Five Straight Days of Yoga = BLISS!!!

How can hot yoga be bliss, you ask? Ninety minutes of torture. Minimum 105 degrees Fahrenheit heat. 40% humidity. Sweaty (and smelly at times) bodies. Towels soaked to the max. Sweat splatters on the mirrors, obscuring your view of YOU. Aching joints and muscles. But my friend, as what our yoga teachers would always say, pain kills pain. No pain, no gain. Believe me, the moment you step out of the hot room, you will feel like a million bucks. Guaranteed.

I had planned on completing the 30 Day Challenge. I have had five straight, blissful days of yoga. While I tanked in the Standing Series, I finished strong during the Floor Series. Thank goodness for that. Unfortunately, though not feeling an ounce of regret, I had to take two straight days off, which broke the Challenge. My schedule just would not allow me the time to practice everyday. Doing doubles is out of the question. Personally, I believe that the Challenge is about 30 Days of Yoga...miss one day, then it's off. There are debates about this, as doing doubles will qualify one to complete the Challenge if some days are missed. But I will not dwell on this today. To each his own. Anyway, I digress. It's just too bad that I didn't complete my Challenge, but I let it go. I'm back tomorrow anyway. Thank goodness for Wednesdays off. Hubby will be home on Thursday, so I will try an evening class. I am curious as to how my body will perform at night time.

Those five consecutive classes were a mixed bag. My balance was definitely off. I still could not hold the Standing Head to Knee the whole time, although I can now hold my leg horizontally and sometimes bend my body down from the lower back with my elbows bent. Still not quite there, but I've made steady progress since I started practicing a year ago. My arms felt very heavy that I could not keep them parallel to the floor in preparation for Trikanasana. On the fifth day, I was successful in touching my forehead to the floor during Standing Separate Leg Stretching. My hamstrings are slowly getting stretched and the pain is lessening. So you see, one can never know how each class is going to turn out. There will be ones where you feel like you're in the best form, then the next day, you feel like walking out. The trick is to just hang in there and let each posture go once it's over. Just remember that you have the rest of your life to GET THERE. For now, just enjoy the journey. Namaste.

Good night, Mommy. I love you.