bind

60 minutes - on site fitness

we had on site fitness last night with not my favorite instructor, but the practice was nice. it was only me and one other co-worker. as we neared the end of our practice, i managed to get into a full bind in a seated twist. and just as i settled into the bind on the other side, a police officer walked into the room.

"is this 1399?" he asked. what?

he asked again. then he asked, "are you burglars? we got a burglary alarm."

let me paint a picture for you: 3 people sitting in a fairly dim conference room on yoga mats with peaceful music playing in the background. if we were really burglars, we were the worst ones ever. who breaks into a conference room to practice yoga?

in reality, someone had forgotten we were there and set the alarm on us which is set off by motion. i hopped up, disarmed the alarm and got a false alarm ticket.

the instructor wanted to repeat our previous pose to get us back into the rhythm, but we had done fish pose right before that and i really didn't want to do that one again, so we did something else to refocus our breath and finish up.

seriously distracting.

nice and easy

25 minutes - whatever i want

this morning, i thought i would do the 12 asana practice my friend recommended to me, but i kept getting dizzy in downward dog. so, i scrapped that and did a nice little series of standing poses, a balancing pose and some seated forward bends. i added a little twist to round out my practice then tried to finish up in hero pose again.

except i couldn't quiet my mind. the cat tried to use my mat as a scratching post. i worried about the baby waking up. i thought about the back to back interviews i have scheduled this afternoon. ugh.

i gave up and started my day. oh well.

car yoga

a recipe

all one needs to practice yoga in the car is two young children in the back seat and a long drive ahead. for me, this is how the practice unfolded.

we started out listening to music, but soon snacks were in order. i passed a snack back to daughter number 1, then twisted myself into a pretzel to pass a snack back to daughter number 2. and the magnadoodle, and the books and the everything a young person could possibly want during a long car drive.

i used my flexibility and strength to really make it happen. happy car travels to you!

yoga with a friend

60 minutes - vinyasa 1

i met a girlfriend at the yoga studio tonight for an evening class. it was geared toward level 1 and i'm glad she chose this one because the last time she practiced was during pre-natal yoga. we were pregnant at the same time and our little ones share a birthday. they are 20 months old now.

it felt kind of strange to practice next to someone i knew. i felt like i had to pay attention to her and we kept lining up so that our arms would crash into each other as opposed to staggering on our mats. and i felt like i had to really do great at everything since i've been practicing more recently. in my brain, i know it's not a competition, but my mind kept slipping that way.

and...

i got my heels down in downward dog! not for long and only after i had warmed up, but they were down. i could finally push through my heels and my hands at the same time. maybe if i keep this up, i'll be able to do it consistently and not just have them touch for a couple of seconds per vinyasa.

i did it!

supported hero

30 minutes - nice and easy morning practice

yesterday morning, i started my practice in mountain to find my breath and get centered. i cycled through some sun salutations, standing and seated poses. then, instead of ending in savasana or corpse pose, i decided to sit in supported hero pose. (to add support, place a block under your sits bones. if it's too much of a stretch to sit in the full pose, this adds some height and helps if your feet tend to fall asleep.)

frankly, i was afraid i would fall asleep if i totally relaxed into corpse pose so i chose something more active to settle myself.

i found that i got lost in mindfulness, just noticing and letting thoughts pass through. i let go of my breath and just paid attention to my body. then i realized i didn't know how to get out. usually, i wiggle my fingers and my toes when i'm ready to start my day, but this time i didn't have a familiar pattern to undo my silence.

fortunately, M started shuffling stuff around in the kitchen and it provided just enough distraction outside myself that i could open my eyes. i started my day in a good place. and it was a good thing because i ended up working until after 9pm.

bikini belly

25 minutes - strength, toning and crunches

this morning i modified the workouts my sister sent me. i did body weight squats with arm curls, pressing all the way up, holding in plank position, resistance band rows and a mess of crunches.

i was supposed to do 4 sets, but i only made it through 3. i'm thinking yesterday's yoga plus packing up the basement gave me quite a workout yesterday and my body is still tired.

one of the nice things about the class yesterday was that the instructor adjusted me a couple of times and i got way deeper into my seated forward bend than i have in the past. my hamstrings get so tight and this certainly helped, but now i'm feeling it.

happy monday.

hot yoga

90 minutes - vinyasa 1/2

i went to the 8:30am class again this morning and remembered how warm it was friday morning. rather than wear my usual yoga pants, i chose a running skirt to keep myself cooler. just in case you were wondering, a running skirt is not shorts. no one needed to see that.

as soon as i got in the studio and took a comfortable seat, i realized my error. and that instructor worked us. we warmed up and the room warmed up. i just kept getting hotter. i forgot my towel and we did all kinds of great move which raised my legs over my head.

poor choice in apparel today. any recommendations for yoga shorts?

high probability of falling over

60 minutes - vinyasa 1/2

i went to the 9am class at the studio this morning for the vinyasa level 1/2 class. i was surprised by how many people were there, but it was a great class. we did a great flow and focused quite a bit on the 3 locks- the chin, the middle and the lower belly. it brought a higher level of intensity to my practice.

at one point, we moved from table top to threading the needle. i don't know if that's what it's really called, but it's when you move one arm under the other with the shoulder and the head rest on the floor. the instructor gave us a couple of ways to move through to the full pose. she said there's a high probability of rolling over by losing your balance. i started in the basic pose, got one leg up in the air and thought i felt balanced enough to raise my supporting arm.

nope. i totally rolled over onto the floor. fairly loudly. at least it was funny, but i still felt a little silly.

no harm in trying.

sleepytime yoga

25 minutes - vinyasa flow

i really wanted to stay in bed this morning, but i didn't. my alarm finally woke me up and M finally got me out of bed. i did a nice little morning practice, but i really wanted to sleep instead.

ultimately, i'm glad i made it out of the bed, but i'm still pretty sleepy. *yawn*

strength and toning

20 minutes - strength and toning

my strength and training exercises today were a bit beyond my ability. my sister was a personal trainer for a long time and sent me a 3 days of workouts to start building strength and toning my body to look great in a bathing suit this summer.

advice from my sister: cut out sweets, dairy and alcohol.

for me, sweets and dairy aren't a problem. to be frank, i'm still going to enjoy a glass of wine. but, i'm doing my best.

i did the second day this evening instead of waking up to practice early this morning. i was supposed to do 4 sets of each exercise and i just couldn't. i did 3 and my arms were so tired i thought i might not be able to do much of anything tomorrow if i pushed past it.

still building strength.

on-site yoga: round 2

60 minutes - kripalu

tonight, we started the second 4 week series of on-site yoga at work. i know that i prepared the instructor to meet the varying degrees of comfort and familiarity with yoga as well as very diverse ability, but i felt like i was doing a beginner class. i guess i just felt like my practice has evolved beyond the level this fellow was teaching, but the rest of my group liked it.

it moved a little too slow for me and we ended up in triangle pose which if i had known i was in triangle pose i would have moved my body into triangle. instead, i thought we were in some variation of side angle pose. i didn't know where to put my arms. it was kind of bizarre.

this morning, rather than have a lie in, i still got up at 5:15am, but instead of practicing yoga i did 4 sets of some strength and toning exercises my sister sent me. she sent me the list of exercises and then after she explained them to me, i finally started today. the intent is to do a series of 3 or 4 exercises of 20 reps each with no breaks between sets. i went out and bought some little 2 lb hand weights and a resistance band.

the thing that had me laughing was that the second exercise was to hold plank position for 30-60 seconds. i thought after 30 days of yoga this would not be a problem. i think i purposefully counted a fast 30 seconds because my arms were shaking.

i guess i'm not as strong as i thought.

days of rest

yesterday was my daughter's 5th birthday party and we had house guests as well. rather than try to fit in a practice, i decided to take a shower and enjoy the day.

this morning, i had planned on going to the 8:30am yoga class as my mother's day gift to myself, but instead we had a lovely second breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausage hot off the griddle and onto my plate with me not cooking and just eating.

happy mother's day to me!

day 30: we did it!

30 minutes - going with the flow

i book-ended my practice yesterday and today. literally less than 7 hours between them and most of that time was spent sleeping.

i started with sun salutations today and then just did more of what i felt like doing. i figured as my reward for 30 days of practice in a row, i could just do what felt good. the backs of my legs were really tight so i did a lot of forward bends, both standing and sitting. i tried to do a standing balance, but kept tipping over so i stopped. in the sun salutations, i managed to hover over the floor instead of plopping my belly down for each series this morning. usually i get tired and give myself a break, but not today.

i cannot believe we were able to find time to practice for 30 days in a row. i feel so accomplished and also like i shifted my mind to look forward to practicing. i'm going to continue  but i'm also going to give myself a break if i need rest more than motion.

my secondary goal of getting my heels down in downward dog was not met, but as i'm going to continue to practice, i'm going to keep it as a goal.

congratulations to my good friend who i couldn't have done it without. even from half-way around the world, having that support and accountability kept me going.

day 29: at the end of the day

20 minutes - nice and easy

i didn't get out of bed this morning to practice. which means that i went through my day understanding that i needed to find time this evening for myself.

well, 1 trip to the shoe store, 1 trip to the grocery store, 4 dozen iced cupcakes, 1 baked birthday cake and 2 glasses of wine later i found time to practice. i consciously decided to wait until after all of my evening activities were completed otherwise i wouldn't be able to focus on my breath and my body and the whole practice would be wasted.

tonight, i made up my own little evening practice. i held each pose for 10 breaths which allowed me to actually focus in on myself instead of getting distracted by the things to be done tomorrow. i also managed the full lotus position tonight. believe it.

now, however, i'm ready for bed. to end this 30 day challenge, i'm apparently going to bookend my practices.

day 28: trying to get taller

25 minutes - balance and alignment

the balance class i took at work stuck with me and this morning i tried to recreate that feeling of getting taller and creating space in my middle. i'm not sure i quite managed that in my 25 minute practice, but i feel longer. (at least a little)

i should have thought this one through a little more rather than trying to rely on my memory early in the monring. but, here we are.

today is the 4 consecutive week of practicing every day. i am super proud of my good friend who joined me on this. and i'm super impressed with myself that i've developed enough discipline and motivation to get up early just about everyday to make time for something that's important to me.

the article i read in the beginning talked about creating a habit. i hope i've created a good one.

ashtanga and the ego

i just read a blog post called ashtanga yoga - the mighty ego crusher which rings fairly true to me. as a young person, i learned ashtanga at the gym. i totally thought it was just gym yoga, but the advantage for me was two fold. first, the teacher was excellent and really took time to break down the poses and offer encouragement and adjustment to meet my ability and fear. second, the class sizes were generally quite small and sometimes i was the only person practicing. i got tons of individual attention.

through the year, i've practiced off and on, but never realized how much i had learned in my first introduction to yoga. last year, i took a formally led ashtanga class at a studio. the other participants were tiny, fit and young. i felt old and out of practice. the teacher was a man who literally wore a tank top and what appeared to be boxer briefs. being a little softer in the middle, i felt completely out of place.

i got adjusted. i got called out. i got thoroughly exhausted. but for me, it still felt like home. since i've started this 30 day yoga challenge, i have not yet done the full primary series. i feel like i'm not ready to dive in and take that feeling of not-good-enough.

after reading this post, thought, i feel much more willing to give it a try. and i'll still get exhausted. and i'll still get adjusted, but i won't let it get me down.

day 27: had a plan, modified my plan

25 minutes - self-guided practice

this morning, i had a plan for how i wanted to move through my practice and i just kept modifying based on how i felt. i did more full vinyasas than i usually do, but i felt strong so i kept going. i added warrior 3 and the full side-angle pose instead of the modified version. i learned the fire log pose at the class on sunday and included that in my practice. it felt like a choose your own adventure book only it was actually my adventure.

last night, while talking with M, he asked me fairly incredulously if i seriously couldn't get my heels to the ground in downward-dog. nope. still can't. well, apparently he can. obviously, i asked for a demonstration. at first, his form was not so good, but after we adjusted, he could still touch both heels to the ground.

i think it's the male body. the only other people i know who regularly practice are women. maybe we're just physically built differently. i feel like he's beating me and not even trying! i know in my head that practicing yoga is not a competition, but it can still feel like that sometimes.

my new goal is to get my heels to the ground by day 30. which leaves me 3 more days. we'll see...

day 26: sivananda

20 minutes - modified sivananda

the sivananda series starts with headstand which as i mentioned the first time i tried this series, i cannot do right now. i tried dolphin instead which is hard, but manageable. my intention was to breathe 10 breaths in each poses. i did 10 breaths, but i had to take a break in the middle of a few- specifically, dolphin, boat and up-ward facing dog. i am building strength, but i'm not there yet.

i've been thinking about continuing my practice after the 30 consecutive days, but giving myself some free passes for mornings like this morning. i hit the snooze button 3 times and i don't even remember falling back asleep in between. suddenly it was just ringing again.

and i may have been a little out of it getting started. i realized after i finished my practice the i wore my shirt inside out the whole time. yeah, that happened.

day 25: yoga at the studio

90 minutes - vinyasa 1/2

i went to my first studio class since i started the 30 day yoga challenge. i used my pass to balanced yoga and attended the 8:30am class. when i signed up for the early class it seemed like a great idea. at about 10pm last night, it seemed less good. nonetheless, i got up, put on my big girl (yoga) pants and headed out.

the regular instructor is apparently out recovery from a surgery, but i still really liked the person who subbed for her. it felt good to practice with a group and still maintain a focus on my body and my breath. i felt tall and strong and open when we finished.

since i've been practicing at home for so long, i asked the instructor after class if she noticed anything i should be aware of or if my form was good. she said i looked good and wasn't noticeably doing anything to hurt myself. she said she thought my practice was good.

it feels good to have validation not only that i'm doing it right, but that i can hang with a group that meets regularly for 90 minutes and still be able to keep going.

day 24: on the floor

20 minutes - legs and hips

M left before i woke up to go run the cap city half marathon today. i figured he'd be toast for most of the afternoon and rather than miss practicing today, i also got up bright and early. i made it exactly 20 minutes before V started calling for me.

i'm planning to attend a 90 minute class tomorrow and i really wanted a light practice to start the day. i used a strap and did seated forward bends, pigeon pose and some twists. i felt good and moved easily.

and then we started our days.

day 23: standing, balancing, seated

25 minutes - same as yesterday (almost)

this morning, i chose the same pattern as yesterday, but as i went through the poses i made adjustments and changes along the way. for some reason, the full up-dog position hurts the inside of my right wrist. i modified to cobra, but i miss the satisfaction of rolling over my toes into down-dog.

the back of my legs felt tight today so i added two forward bends at the beginning to loosen myself up a bit. i did the first two bends from the primary series. as i pulled up on my toes and pushed down through my legs, i opened my shoulders, too.

but, then M walked downstairs and stepped around me. then the cat decided she wanted to be on my mat, too. i kept thinking about all the stuff i had to do today. not as focused as i would have preferred to be.

it happens.

day 22: self-guided practice

25 minutes

last night before bed, i grabbed my yoga deck and pulled out 6 or 8 poses that seemed to flow in my mind. this morning, i rolled out of bed, rolled out my mat and lined up my cards so i wouldn't forget.

i started with some sun salutations and then moved through the poses. as i got into my practice, i rearranged and added variations as i felt like it. adjusting as i practiced made sense.i added happy baby after my shoulder stand and plow because my back felt tight.  i could move how i wanted to move and not feel like i have to go with the rest of the group.

the risk in self-guided practice is that i'll never do the poses i find uncomfortable or scary. i'm hopeful that attending a group class (in person) once a week will help me continue to grow in my practice.

also, today a woman told me that i walk like a model. she said that i walked with grace like the models walk. "did you take modelling classes as a girl?" nope. i am not a model and couldn't really ever be mistaken for one. but i believe that my yoga practice over the last 3 weeks has made a noticeable difference in how i carry myself.

who wouldn't want to walk with grace?

day 21: on my own

30-35 minutes - sivananda

i followed the advice of my good friend and tried the 12 basic asanas in the sivananda practice. to be truthful, i can't really do a headstand at the moment so i skipped that one. i focused on my breath and started with 5 series A sun salutations and 3 B then cycled through the poses.

i couldn't figure out how to prop my hips in fish pose, but here we are. i liked being able to follow my own breath and i held most of the poses for 10 breaths each. when i hold a pose that long i find that about half way through i relax or realize i can shift deeper or move my body to refocus and finish up.

without the verbal guidance, i felt able to focus in on myself in a different way. i'm going to keep trying a quieter practice.