358: sunday morning

30 minutes: vinyasa flow

i had high hopes of practicing for an hour this morning, but two active children, snow falling from the sky and blueberry pancakes shortened my window.

i browsed through the 30 minute practices on yogaglo and found one that looked promising. i actually really liked it. the instructor eased me into sun salutations and we did some good standing and seated poses before finishing up seated. perfect for me.

you can find them here

then, my kids fell into the room like a tornado. we pulled out the kids yoga deck and they did a couple more poses with me before i finally rolled up my mat.

i love practicing with my girls. it was a nice way to round out the morning.

360 + 359: my little home practice

360: meditation before bed

photo credit: balanced yoga

yesterday, i was in a foul mood. i had spent the entire day in the car and my cold was hanging on for dear life. i took myself upstairs at 9pm, but rather than just lay down and read, i sat and meditated for a little while. remarkably, i felt much calmer and more settled.

359: my little home practice - 25 minutes

this afternoon, i took my youngest upstairs to nap and figured i'd fit a little practice in while she slept. i wasn't sure how long i would really have since she sang to herself literally the entire time i practiced so i decided to go through a vinyasa series of my favorite poses. i also have a giant knot on one side of my lower back so i wanted to be as aligned as possible through my practice.

1. 3 sun salutations (a)
2. 2 standing forward bends
3. mountain
4. warrior 2, side angle pose (i did the bind!!), reverse warrior and triangle (first on one side, then the other)
5. wide legged forward bend
6. squat with prayer hands
7. pigeon pose
8. some seated poses i don't know the names of
9. tall seat

i feel more balanced and totally glad i didn't wait for my little one to fall asleep before i took advantage of my moment. i will say, i had a harder time focusing on my breath since i had one ear trained on listening for my girl to climb out of the bed.

364: for the ladies

30 minutes: yoga for ladies

i found a 30 minute class on yogaglo designed just for women. she focused on reminding us that we're all sisters and being a warrior is not about fighting, but about listening and uniting.

it was a level 2 class and i couldn't actually do all the poses. i have a hard time straightening my legs and revolving. revolved half moon just isn't in my wheelhouse at the moment.

however, it was a really nice flow and a nice way to start my day. i'm not sleepy and feel centered and ready to begin the day. the girls are still asleep and i'm going to wake them up in a couple minutes. but, i'm hopeful we'll have a pleasant morning with minimal fussing. i'll bring calm back to them.

back to back fitness

for yoga tuesday this week i attended our on-site zumba class with a handful of co-workers. the class lasted a very short 45 minutes. for me, i felt much less awkward than the first time i participated. i don't know if it was because i knew the moves a little better or if i just felt better generally. regardless, my arms felt sore this morning from all that pumping and punching.

from yoga journal

then, this morning, i rolled out of bed with the full intention of a good 30 or 45 minutes of practice, but instead ended up cleaning up cat puke. and then following the cat around the house as she continued to puke in various rooms. awful.

eventually, i managed to find a little cat-puke-free space and practice for about 10 minutes. i started with a couple sun salutations, then moved through warrior 2, side angle pose and triangle on each side. using vinyasa to transition, i ended with pigeon pose, seated forward bend and cobblers pose. i tried to sit quietly at the end of my practice, but i just couldn't let the thoughts move past.

stupid cat.

binding, binding, binding

90 minutes - vinyasa 1/2

finally, i made it back to the studio after moving. i have practice precisely once since we actually moved homes primarily because working, having two children and unpacking is a lot like have 2-3 full time jobs. i fall into the bed every night and take every spare minute in the morning to collect sleep.

this morning, however, i committed to the studio. i'm so glad i did. it took me a minute to warm up, but the whole practice revolved around warrior 2 and moving from warrior 2 to a variety of other positions.

my milestones today include binding in 2 positions that i've never been able to manage before. first, the yogic squat. basically, you squat with your knees and ankles pointing the same direction (for me, slightly outward) and put your hands in prayer position. (my girlfriend taught me how to sit like this almost 20 years ago because it's how the old korean ladies sit in the market.) then somehow the instructor got me into the bind- one arm under and one arm behind. i've never done that before.

then, the second bind came right after. we were in side angle pose and i made it into the bind there as well. except i couldn't hold it for the whole time. i don't know how many breaths we were taking, but i made it about half way through. i guess that's what i get for not practicing for 3 weeks.

still, i'm pretty proud of my progress.

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!

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*

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 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 19: condensed full practice

30 minutes - quick essential poses

this morning, i feel like we took a full practice and crammed it into 30 minutes. we started with 3 sun salutations, did a couple standing poses (warrior 2 and triangle), balanced in mountain, transitioned into seated poses and ended in hero.

for me, i would have chosen a different series of poses, but the flow made sense. i just didn't care for the seated poses we did. apparently so much so that i can't remember what they were. meh.

maybe instead of doing an online class, i'll take some time this evening to design my own practice. i bet i can come up with a series that takes 30 minutes, follows a similar pattern and takes the path i want to take.

maybe that will be my challenge within my challenge. do you have any tips for planning a practice?

day 16: better than coffee

30 minutes - vinyasa flow

better than coffee? i'm not so sure about that, but i will say i felt more awake when i finished than when i started. this was the most active practice i've done in about a week and it felt good.

from yoga journal

in all truthfulness, i couldn't actually manage a couple of the poses. standing split? at 5:45am? nope. camel pose? i didn't even know what this was. apparently, one kneels, then lengthens through the torso, then leans back and grab's one's ankles. not happening. (proper instructions can be found at yoga journal.)

it felt good to get moving  and even though i really, really didn't want to get out of my nice warm bed and wander downstairs to find my mat, i'm glad i did.

days 10 & 11: ashtanga and hip openers

day 10: 45 minutes - ashtanga

i took a long car trip with my girls yesterday - 3 hours out and 3 hours back. i need something solid to start my day and this worked. i felt comfortable because i knew the flow and i could challenge myself in places where i have gained strength and ease up on myself where my muscles felt tight.

i did learn that i made a mistake about terminology. apparently, pranayama means breath and vinyasa  means tying the breath to motion. so there's breathing and breathing in coordination with movement.

day 11: 20 minutes - hip openers

after driving for 6 hours yesterday, i have a pretty killer pinch behind one of my shoulder blades and 10 sun salutations might just knock me out for the day. rather than aggravate my shoulder, i centered my practice on my hips this morning. i feel soft and open and good.

happy weekend practice!

day 9: upper back and shoulders

30 minutes - vinyasa for athletes

not being an athlete, i feel i may not have benefited as much from this class as say, a footballer, but i do have tight shoulders and this certainly worked out those areas. it is the first proper level 2 class i've done since i started the 30 day yoga challenge and i think it's safe to say that i'm not quite there yet. i got totally out of breath and couldn't get as deep into the poses as i would have liked.

we did one section that started in warrior 2 and keeping my legs in that stance, i brought my right arm up toward my head with my arm bent and my left arm pulled my elbow back. it was a great stretch, but we held it for so long that my arms started to tingle and now my right arm is still tingling. that was an unanticipated outcome.

on the whole, it was a good morning practice. this morning, i really wanted to stay in bed and skip it altogether. i'm glad i didn't.

day 8: move

30 minutes - vinyasa and warrior 2

this morning i did a simple 30 minute class which felt just right for my morning practice. while we never did the full sun salutations, the different poses followed a familiar pattern and the breath followed the movement. it felt like home instead of wondering what we would do next.

my challenge came as M came downstairs to get ready for work. our house is creaky and i can't turn up the volume because i don't want to wake the babies. but M kept walking through the living room. he wasn't distracting me on purpose and was doing the stuff that needs to happen in the morning, but i lost my focus at the end.

overall, i feel great, though. i feel balanced inside and out.