Back From The Brink

Blast! I have been AWOL from the hot room for a good three weeks and then some. I've had this spell of "no yoga" last year too, and around the same time of the year even. I used to be your 6:00AM yoga buddy last April when I did the 30 Day Challenge. Nowadays, that's out of the question. Too dark, too cold, too lazy. Blah-blah-blah.

Recently my body has been giving off signals that it is time to get my act together and get back into the yoga groove. My right arm has been feeling numb at times, and my chest muscles have been aching often enough to scare me into thinking that I was having a heart attack--yes, it was that painful. I've been gaining weight, too. It's very, very obvious that I have to go and take care of my body. Give it the stretching that it needs so badly. Give it the detoxifying that it needs to do.

So today was the day. I made sure I hydrated myself well with water and Emergen-C. No breakfast, no coffee in my belly. I didn't want extra luggage hindering the postures. Arriving with only a few minutes to spare, there was no way I'd find a hiding spot at the back of the room. I was surprised to find the whole first row on the right side of the room free--I guess no one wanted to be right up front today. So I had no choice but to be brave and hope for the best. I felt a little bit concerned about tanking in the Standing Series after being away for so long. I was very pleased with my Standing Head to Knee and Standing Bow Pulling Poses. The room was not that hot at all. I didn't sweat as much today, so my feet were slipping during the Triangle Pose, even with my trusty Yogitoes towel underfoot. I left the room with my towel dry in most places which is very unusual. Was it me, or was it the room, or the weather perhaps. Who knows? It certainly was a blessing somehow as I wanted to take it easy today.

So I am back from the brink. I hope to keep this momentum going. I am planning on being back tomorrow. Namaste.

Good night, Mommy. I love you.

"Do What You Can Today, and Do Not Judge Yourself"

It has been a rough 3 day homecoming to the hot room. After being away for 7 days, I was back last Saturday, and today's practice marked my third straight. I have been tanking in the Standing series for these past 3 days. Today at Pranayama, for the first time, I had to stop and take a few breaths. After the Eagle Pose, I had to lie down while the rest of the class took their first official water break. I am still not taking water during class. That, and staying in the room, are the two things that I am very determined to keep doing, whatever happens. I must admit that I felt very concerned about what has been happening. This has never happened to me before, since I started practicing over a year ago. I have had my bad days, but never 3 straight. My only consolation is the fact that my Floor series remain strong each time. I had to smile to myself when our teacher today said along the lines of "it's now the spine strenghtening series, which is our favourite, right?" I think that it is not everybody's favourite, but it sure IS mine :) Thank goodness for that!

I felt so much better when our teacher said that it is okay to do what we can do today, and to not judge ourselves. It is so easy to beat ourselves up whenever we have a bad class. I realised afterwards that there is no bad class in yoga. After all the sit downs, dizziness, stiff joints, etc., I still feel a million bucks. One practice at a time. Let the previous one go. Tomorrow's another day. Namaste.

Good day, Mommy. I love you.

It Felt Like The First Time!

I have been on yoga hiatus for 7 days. I guess this is the norm for some of us yogis during the summer, what with vacations and company coming...although I am sure that there are also some who can keep their regular practice going.

I have been enjoying my sleep-ins, but also missing my morning yoga. Last night, I psyched myself up to practice today. It's been really difficult for me to get the momentum back after being AWOL for a week, and not practicing my norm of 4-5 days a week. When I did the 30 Day Challenge, I felt as if I was on an adrenaline rush to keep going and going, like the Energizer bunny :) Those were the days when I attended the 6:00AM class during the work week!!! Nowadays I have not been getting up early enough to go back to it. For some reason, my body has not been in-sync with my mind. Sometimes my body wants to practice, but monkey mind takes over. Other days, my body wants to rest, but yoga mind wants to go and sweat it out in the hot room. As one of our teachers has said many times, "You walk the dog, don't let the dog walk you." So today, I would like to "walk the dog", and keep it that way hopefully so I will get my groove back sooner than later.

Ugh, my practice today was not the usual (or better). It felt like the first time I tried this yoga. I sat out for maybe half of the Standing series. I was out of breath, I was dizzy, and my body felt like a ton of lead. I always fare better during the Floor series, and I was relieved that that was the case today. Just before the Camel Pose I made up my mind to stay in the posture the entire time, especially since I know our teacher today will keep us holding it a few more (excrutiating) seconds longer during the second set. And true enough he did! As my head was upside down looking at the back wall and the rest of the class (I was up front by the way), and with majority of my fellow yogis getting out of the posture before the teacher said so, I was determined to stay put. And stay put I did, until just a second or two before he said "put your hands back on your hips...", letting out a grunt of relief (and triumph):)

As much as my practice today was not the best, I still felt great because:

1. I made it back to the hot room after being away for a week;
2. I managed to stay in the room, still not taking water during class even though monkey mind was tempting me to get the bottle from the change room;
3. I survived the killer second set in Camel Pose;
4. I was not afraid to be right up front, right close to the mirror. Normally I would stay at the back if I haven't been practicing regularly; and last but not the least...
5. I know my body and mind are thanking me for giving them this long overdue workout.

Good day, Mommy. I love you.

"Never Regret Coming to the Hot Room"

It's summer time in beautiful Victoria, and here I am being a prodigal yogini. It has been a week since I last practiced. I have been missing the yoga, but at the same time, I have been enjoying these lazy summer days.

So today I decided to get back into the yoga groove. I love coming to the 9:30 when hubby and daughter are not around, but since they are these days it is tricky to be in the hot room at this time. They are not early risers like me, and they start their day at around 10:00AM. Which means breakfast time is soon after that. I love having a leisurely breakfast with my family. So the 9:30 will not work in this case, but the 1:45 will.

After not having practiced for a week, the monkey mind gets the better of you. I get apprehensive. I get scared of being out of breath and not being able to hold the posture. But practice I must and TODAY is the day. When I arrived at the studio, the place was deserted, save for the front desk ladies, our instructor and four other students. Entering the hot room, I saw that my favourite spot was available. To recap, this spot is at the upper right corner where I have the front and side mirrors to guide me. I had trepidations--will I survive without the comfort of being right by the door for some drafts of cool air seeping through the cracks? I made my decision and parked my mat on my favourite spot and hoped for the best.

Surprisingly, I survived the week-long hiatus. I didn't feel hot at all. I made sure I hydrated well before class as I am still determined to keep up with not taking water during class. I'm sure the room was heated to the regulation temperature of at least 105 degrees F. It must be the lack of bodies that provide the extra heat--there were only nine other students with me. As it is with practicing in the afternoon and the benefit of a week-long rest, I was more flexible and less achy. My Standing Head to Knee was good, as was my Cobra. I thought I had a good Floor Bow, until I felt discomfort in my left hamstring, so I had to relax and pull back a bit. But I was happy with it. I think I was able to kick higher this time. I'm not supposed to look at myself in the mirror, but hey, it was just a small peek :)

"Never regret coming to the hot room, as after class you will always feel so much better!", was what I took away from Niecia this afternoon. That pretty much summed up my practice today. I had my apprehensions and trepidations, but I'm glad I went ahead and faced the challenge. True enough, I felt like a million bucks afterwards! And that's all that matters!

Good night, Mommy. I love you.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 = Changes Are Good!

A few of us in the hot room resist change. Some stick to the same spot on the same side day after day, class after class. Some stick to the same class time each day, although this might be dictated by one's daily itinerary. But for those of us who have some flexibility, it is nice to shake things up a bit.

I had planned on showing up at 6:00AM. But a very, very late night "watching TV/falling asleep/waking up to watch more TV" until finally some shut-eye at 1:00AM(!!!) kiboshed that plan. The 9:30AM was out of the question as my little one's camp starts at the same time and I have to sign her in. So my next option was the 1:45PM. I have not tried this class time before so I was curious as to how I would do.

After 5 straight days of practice, 1 day off, 2 days on, then 2 days off, my body was screaming at me at this point. I was very, very sore. I did the 30 Day Challenge in April, and although I felt sore most days at the time, I had enough momentum to keep going. But I feel that I am much more flexible these days than when I did the challenge. For one thing, my "nemesis", the Standing Head to Knee Pose, is slowly but surely becoming my friend. My lower back is loosening up. I am very close to consistently locking my knee each time I do Hands to Feet Pose. Yes, my lower back and glutes are screaming at me all day long, but thanking me profusely at the same time! :)

I came out of that room feeling fantastic! I heard one of the other students say that the room was not that hot today. Maybe so, maybe not. I liked it, it worked for me, que sera sera. Tomorrow's another day, and I look forward to being back in the hot room. Hmmm, I wonder what it's like to practice just before bedtime?

Good night, Mommy. I love you.

"Walking On Sunshine...And Don't It Feel Good!"

I made it to the 6:00AM class, wasn't planning on going, but my neighbour and yoga buddy K. made the decision for me. I let go of sleeping in, and caved in to an opportunity to get my practice done and over with first thing instead of rushing right after work (3:45PM) or missing dinner time with my family (5:45PM).

I had a shaky start, with a sore right shoulder brought about by a jerky movement in the shower after class yesterday morning. I felt it happen, and thought nothing of it as it didn't bother me for the rest of yesterday. But it came back to haunt me at Pranayama and the first backward bend. I thought, oh great, another write-off. But magic happens when one doesn't give up, takes it easy, but still gives an honest effort. I made the decision to do just so. Once the heat warmed up my muscles and the sweat started to drip, drip, drip, I'm on my way.

My practice was fine, not as great as yesterday's, but taking into account that it's 6:00AM, and I've just gotten out of bed, muscles and joints still asleep, I think I did well. I showered, left the studio, dropped off K. at her place, arrived home, got ready for work, dropped the kid off to summer camp, and with 1/2 hour to spare before work starts I splurged on an iced coffee and breakfast sandwich at Starbucks. No, I didn't forget to drink my Emergen-C spiked water after class! :)

I arrived at work feeling just fantastic! There was a bounce to my step, I was walking tall and sitting tall--my posture has improved a lot since I started practising. I was in a great mood...ALL DAY. I thought about the song, "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. I think that pretty much sums up how my day went.

Good night, Mommy. I love you.

Tanking in the Standing...Second Wind on the Floor

My practice last Sunday morning at my home studio rocked...then kerplunk! Yesterday and today were the complete opposite. I made it to the 6:00AM class on Monday, only to tank during the majority of the postures. I felt very hot, and I was hoping the fans would be turned on but it didn't happen. The little throbbing pain in my head which did not escalate in class morphed into a big headache at work. I was breathless, and my body felt like a ton of lead. I was not limber enough that morning, but who among the majority of us are, at that time of the day anyway? But I let it all go, and hoped that the next day will be a better one.

But it was not to be. The Standing Series today was a complete write-off--well, not completely as I locked my knee for a few seconds in Hands to Feet Pose (yes!!!). I was breathless yet again, two days in a row. I sat out for most of the postures. I couldn't hold my arms parallel to the floor; yes, they felt like a ton of lead. Trikanasana was more like "Cheat-anasana"! Thankfully I was able to get through the last 3 postures. That 2-minute Savasana could not have come any sooner!

To my surprise, after Savasana I felt way better. I seem to have had a second wind from nowhere. It may have been that 2-minute rest. I decided to let the Standing Series go, and looked forward to the Floor Series. I rocked the Floor Series. My "animals" did well: Cobra, Tortoise, Camel, and Rabbit. The real test for me was the Camel. I was a little apprehensive in the beginning, but I mustered enough determination to stay in the posture for both sets and not get out of it until the teacher said so. My sit-ups were energetic enough. When class ended, I stayed in the room to cool down for 300 seconds.

I don't know what happened to me in there, what brought about the lack of energy and the breathlessness. Could have been dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, that coffee I drank this morning, late nights, who knows? They're just all curveballs my body has thrown at me to keep my practice challenging, and at the same time, humbling. That's why I love it so much.

Good night, Mommy. I love you.