351 + 350: restful weekend

meditation, continued

credit: huffington post

you would think that with the time change and a random playdate at nana's house that more yoga practice would have fit into my day yesterday, but then there was the laundry and the dishes and some minor spring cleaning that took precedence.

since i started my 365 days of yoga, i've found that not only have i started to look forward to getting onto my mat, but i also really like making space at the end of my day to set an intention and settle in for the evening.

last night, i decided to focus on being kind. i can be sharp with my language sometimes and unthinkingly say something that can be perceived different from what i meant. i went to sleep with that on my mind and woke up with that intention for the day.

today, i have to work all day and then attend a class this evening from 6p-10p. ugh. it's an important class and it seemed like a good idea when i signed up, but i was literally asleep before 10p last night. fitting in an evening practice is not in the cards.

i read an article that highlights 3 ways meditation helps you deal with adversity. it's not to say my life is full of adversity, but the 3 points can be applied to lots of situations. the author writes:

1. mind over matter: reversing the stress response

2. eye of the hurricane: calming the emotions

3. seeing the big picture

everyday, i have moments where if i pause to take a deep, even breath, i can move forward in a calmer state of mind.

 

 

 

355 + 354: tree pose, inside, outside, upside down

355: i'm going to be honest. i totally forgot to practice and/or meditate. i woke up late and went to bed early and it wasn't until this morning that i realized i had missed a day. while i'm not giving myself a pass, i do choose to accept the fact that establishing (or breaking) a habit takes time and attention.

354: 30 minutes - vinyasa flow

credit: google images

tonight, i really wanted to be active. i thought about choosing a restorative flow, but i kind of wanted to re-center. the class i chose (on yogaglo) focused on tree pose. standing, in down-dog, on my tummy, on my back, on my side. literally inside outside upside down.

and i fell over about 5 times. usually, i'm solid in tree pose. i find my focal point and i balance. i just couldn't find my balance this evening. but, after my practice, i could re-do the flow and probably not fall over at all. i feel more centered and i'm really glad i focused my intention in on myself and embraced my wobbly balances.

357: evening practice

30 minutes: evening flow

credit: women's health magazine

yesterday felt like a whirlwind. i got the kids up and to school and managed to have a super productive day at work. but, then the evening routine took over. dinner, homework and settle down all had to happen and suddenly it was 8pm.

rather than give it a miss, i searched for a 30 minute evening practice to settle myself down. i found a great class that still required effort and focus, but moved nice and slow. through my practice, i found my breath and eased into the evening. the flow included a handstand, but as that's not part of my normal practice and i didn't want to wake the girls by kicking up against a wall all by myself, i chose to sit quietly for a minute instead.

the pose above felt amazing for the giant knot in my lower back. it came near the end of the 30 minutes so my body had warmed up and my legs were nice and loose. i breathed in and stretched my back long and breathed out to sink deeper into the pose.

after i finished, i was so glad i made time for myself instead of watching random tv or just going to sleep. namaste.

363: meditation

i didn't necessarily plan to pull the meditation card out of my pocket quite so soon into my 365 days of yoga, but i live in the real world.

i've been battling a cold since friday and finally, last night, M succumbed to the awfulness that is being sick. where my cold stayed mostly in my head, he has the whole business: achy body, totally worn out and a stuffy nose to top it off.

i started my day with every intention of going to the studio tonight for a class with one of my favorite instructors. i took my clothes and mat with me all the way to cleveland and back again in hopes of being able to practice tonight. instead, i picked up N, cooked dinner and managed a double bedtime while M rested on the sofa. (it's not like i haven't spent my fair share of time there, too.)

then, i reached a crossroads. i could practice yoga or i could take a shower. and frankly, taking a shower totally won.

i'm going to finish up my little things around the house and take 20 whole minutes of quiet time to myself before i head up to bed. at this time of night, it seems the most appropriate choice. my intention is to be quiet.

it may not seem like much, but with the whirlwind that is my life sometimes, being quiet is a worthy goal.

quietly,
-s-

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.

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!

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.

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.