A Pleasant Surprise

After my rather pathetic stint on the couch yesterday, I did not have high hopes for today's practice.  I was still feeling a little dizzy and nauseated throughout today (but there's a good chance that was because it was Monday, back to work.  Boo).  I warned Vicki ahead of time that I wasn't feeling my best and might have to sit down a few times.  I was ready to heed my limitations and listen to my body to hasten a speedy recovery.

Turns out, what my body had to say was "Go for it!"  If last time was my best practice ever, today's was even better!  I relished the heat and humidity, sweating out all the nasty toxins, and daring to push myself further than ever before--literally the case with Half Moon today. 

In Toe Stand, I was able to meet my own gaze and hold it for several MORE seconds than last time.  Standing Bow felt great, the fullest expression of Hands to Feet was almost instantly within my grasp, and I feel like I finally figured out how Balancing Stick works.  I had been struggling with rotating my kicking hip down.  Conclusion: grounding down through your standing big toe builds for a wider, more balanced base and extending your kicking leg further behind you as hard as you can makes your whole body tighter, lighter, and easier to balance.  Hurray!

Positive Pose: Standing Head to Knee

Yes, all of the previously mentioned postures could be considered my "positive pose" for the night, but Standing Head to Knee gets special mention tonight because I dropped my head to my left knee and maintained my balance for several seconds.  Oh, yeah.  Goal 1 accomplished.  Now that I know I can do it, I have no doubt that I'll be able to do it again and on the other side: psychological barrier breached.  Bring it on Standing Head to Knee! I've got your number now.

Yes, I looked that graceful and composed.  At least in my head.




Struggle Pose: Triangle
Don't get me wrong, I got to the fullest expression, but this posture comes at the end of the standing series and I was a touch dizzy and winded.  Nothing to cause alarm or cause me to sit down, but I had a more difficult time with this posture than others today.  I must have been overly excited by my success with prior poses or something. :) 

No, my (slightly) weakened body was letting me know that I didn't have a much stamina left in the standing series.  Fortunately, there are only two more gentler standing postures after triangle and with extra attention paid to breathing--making sure I was getting enough oxygen--I finished triangle without any major problems. There's a fine line between knowing when to quit and rallying to finish strong.   I mean, I am awesome, after all.

So I've now finished Week 2, almost halfway done with my challenge.  Because of Sunday's day off, I only managed to get 4 classes in this week, which means I'll have to fit in 6 this week.  I'll have to squeeze a Wednesday class in to my regular schedule this week.

Some changes I've noticed since I started: I am getting sweatier.  As my body gets used to regular exposure to the tropical Bikram climate, it gets used to regulating its own temperature and as a result, I notice more sweat dribbling off my nose, elbows, and everywhere else.  I believe this is also precipitating another change--I have clearer skin now than when I started.  Makes sense that as I sweat away all my toxins, fewer of them show up on my skin.  Hurray!

Vinyasa Yoga with Kate tomorrow!

-Allie