Day 8: I've got to admit, it's getting better

I had a lot of successes today! I think the increase in flexibility and strength of my spine is having a huge impact on the rest of my practice.

I figured out what was plaguing me in the first part of half locust pose!



STUPID BALLET HIPS, that's what. My years of being told to turn out have really been funking with my yoga! In half locust, I could never feel the pain I was told I should be feeling in my back. Por que? The lifting leg's hip kept rolling out on me! Today, I focused on squaring my hips on my forearms and lifting up instead of out. I felt a compression in my lower spine, and got spine tinglies after releasing!

I got spine tinglies after every part of the spine strengthening series! HOT DAMN! It is all starting to fall into place for me. Along with the spine tinglies comes energy. It's fascinating to watch this whole thing unfold.

I also had some success on head to knee pose



in which I previously had to bend my knee to even get remotely close to grabbing my foot with a ten-finger interlocked grip. Today, it was no sweat! I also didn't have to bend my knee as much to get my forehead on my knee, which I'm hoping means I'm not just gaining flexibility but also losing bulk.

I think I've started to figure out that in a lot of stretches, it helps immensely to just relax into it. If I focus my concentration on releasing a tight part of my body, all of a sudden I'm three inches closer to where I'm supposed to be - with less effort than it takes to try and grunt and groan my way there. This is also true for standing separate leg stretching pose.

One last thing! I've decided to throw my scale into a drawer for the remainder of my 60-day challenge. According to Bikram, it's very normal in the early stages of your practice to gain weight, but that's not a bad thing. It doesn't mean I'm really gaining fat, it means I'm gaining muscle. It means I'm working hard, so I'm hungrier. He says that you shouldn't count calories and worry so much about what you're eating, because as you practice, you start to crave that which is good for you. If you keep practicing, the weight at some point will start to melt off your body. There's a particularly inspiring part in the book that deals with this, and I almost started crying when I read it. So, I figure since he's been right about everything so far, I should listen to him here. Also, I've been finding myself getting monster cravings for things like fruit (strawberries and grapes in particular) so I figure I've already got a firm start towards a lower weight. Goodbye, scale! See you in 52 days.