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?