Saturday Photo Shoot

I had a pretty good practice today.  I started slowly--everything's a little tighter in the morning--but by the end of half moon, it was as good a practice as any evening class.    Then Mel and I stayed for a while after class to take some "before" photos, even though this is getting closer to the half-way point for me.  Still plenty of room for improvement, though:

Half Moon: if I smile, I might (eventually) convince myself  that I like it?

Standing Bow: My balance is getting much, much better.  My feet are getting used to holding the pose and my standing leg is getting stronger.  I honestly thought I had been getting my kicking leg higher than this, but this just means I've got somewhere to go with it, right?  Still makes for a pretty picture :)

Triangle: Look how pretty!

Locust: This is completely the opposite of Standing Bow--I had no idea I was getting my legs up that high!  I know this pose is difficult and uncomfortable, but I promise you it works.  As an avid knitter and an office employee, I am prone to thumb cramping and wrist discomfort.  After doing this pose regularly for just 12 days now, I can already knit longer and with less discomfort.  As Bikram would say, 90 minutes of pain is much better than 90 years!

Camel: this was my struggle pose today.  I got into it just fine, but immediately felt dizzy and nauseous.  I couldn't go as far as usual, but didn't whip out of it--stayed where I was, focused my eyes, and breathed.  Unlike my triangle, this posture feels different every time.  Some days it feels great and on others, it can be a trial.  It sure feels great later with wide open lungs.

Spinal Twist: I love this one.  It feels so good at the end of the practice, squeezing all the remaining toxins from your spine.  Ahhhh.

We didn't take any pictures of standing forehead to knee because, well, I can't hold it anyway.  You'd get pictures of me falling down.  What's the sense in a "before" shot if I can't hold the pose for more than 0.75961 seconds.  If I reach my goal, I'll take some "after" pictures for you :)

Today's Embarrassing Moment: I forgot the difference between my right and left sides today during Balancing Stick.  I accidentally started on my left side and then wondered why it felt familiar when I was back on my left side.  Oops, silly me.  I just did two sets on the right side in the second part and all was well again, if a touch embarrassing.

Yin/Yang yoga with Kate tomorrow!

-Allie

Day 10: Progress!

I must have had a productive day of rest because I had an excellent practice today!  I noticed improvement in every single pose today--still not at the fullest expression of most of the postures, but I'm getting there, albeit slowly.  I am awesome.

Also, I'm down 1.5lbs!  And it's only been 10 days!  Yay!  I'll take some halfway measurements this weekend and we'll see if I've made any other progress.

Breathing was a bit of a struggle today.  Initial breathing felt fine, but I think I might have pushed a little too hard in half moon.  I got really, really deep into the pose--to the point where my lungs were compressed and I could not breathe enough to maintain the effort it took to stay that far in the pose.  The compression would have been fine if I were more flexible and didn't need to work so hard to get there. It sure looked pretty, but I didn't have enough self-awareness to back off where it was needed. 

Then I felt like I was playing catch-up for the rest of the standing series, never quite getting enough oxygen to reach my fullest potential.  So, although I saw progress in every posture today, I probably could have seen more had I not pushed so hard in the beginning of my practice.

Next time, if it hurts, I'm going to back off a bit.  Competition, you're getting checked at the door next time.  I don't need your help.

Struggle Pose: Half Moon
See above.  I am going to strike a healthy balance in this pose one day, darn it.

Positive Pose: All of Them!

Man, I felt like a rockstar today.  Why, yes I can kick my leg up higher.  Up one more inch?  No problem!  Special mention goes to Standing Forehead to Knee, when I was able to keep my forehead on my knee for a good two seconds before I fell over (yeah!) and to Toe Stand.  Today, I had both hands up on prayer and met my own gaze in the mirror for several seconds (yeah! x2).



Tomorrow's another day of rest and then hopefully I'll be able to rock Saturday's class as well as I did this one.  My hamstrings will probably try to hold me back, but I'm going to stay optimistic. ;-)

-Allie

Tired Tuesday

Hoo boy, 4 days in a row of kick-you-in-the-butt yoga is NOT easy.  I was dragging even before I got to class, so I did not have high hopes.  I did my best with what strength I had, but I'm looking forward to later weeks when I have more stamina.  I really, really wanted to push and improve--trying head stand would have been cool--but there comes a point when you have to listen to your body and draw back. 

There wasn't any particularly good or bad pose today; it was all a bit of a struggle.  Balancing was especially tough on tired quads and glutes.  You really can't fudge your way through balancing poses.  However, spinal twists and backbends felt really, really good for a tight lower back today.  Next week will be more productive, I can feel it.

Tomorrow is a well-deserved day of rest.  And now that my muscles have turned into jello, I plan to ooze into bed early and get a full night's sleep.

Distractions are a bad, bad thing

Oh, I did not have a good practice today.  Too many things were interfering with my concentration and I let them all prevent me from thoroughly enjoying today's class. 

First, I did not have a good day at work.  Working in a law office can be very demanding and today was definitely one of those days.  Whose business is it, besides mine, how and what I eat?  Not a certain somebody's, I can tell you that.  Ugh.

So then I rush to yoga, hoping for an energetic class to rid me of all the physical and mental toxins I'd built up throughout the day, only to realize that I've forgotten my hair clip.  This meant that those too-long sweaty bangs were flopping in my face the whole time.  It's hard to see your beautiful posture with a face full of gross, sopping hair.  Awesome.

Finally, driven mad by the above, I found my attention wandering to the other people in the room, letting their struggles and wobbling become my own.  The whole balancing series was a nightmare today. 

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.  It was much easier to focus on what I was doing throughout the standing separate leg stretching postures, when it was more difficult to see anyone but myself.  And by the time we hit the our mats for the floor series, I was more centered and determined to perform well for the remainder of the class, the rough start forgotten and inner peace within my grasp.

Positive Pose: Triangle

This can be a tricky posture, but when you finally reach that deepest expression--hips open, spinal twist, smooth, straight lines--it's immensely gratifying and even beautiful.  Like most people, this was a tough one at first and for a few months after I started, but since I hit the deepest expression once, I've found that I can consistently hit it each practice.  Almost without fail.  Experiences with other postures vary with each class, but no matter how frustrating the rest of my practice has been, triangle is always there to assure me that I do not, in fact, suck at yoga.  I sink my right hip lower, gaze up at my extended thumb and think "ahhh, there it is.  You can do this," and all is right with the world. 


Struggle Pose: Standing Balancing Head to Knee

Yeah, this one was the hardest today.  I think I might have been strong enough to make some progress here today, but no good came of my vision obscured by icky hair and my attention focused on everyone but me.  Lots of falling, lots of frustration.  All I can say is next time HAS to be better....I hope.

Today's moral: a distracted mind can have serious consequences on your practice.  I really must try to leave all frustrations and judgments at the door and keep my focus on my mat and my breathing.  It doesn't matter what everyone else is doing--or not doing.  Focus, focus, focus.

Week One: Done!

Here's hoping for a more productive class tomorrow with Kate

-Allie

Sunday Yin/Yang

Is it spring yet?  I think it's trying to be.  It's warmer and raining and I think the snow is melting a little.  But even though I know warmer sunny days are coming, it's still gray and depressing (and cold!) outside.  What a treat to spend my Sunday morning in a light, heated yoga room with Kate, whose childlike cheer is infectious.  You can resist her if you want, but eventually your grump melts away with your sweat and you leave Yin/Yang yoga with a smile. 

Also, don't be fooled by the gentler, slower tempo of the class.  Your muscles still get an excellent workout from the stretching and extended holds.  It requires almost as much mental as physical strength to stay present in the poses  and to relax where your body's first instinct is to tighten or resist. 

The change in pace is supremely beneficial to competitive types (like me) who want to push hard and be the best at everything, rather than relax and take a more mindful approach to their practice.  I am so grateful to have so many complementary styles of yoga--both in style and pace--available to me.

Positive Pose: Prayer Twist

I can't claim to be doing this pose exactly right.  There are probably several minor adjustments that would make my prayer twist experience better, but man, it felt really good today.  The low lunge stretching through my hip flexor and the spiraling, twisting motion stretching through my back--this was just what the doctor ordered on a gray Sunday for the girl with tight hips.  Ahhhhh.

Struggle Pose: Pigeon

Again, I have rather tight hips.  I can get into this pose just fine and can be comfortable in the stretch for a time, but extended holds, as my body eases deeper into the posture, can get very painful.  It took a lot of mental strength today to remain in the pose and focus on my breathing.  Engaging my breath and drawing my attention to "Inhale, exhale.  Inhale, exhale," kept me from rocketing out of this posture.  It certainly wasn't easy, but I suppose this is the type of physical meditation one seeks in a yoga class.  There just wasn't room for any other thoughts!  My hips sure do feel loose and stretched now, though.

I told Vicki I would bring my camera in tomorrow.  So if you're nice to me, maybe we'll take some "before" pose pictures to compare with some "after" pictures towards the end of my challenge. 

Bikram yoga tomorrow!

-Allie

Happy Saturday

It's about 1:30 Saturday afternoon.  I'm showered and dressed, I've got a load of laundry in the washer, a batch of cookies in the oven, and I've already completed my yoga practice for the day. 

Although it's tough to get enough motivation to attend a Saturday morning yoga class, I really love how I feel once it's done.  I feel energized and satisfied that I don't have to procrastinate my workout for the rest of the day.  What an accomplishment to get all my Saturday goals done before 2pm--with the rest of the day to spend at my leisure!

The other challenge with morning classes is that my body hasn't had the whole day to loosen and become limber.  The stretching poses are a lot more difficult when I've only been up for a couple of hours. Luckily, I had Mr. Humidity to help me out with that today.  I started tight, but the heat and high humidity sure helped me to loosen and get verrry deep into my postures today.

Positive Pose(s): Standing Bow and Floor Bow

You know you've had a good practice when you excel in more than one pose and today was just such a practice.  I think the combination of the humidity and the early hour--since I wasn't quite awake enough to overanalyze anything--meant that I was able to reach and sustain very deep expressions of these two postures:

I've been complaining to Vicki that since I've been slacking on a regular practice, I was gradually getting worse at Standing Bow.  My foot would cramp up, I couldn't lock my knee, my hamstrings were too tight, and any number of miscellaneous excuses for not being able to complete the posture.  Even though today was only my third class in the challenge, I think my feet are already adjusting to balancing again--no cramping and very little falling over today.  I felt like a rockstar in this pose today!

Regarding Floor Bow, I usually do pretty well in this posture.  Well, I get my feet up pretty high, but have to think very hard about rotating my knees back in to keep them from splaying and then I fatigue pretty quickly.  However today's magic combination or humidity and not thinking meant that I was able to keep my legs much straighter for much longer.  Yay!

Struggle Pose: Half Moon

Ouch, this one hurt today :(  After the first breathing exercise, this is the first posture in the series.  By that time, I was still very stiff, especially in the waist, as it turns out.  I was only able to get about half as far down as I usually do and even that was painful.  Here's hoping I'll be looser by Monday evening's class and maybe haz inner peace like Yoga Cat:

 He seems to be enjoying Half Moon more than I was today.

Vicki's been threatening to take come Week 1 vs. Week 4 photos of me in some of these poses, so next time I might have some pictures for you that I didn't just take off Google Images.  

 Maybe. 

Looking forward to Kate's Yin/Yang class tomorrow!

-Allie

An Evening with Mr. Bikram

Hart Yoga had a new instructor tonight.  Well, the recording of one, anyway.  We had a pretty small class tonight, so Vicki decided to do something a little special--we all practiced along with a CD recording of one of Mr. Bikram's Los Angeles classes.  My goodness, what a character!

His 90-minute recording was chock full of Bikram metaphors, yoga philosophies, and a few gems about life in general.  Every spinal stretching posture had some reference to a pearl necklace, hamstring stretches had a lot of sandwich references, and he continually referred to his class as a "torture chamber."  I think hearing him call everyone "sweetheart" was more tortuous than the poses themselves--well, so long as he didn't hold us in them for-ev-er.  However, I do agree that 90 minutes of pain is much, much better than 90 years of pain.  You're very right, Bikram.  And very funny.

My favorite Bikram-ism came towards the end of the floor series, when his ramblings were getting a little more philosophical.  He said that if you let someone make you angry, then it's you who are the loser.  I really should try to keep this in mind for all areas of my life...especially work tomorrow...

Positive Pose: Hands to Feet

Now, I don't have the loosest hamstrings.  I usually struggle with this pose in the beginning and am only able to lock my knees out at the end.  It's sometimes frustrating how long it takes my legs to warm up, but today I was able to lock my legs out almost right away and hold them there throughout the whole time.  Maybe Bikram's yelling was a good motivator?  Who knows, but bravo hamstrings!

Struggle Pose: Balancing Stick

Oof, Bikram held us in this pose for what felt like an eternity!  Vicki warned that his timing was a bit "willy-nilly" and she wasn't kidding!  It didn't help that I didn't really eat enough today and felt mildly dizzy throughout the whole class.  I had to give up towards the end of this one as the blinders started to close in. :( 

Bikram kept saying that if you feel dizzy or nauseas, then good for you, you're getting the full benefit from the class.  I think he's wrong there--you should be exerting yourself, but passing out in yoga is not a good sign.  Moral of the story: fuel your body before yoga class.  Make sure you're not skimping on food or water so you really can get the full benefit.

Class 2: done!

Until Saturday,

-Allie