To my absolute astonishment, my second class on Tuesday was one of my best practices ever. I would have thought that getting up early and practicing and then going to the office for eight hours would have left me with nothing to give in a second practice but it felt like I was melting into poses like I had not before. Maybe I was so excited about doing it and being back on track that adrenaline carried me through. Or maybe I was so tired I had no fight left in me. I don’t know. I just know that I enjoyed it far more than I would have thought possible.
Of course yesterday quickly took the wind out of my sails. It was so hot in class Wednesday night I thought I would die. Couple that with an egg that I had eaten for dinner (even though about two hours before class) that seemed stuck in my esophagus and a bladder that was unusually full in the middle of class that required a bathroom break after wind removing pose (which I have never had to do) and saying that I struggled through class would be an understatement.
Then, I realized I had a commitment this evening which meant I either had to do another early morning class (UGH!), double up again (double UGH!) or, even as close as I am to 30 classes, call it quits. The thought of doubling up again, despite the great class I had on Tuesday, is about as distasteful as the thought of quitting at this point. Consequently, I set my alarm for 5 AM this morning. It is amazing the sense of accomplishment I have just getting to class this early in the day, and now I feel like whatever else I get done today is just icing on the cake. I hope I don’t fall asleep in my meeting tonight though. Just five more classes to go !!! I think I can. I think I can! I know I can!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
July 22nd--Classes 21 and 22
I decided yesterday, after my regular Monday morning class with Leah (9AM), that I will definitely try to do two classes today despite the ridiculously early hour of 6:15AM for the first class. (I am so NOT a morning person.) I worked 1PM to 9PM for many years for a reason. However, I figure I can do this, just this one morning, just this one day, just this one time (and if not I can always blow off the second class at 7PM and try to double up again on Saturday morning). I am surprised to find recently how often I hear people say, “I could never do that.” I don’t know if they always have or if all of a sudden the phrase just catches my ear. I want to tell them you have no idea what you can do. I mention this, because I realize I say that I am not a morning person and with every utterance, I become less and less of a morning person. So as a point of clarification—I have no desire to be a “morning person.” I can and will do what I need to do on occasion to catch a plane, to go for a run/walk with my friends on a Sunday morning (I haven’t forgotten Anita), or to catch up on my yoga classes, but other than that if my head is still on my pillow at 8 AM that’s OK by me.
I was amazed yesterday to find that the heat was working and the room was hot and I was sweating but I didn’t struggle with it at all. I don’t know if I’m adjusting to the heat outside or if I’ve been well hydrated or some combination of things but I enjoyed practice yesterday. It’s not always like that for me. Sometimes the heat really takes my breath away from me, but not yesterday and not this morning either.
I continue to struggle with balance as I raise my eyes higher and higher in the standing poses. I can be steady as a rock if I am looking down but I realize that’s not where I want to be, so although I wobble and struggle in my standing poses, I laugh to myself as I try to master this nuance of gaze. It seems the more I look at my wobbling leg the more I wobble—UGH!—but I will not look down. I don’t know if it’s my zodiac sign or my Italian heritage, but I will not accept defeat and I will not back down. Maybe I’m stubborn, maybe I’m blessed with persistence, either way I’m having fun playing with the postures. While I have already confessed to working on unwrinkling my brow in a mirror at home, I almost never “strike a pose” outside of class. Consequently, I find myself anxious to get to my next practice to try a posture again. When you make a little adjustment to a posture like I have been with my eyes, you only have the two sets to try it out in which for me really leaves me wanting to try it again. Well today that will come soon enough, and then I will be back on track with my 30 classes in 30 days challenge. Hooray!
I was amazed yesterday to find that the heat was working and the room was hot and I was sweating but I didn’t struggle with it at all. I don’t know if I’m adjusting to the heat outside or if I’ve been well hydrated or some combination of things but I enjoyed practice yesterday. It’s not always like that for me. Sometimes the heat really takes my breath away from me, but not yesterday and not this morning either.
I continue to struggle with balance as I raise my eyes higher and higher in the standing poses. I can be steady as a rock if I am looking down but I realize that’s not where I want to be, so although I wobble and struggle in my standing poses, I laugh to myself as I try to master this nuance of gaze. It seems the more I look at my wobbling leg the more I wobble—UGH!—but I will not look down. I don’t know if it’s my zodiac sign or my Italian heritage, but I will not accept defeat and I will not back down. Maybe I’m stubborn, maybe I’m blessed with persistence, either way I’m having fun playing with the postures. While I have already confessed to working on unwrinkling my brow in a mirror at home, I almost never “strike a pose” outside of class. Consequently, I find myself anxious to get to my next practice to try a posture again. When you make a little adjustment to a posture like I have been with my eyes, you only have the two sets to try it out in which for me really leaves me wanting to try it again. Well today that will come soon enough, and then I will be back on track with my 30 classes in 30 days challenge. Hooray!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
July 20th--Classes 18, 19 and 20
It occurs to me that listing the days is no longer accurate since I missed two days. I did make up one of them this Saturday by doing back-to-back classes (8 AM and 10 AM). If I am completely honest it was kind of anticlimactic for me. As I mentioned Friday, with the heat and humidity as high as it has been in the Philadelphia area, the heater at the gym has taken to cutting out as it senses it’s already too darn hot. This being the case, the yoga room was again not as hot as it usually is (maybe only 100 degrees). So, the back-to-back classes were not the struggle I thought they might be. Again the yoga gods have smiled on me (lest they think I am proud of myself.)
Today, however was another story indeed. Anita must have figured out a way to trick the heater because although it shut off a couple of times, it was hot enough to cook in there today. I sweat not just a puddle but an entire pond today. Now I’m thinking about when I will double up again because I don’t know how I would have done back-to-back classes today. I’m considering doing a 6:15 AM on Tuesday, going to work 9 to 5, then doing the 7 PM Tuesday night. On the one hand, spacing the classes out sounds good to me, on the one hand it sounds like a terribly long day. I’d like to do it and be back on track rather than wait until Saturday to do an 8 AM and 10 AM. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
I am aware of the fact that while I have fewer “breakthroughs” of measure, I notice different things in my postures every time I practice. I notice my forearms ache more, I guess because I am pulling harder in my bows and using them in toe stand where I hadn’t in the past. I notice I’m trying to bring my eyes up in both standing bow and balancing stick and this complicates the posture immeasurably for me. I also am working hard to not wrinkle my forehead as I gaze up during the back series postures (I need no help with the burrows in my aging forehead.) I find this to be as difficult a task as any. Truth be told, I’ve actually practiced in my bathroom mirror. I don’t want my forehead to be all wrinkled up, as I make a younger, healthier version of my body from the inside-out. I’m glad that this is Bikram’s “beginner’s” yoga and that all we’re doing is practicing. I feel like I fit right in that way.
Today, however was another story indeed. Anita must have figured out a way to trick the heater because although it shut off a couple of times, it was hot enough to cook in there today. I sweat not just a puddle but an entire pond today. Now I’m thinking about when I will double up again because I don’t know how I would have done back-to-back classes today. I’m considering doing a 6:15 AM on Tuesday, going to work 9 to 5, then doing the 7 PM Tuesday night. On the one hand, spacing the classes out sounds good to me, on the one hand it sounds like a terribly long day. I’d like to do it and be back on track rather than wait until Saturday to do an 8 AM and 10 AM. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
I am aware of the fact that while I have fewer “breakthroughs” of measure, I notice different things in my postures every time I practice. I notice my forearms ache more, I guess because I am pulling harder in my bows and using them in toe stand where I hadn’t in the past. I notice I’m trying to bring my eyes up in both standing bow and balancing stick and this complicates the posture immeasurably for me. I also am working hard to not wrinkle my forehead as I gaze up during the back series postures (I need no help with the burrows in my aging forehead.) I find this to be as difficult a task as any. Truth be told, I’ve actually practiced in my bathroom mirror. I don’t want my forehead to be all wrinkled up, as I make a younger, healthier version of my body from the inside-out. I’m glad that this is Bikram’s “beginner’s” yoga and that all we’re doing is practicing. I feel like I fit right in that way.
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