Apparently I'm a Yogi

I went to a new yoga class recently.  A friend of mine has opened a studio and started teaching her own classes, and I wanted to support her and to try a new class for a change.  The room was filled with yoga newbies, as well as a couple people who have been doing yoga forever.

At the end of the class, somebody made a comment to me about me being "really good."  I was shocked.  Am I really good at yoga?  I don't see myself as being that person.  But maybe I am.  I guess I compare myself to all these perfect little size 2's who can throw their legs over their shoulders, and I know that's not me.

But I guess, compared to a room full of beginners, I'm "really good."  Compared to what I could do a year or two ago, I'm "really good."  Maybe this is who I am now.

I think I like it!

Triple Bonus Points

I demand triple credit for going to yoga yesterday.

1.  I hadn't been in over a month due to the instructor's vacation and my sickness.  So, it's just hard to start up something like that when it's been so long.

2.  Both people who sometimes go with me decided not go to, and I still went all by myself.

3.  I showed up for class, in the location where class has always been, and there was no class.  No sign, no nothing.  And this studio is above a restaurant, as in, I had to walk through the restaurant with my yoga mat to go up to the studio.  Yet nobody who worked in the restaurant seemed to have a clue why there was no class.  As I was talking with a waitress, I noticed a sign on a bulletin board advertising yoga at the library at the same time.  So, whatever, I figured The Universe intended me to go to the library and do yoga last night.  And I did.  And lo and behold, there was THE CLASS at the library doing yoga.  Like oblivious to my confusion and the lack of communication.

Anyway, I went.  I did yoga.  It was hard.   And I get triple bonus points.

All Kinds of Awesome

I'm settling back into my exercise routine, and I had an awesome yoga class today.  I found a new place, and I'm liking it a bit better than where I'd been going.  The environment is more yoga friendly (as opposed to the community center which is just a huge gym), and the class is earlier.  I'd rather leave work a bit early and be done with my day at 5:30 than work until 5:00 and then have to wait around for yoga at 6:30.  I don't get home until 8:00 then, IF I can make myself go to begin with.

 

Anyhow, this teacher almost always has us do some handstand stuff against the wall, and I never try it.  But I decided I would try today.  And then she didn't do it!  But, she did have us do wheel at the end, also known as a back bend.  I haven't done that in years.  Today I decided, well, heck, if she isn't going to do the handstands, I'll try wheel.  And I did it!  For a few seconds, but still.  I did it!

 

And then I ate the first strawberry out of my garden.  This strawberry:

Isn't it gorgeous?  And I GREW it.

 

I grew a strawberry, and I did a wheel.  I'm all kinds of awesome today.



Look What I Can Do

So, I can stand on my head now.  Against a wall, but still.

Life has been so crazy lately, that I decided to just be crazy and set a goal for myself of being able to stand on my head.

I have a friend who's thiiiiiiiis close to being a certified yoga teacher, so I asked her to show me the proper form and steps to get into a headstand.  Turns out I was doing it wrong.  Or I was going to do it wrong, since I hadn't done it yet.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a website I found that has a really super helpful progression of poses to do leading up to being able to do a real headstand.  It's a series of photos and descriptions I found on a site called Fit Sugar.

I did what they said, and what my friend said, for about a week or so, and then the other day I just kicked my leg from the "head stand prep" stage, and lo and behold, there I was on my head upside down.  I only held it for a minute or so, but I've done it every day since.

There are all kinds of benefits to yoga head stands, but right now I'm just interested in standing on my head because...well...being upright hasn't been going so well for me.  So, we'll see how this goes.

Project 52: Power Yoga

I've been seriously slacking in my Project 52 updates, but I have actually done several things on my list.  One item I wrote down was to attend at least one Power Yoga class this year.  I've been pretty diligent about attending Gentle Yoga and Yoga Flow, but I've been reluctant to try the more intense class.  Honestly, the only reason I went when I did is that my mom was here, and she wanted to go.

So, how was it?  Well, it was hard.  I wouldn't say the poses themselves were more difficult.  The movements were essentially the same, but in power yoga, it was all done more quickly.  It was more of a cardio workout than the other yoga classes I've gone to.  At one point I had the thought, "I can't decide whether this is horrible or wonderful."  That pretty much sums it up.
I mentioned to a co-worker this week that I went to yoga, and she was completely shocked.  She stopped me mid-sentence and asked, "So are you like super flexible?"

No.  I'm not.
Then she asked, "So, you can't like cross you legs behind your head?"

No.  I can't.
It's not really like that.  At least not where I go.
I adore my yoga teacher.  (I may or may not have mentioned that before.)  I think she does an incredible job of helping each person focus on yourself, your body, what feels right for you, etc...  She encourages everyone to follow our own breath, and she always shares modifications to make each pose more or less strenuous.  She talks about letting go of competition and judgement, both of others and of yourself.
It's amazing.  And for me, it's about stress relief, not about bending into crazy positions.  All I know is, I feel better after I go.  But I'm not planning on going to Power Yoga again anytime soon.  I"ll stick to the two easier classes.

Beautiful Lines

I just got the nicest compliment after yoga class tonight.  I have been diligently going to the gentle yoga class on Thursday nights for several weeks, but my teacher has another commitment for this week, and next week is Thanksgiving of course.  So, I decided to go to the intermediate class on Tuesday nights for these two weeks, just to stay in the habit of going.

I knew it would be hard.  And what's sad is, I used to go to the intermediate class all the time.  Twice a week if I didn't have to work those nights.  And I got pretty good at it.  Then I slacked off.

Now the gentle class is more my speed.  But I was determined to make it through tonight.  My teacher told me to go as easy as I needed to, modify poses, etc...  I think I kept up pretty well though.  It was certainly more strenuous than the class I'm used to.

So, after class she asked me how it was.  I was telling her how hard it was, and this woman came up to us and told me, "You have really beautiful lines in some of your poses."  I was dumbfounded.  She said, "Especially in your triangle.  I was just looking at you and thinking you look just like the pictures you see of people demonstrating the pose."  And then my teacher said, "You know, I noticed the same thing tonight!"

I was in shock.  Here I was saying how hard the class was for me, and this woman I don't even know comes up out of nowhere and compliments how well I was doing!  Yay me!

I'm definitely going next Tuesday.  And who knows, I may keep going to both classes once my gentle class starts up again!

I'm Alive!

I had an insane week.  Monday wasn't too bad, but then Tuesday I ended up working 13 hours, because I started early to make it to an out of town meeting by 9:00 a.m. and then I had to teach a class that night that lasted until 8:30 (and was out of town).  Then Wednesday I left bright and early to drive over two hours for work, then did my thing and spent the night and drove another 30 minutes for another work, before finally driving 2 1/2 hours home Thursday evening.

I was exhausted.  And I really just wanted to go home, change into my sweats, and crash.  But, yoga is Thursday nights.  And I'm trying to go every week, if I can.

I drove and drove, looking at the clock, and trying to decide whether I'd even make it in time.  Then I tried to decide whether I'd actually leave the house again if I went home to change first.  And I realized I had sweats in my suitcase that I could probably just change into at the community center.

Yet...soooooo tired.

Anyway, ultimately I decided to suck it up and go, without going home first.  I changed clothes, paid my fee, walked 4 laps around the indoor track, then headed into the yoga room.

And about five minutes in, suddenly I felt better than I'd felt all week.  I kept thinking, wow, this is amazing.  I felt like hell for three days, and then five minutes in this class, and suddenly I feel like I'm alive again!  I felt great by the end of class, and I felt pretty good the rest of the evening.

Remind me of this later this week.  Because I have to do the same thing again, almost.  The two days out of town part, heading home Thursday, just in time for yoga.

Do you know how many songs there are titled, I'm Alive? Like way too many.

This, of course, is the best one:

Do You Know What Makes You Feel Good?

I read an interesting quote in Yoga Journal the other day.  I don't subscribe to this magazine, but it was in the quarter pile at the library, and I picked up an old issue.  It was a bit too intensely yogish for me, but it was interesting to read for a change of pace.

Anyway, the quote was, "Researchers have found that humans are generally pretty bad at predicting what will make them feel good over time."  The article was about how we always want more than we have, and we think having this one thing, or one life circumstance, or one person, will make us happy.  Then once we achieve a goal, it doesn't take long before we're wanting the next thing.

But I thought a lot about it in terms of our physical well being.  At any given moment, I probably would predict that sitting a little longer, sleeping a little later, eating another piece of chocolate, or having another Diet Coke would make me feel better.  And in the short term, those things do make me feel better.  But in the long term, taking a walk, going to a yoga class, eating some fresh fruit, and getting out of bed on time make me a happier person.

Why is it so hard to make those positive choices that will make us feel good in the long run? Why are our bodies and minds created so that the easy choice, the choice we instinctively want to make, is the one that's ultimately bad for us?  I'm sure it has something to do with prehistoric man needing to roam the earth fighting mastodons.  But I don't run across many mastodons in my day to day life.  Do you?

Come on human body, evolve already!

Anyway, it's been something to ponder.  Whether a choice will make me feel good in the moment, or in the long run.  What things always make you feel good in the long run?

(Lest you think I'm being too hard on Yoga Journal, take a look at this pose.  An entire eight page article in this issue is devoted to how to properly do this pose.  It's called Parivrttaikapada Sirsasana, or "revolved split-legged headstand."  No thank you.)