Days 7, 8 and 9

So, I now realize (duh) that starting a new job, trying to find a place to live, moving (soon), and (drumroll please) heading to Disney World for an impromptu family birthday celebration, makes for very little blogging time. Not to mention the always abundant social happenings that tend to keep me busy on an ordinary basis.

Words like overwhelmed and over-committed are familiar residents in my brain, and I am trying hard to use my yoga to ease me through this period of chaotic change.

UGH.

Days 7 and 8, which now seem like light years ago, were both fairly draining. These two days in the hot room actually marked classes 8 and 9, and to say I struggled is an understatement.

I will take complete responsibility for the lack of enjoyment at Saturday's 8am class. Because let's face it, late night drinks with old time friends doesn't bode well for a productive weekend morning..

One would think that I learned my lesson, but unfortunately, wedding dance-offs are my forte:



There I am, in the far right corner, behind sequins...

I can't be sure, but I think I was going for a Walk Like An Egyptian montage.

Given those fancy dance moves, Sunday was rough.




On to Monday, which marked day 9, and class #10.

Below you will see me in Triangle Pose (or Trikonasana). It is one of the most demanding postures in the standing series, and the one where my hips prove to have the most trouble. See if you can spot which side is worse.


Left Side

















Right Side

















And with that, I am off to class #11 tonight, which will mark my last day in the hot room until Monday. M-I-C-K-E---WHY, you ask? Because I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! No, really.

Surprise almost birthday gifts are the best.

Have a MAGICAL day.

Namaste

Day Four, Five and Six

Apologies for the delay in my blogging...but wow, what a busy few days it has been.

I know at least ONE of you out there (ehem, Emily) has been waiting for some updates and photos, so without further adieu...

In the past 72 hours I have:

-Practiced 3 times
-Worked as an Esthetician
-Cleaned my house
-Walked the dogs
-Completed a laundry marathon
-Finished off a bottle of red wine (YUM, thanks Annie and Kristin!)
-Started a NEW job

Regarding the latter, I can tell you this: I now work in a building that was once an old church. I am alone much of the day, but feel perfectly safe and BUSY. Maeghan will understand me when I say that I had to give the space a once over to check for any weird, bad, or supernatural vibes.

Fortunately, "this house is clear" (ala Poltergist, 1982)

When you are working in an old church you learn things about clock towers and bells. Today, I was able to climb up a ladder into a clock tower, originally constructed in 1890, and learned for WHOM the bell tolls (I never really knew this). I also learned that the scary loud noises that occur every hour, are just the gears getting ready to toll said bell. Being up in the tower seemed to remind me of one thing only:

Please only click here if you have 21 minutes with NOTHING to do (or if your name is Annie or Kristi)

On that happy note...less of my blah blah blahing (as promised) and MORE yoga!

My last three classes were a mix of mediocre and AWESOME...with the best coming just 4 short hours ago.

Starting the challenge with a DOUBLE bang left my hamstrings extremely tight. Any sort of forward bend had me struggling to stretch and lift what felt like lead pipes. This means, much of the standing series was a disaster.

Because I am attempting to be HONEST, I will now share some photographic evidence of what tight/sore muscles look like. It is my hope, that I will only get better at finding/achieving my strength that will allow me to go deeper on days when flexibility it just not enough.



Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose (or Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Janushirasana)




Backward Bend





For those keeping track, today marks class 7 out of 30.

Thanks for following!

Namaste

Day Two and Three

Sunday Morning...

Thank you, Adam Levine, not a bad way to start my day...

I love that song. I have actually loved it for a long time. I remember hearing it for the first time in 2003 while I was studying abroad in London, and I just couldn't get enough of it. So much so, I forced my fellow yogi, and best friend Kelley to listen to it. Kell, do you remember? We were in your kitchen in Norwich (England folks, not Vermont).

At the moment I am snuggled on the couch with some dogs drinking coffee, but soon enough (4pm to be exact) the hot room will call me back.

Friday and Saturday marked days two and three of my challenge, but because of my double on Thursday I am actually up to FOUR stars (Remember the star chart? See below).

Friday afternoon's class was a a little discouraging. I was totally distracted by the vet appointment I had just come from (our dogs are officially the million dollar dogs), and that manifested itself in practice. I hated every posture, couldn't find my breath, and essentially tried to cheat my way through the entire class. Fortunately, my yoga teacher was no dummy. She called me out in Half Moon (or Ardha-Chandrasana) pose, as I stood totally lame, with no desire to stretch anywhere.

That snapped me back into a semi reality, but I have to say (and these days happen) I just wasn't there.

Fortunately, as I have mentioned before, for every "eh, not-so-great class" a better class is just around the corner. Mine found me on Saturday morning at the 10am.

Adhering to Laura's advice on Thursday night, I tried to practice "non-attachment" and moved out of my usual corner (okay, so I moved to my other usual corner...baby steps). I was by my old familiar friend, the outside door. The door I used to rely on to give me tiny sips of cold winter air in the middle of February's challenge. I no longer feel that I need that relief, in fact, that side of the room is actually HOTTER, but relief came regardless as our teacher Mark opened the door and gave the class a moment of fresh air.

At the end of practice we were invited to watch a fellow yogi, who is preparing for competition, do her required and advanced postures. HOLY COW.

If I ever thought I was feeling flexible in class, watching this girl took that notion to a whole new level. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. And INSPIRING. And JAW DROPPING.

I doubt she is in this for the sticker chart...




This is on day one, totally empty.


















And with that, I am off to enjoy the rest of the day.

Namaste

Day One

Tuladandasana
(or Balancing Stick Pose)

The challenge begins.








Yesterday was day one of my thirty day challenge, and what a beautiful day it was. The above picture is of me (a little sweaty) post the 9:30am class at Bikram Yoga Upper Valley.

I have decided that instead of just jabbering away for thirty days, I am also going to take a photo account of each posture (26 total) so that I can track any itsy bitsy ounce of progress that comes my way.

Yesterday's class was invigorating for a number of reasons, the least of which was my euphoric state of mind because I consider myself "unemployed" until next Tuesday, when I start my new job at Wilder Center (Anyone have a need for an event space? Contact me!).

Morning classes are always unique, because I am usually not able to break free that time of day. Like many things (take Disney World for example) I have a tendency to imagine that the practice only exists when I am there. Is that selfish? Or self-centered? I will let you be the judge...but I tend to think it is a part of that weird human condition which enables us to think we are the star of our own show, and everything else is just a backdrop.

Yesterday, however, I was a part of a much bigger "show", as I joined yogis all over the world in day one of the universal 30 day challenge. That's right...all Bikram Studios near and far are participating. How cool is that?

Now, if you were a follower of 20 Days, I should let you know things have changed a bit...gone (for the most part) are the days where it seems a struggle to practice consecutive days. In fact my body and mind now crave the hot room so much I start panicking if I am away for more than 3 days (remind me to touch on my 3 day theory at some point along our journey).

To that end, yesterday I practiced not once but TWICE...and even better, I was able to check out another studio, Bikram Yoga Concord.

I promise not to go into too many details about how luxurious and spacious the lobby and changing/bathroom rooms were, but OH MY...what a fabulous way to explore my practice in a different setting. My loyalty will always be to BYUV (Bikram Yoga Upper Valley), but I did have a moment during final Savasana (remember, this is our favorite, the Dead Body Pose) where I began daydreaming about what the fanciest Bikram Studio looked like and where it was. I imagine Far East...what about you?

So, by 7:00PM last night I had earned two stars for the sticker chart (wahoo!) and was able to spend the night completely relaxed with a few too many glasses of wine and my best gal pals.

Here is one more parting shot for today...but let it be known that I learned a completely new trick at 5:30PM so am hoping for even more depth in the days to come!




Dandayamana-Dhanurasana
(or Standing Bow Pulling Pose)

See you tomorrow for day two.

Namaste