your practice.  I will have to make a habit of thinking good thoughts before hitting the yoga mat!

Positive Pose: Wheel

Through regular Bikram practice, I now have a pretty flexible spine.  Rocking the spine strengthening series took a lot of work and determination over the course of the last year, but I definitely noticed the difference today.  Bridge was fairly challenging, especially with tired quads, but Wheel was a treat.  I just pushed right up into my deepest expression and relished the release through my shoulders and the whole front side of my body.  Ahhhhh...


Struggle Pose: Side Plank

Normally, I feel pretty old hat in this posture.  I've been doing it regularly in Terry's class for a while, but today Kate asked us to do something pretty wild and crazy.  The theme of today's class was balance, so after doing Tree standing, she asked us to form tree in side plank, pressing our top feet against our bottom thigh.  I could NOT figure this one out--at least in the first set.  See how well I adapt to change?  I wobbled and fell a number of times--embarrassing.  However, I was not going to let one posture sour my whole practice.  I thought to myself "Don't over think it.  You can do this, Silly," and did it.  It wasn't nearly as hard as I was making it out to be--and it was actually easier to push my hips up higher with something tangible to push against. 

Thank you Kate for a lovely class.  And thank you Walker for being the source of my elation :)

Day of rest tomorrow and then Bikram again on Thursday.

-Allie