Days 46 & 47: And the world is made of energy

Okay, so it's totally worth it to stick with my Bikram practice through the rough patches. You want to know why? The past two days, I have had SO MUCH buoyant and crackling energy that it's ridiculous. I used to get home from yoga and do nothing but lay on the couch staring at the TV blankly because I was just so tired. Now, I feel like doing things. I have a renewed energy and passion for life that I've never been able to fully grasp before.

Since I'm trying to get healthy and in shape, I've been cooking. Last night, after class I had the energy to make a big batch of carrot & ginger soup and artichoke rotini pasta. It was nice to have dinner cooking when Jason came home instead of being hungry on the couch and dreaming of take-out because I'm too lazy to get up. It's like a whole new world is open to me now, and I can't say that I'd have found it if it weren't for my yoga practice.

I'm also able to wake up a lot easier in the morning. Prior to starting my practice, it was not unheard of to find me in bed well past noon. Now, without really needing to, I've been getting up earlier and earlier. It started off with me sleeping no later than ten. Now I'm creeping even earlier. I got up the other day for a 9:30 yoga class which made me get up at 8:30 - on my day off! I didn't even care. I felt really awake and ready to attack the day and stayed full energy until it was time to go to bed.

I guess on some level, I didn't really believe that these changes would actually happen to me. Like there was something defective about me that wouldn't allow positive change to occur. Come to find out, there isn't anything wrong with me (in that respect anyway, heh) and I just needed to keep trying. I think that's the most important thing I've gotten out of this challenge so far: If something isn't working, reevaluate and keep trying.

In posture-related news, I managed to grab my right and left feet in standing head to knee! I kept dropping out of it but every time I dropped, I forced myself back in as quick as I could go. Keeping my momentum driving forward really helps me get a good cardio workout from class. Additionally, I locked my left knee in head to knee with stretching! I just sort of assumed my right leg would lock first since I feel strongly right-side dominant, but today my left knee locked with a great deal of exertion. I could feel compression in my neck and a cramp in my core! I sort of like cramps because they mean that I'm pushing my muscles really hard.

So I'm starting to notice out-of-class improvements as well as in-class improvements. This is so exciting. I can't wait to see how much better it all gets!