I feel like today I sort of broke though a mini-plateau in my practice. I feel as though I've progressed now from beginner-beginner to intermediate-beginner. This week, I've felt a definite change in my muscles and I'm getting sore in different places, which I think means I must have improved my leg and arm strength enough to really begin engaging my core and my butt. My balance is improving and I generally feel very strong.
In reading Bikram's "Bikram Yoga" book (my second of Bikram's reads), he mentioned in camel to use your spine to push your hips forward. This has totally rocket launched my posture, at least to me. The idea of using my spine as a pushing force helped me to open up my chest and adjust my weight to get a really great compression in the spine. After camel today, I felt like I had enough energy to fly to the moon. I've felt incredibly energetic and focused ever since.
After class today, my skin was buzzing and I had a fantastic lightness and openness in my chest. The world looked very bright, which of course sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. I don't know how else to explain it, but on occasion I get visual effects from the practice. After camel, my vision tends to become colored with an orange hue, which has to do somehow with the color of the room and blood flowing to my brain. I see spots a lot, and get crazy blood-rushing-to-or-from-my-brain feelings quite often. Put the mushrooms down! You can trip from yoga! Heh.
So tomorrow is the final day of my 60-day challenge. Joseph Encinia is teaching the noon class tomorrow, so I'm going to take that one. Nothing like a real challenge on a big day. He won the 2010 Texas Asana Championships (his, I believe, 3rd year in a row) on Sunday, so it'll be fun to see him fresh off his win.
After tomorrow's class, I'm going to go on a shopping spree to buy some new clothes! For crying out loud, everything I own currently is falling off me. I can't wait to get some new things to wear, and I think it's a nice reward for achieving a goal that would have seemed completely out of my reach a year ago. I'll also do an official weigh-in to see how much weight I've lost over the two months. It probably won't be as much as I was dreaming, but I can tell that I've got a lot more muscle on my body than ever before, so I'll be fine with whatever the number is. I don't care what the number on the scale says if I can fit into smaller sizes!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Through Day 58: Joseph Encinia & hitting the home stretch
Friends, I am only two classes away from completing my 60-day challenge! It's amazing to be so close to the end! A lot has happened in my practice this week, including an out-of-this-world class with Joseph Encinia, the reigning men's Texas and U.S. asana champion. Let's start there.
Joseph is such an inspiring guy. He has overcome so many health issues, including rheumatoid arthritis and a heart attack at 13. To see him today, you'd never know he'd ever been plagued with any illness. He radiates a gorgeous calming energy and the entire time was beaming with a brilliant smile. That kind of energy is definitely something to aspire to, and I hope I can conquer my negativity and embrace the good vibes, so to speak.
His demonstration was sick, in the best way possible. The sheer amount of strength in his body is intimidating, as is his flexibility. In particular, there was one move (I don't exactly know the names for the postures, so bear with me) where he did a handstand on the very tips of his fingers and then dropped down with his body parallel to the floor, still balancing on his hands. I was quite literally slack-jawed watching him. It was incredible.
The class he taught was hands-down the best one I've ever taken. He's an amazing teacher and if you have the opportunity to take one of his classes, DO IT. He'll push your practice farther than you ever thought possible. After the class, I had soreness in places I don't usually - notably, in my abdomen and especially in my butt. He gave me a couple really fantastic corrections - a tap on the hip, a pull on my feet, a "open up your chest!" - that helped me to achieve success in poses that usually plague me.
The standing series was MUCH faster paced than usual, though I'm not entirely sure how that's possible since class seemingly took the same amount of time as normal. It was so fast and Joseph's dialogue was so driving that my heart was almost leaping out of my chest. I tried as hard as I could to push through it, but I had a couple times where I really had to take a knee and focus on my breathing. At one point, Joseph had to remind me it was okay to take a break if I needed it. I just really wanted to push as hard as I could! Sometimes, it's hard to know what your body can't do vs. what your mind is trying to talk you out of.
After class, I felt pretty amazing, if totally exhausted. Joseph was really friendly and open to talking afterward, so I naturally stopped by to say thank you. He was just as cool one-on-one as he was leading the class. The best part of our interaction was that he and one of the studio owners said I should go to teacher training! Joseph said "I feel the force in this one!" --- meaning, ME. Teacher training is something I've definitely thought about, but I've got to figure out the money + time away from home. It'd be possible to do it with my job, I'd just have to bust ass for a couple months to get ahead 9 weeks. We'll see, but it's definitely a thought on my radar for sure.
I can't believe I've almost finished the challenge. It has done wonders for my determination, for sure.
Joseph is such an inspiring guy. He has overcome so many health issues, including rheumatoid arthritis and a heart attack at 13. To see him today, you'd never know he'd ever been plagued with any illness. He radiates a gorgeous calming energy and the entire time was beaming with a brilliant smile. That kind of energy is definitely something to aspire to, and I hope I can conquer my negativity and embrace the good vibes, so to speak.
His demonstration was sick, in the best way possible. The sheer amount of strength in his body is intimidating, as is his flexibility. In particular, there was one move (I don't exactly know the names for the postures, so bear with me) where he did a handstand on the very tips of his fingers and then dropped down with his body parallel to the floor, still balancing on his hands. I was quite literally slack-jawed watching him. It was incredible.
The class he taught was hands-down the best one I've ever taken. He's an amazing teacher and if you have the opportunity to take one of his classes, DO IT. He'll push your practice farther than you ever thought possible. After the class, I had soreness in places I don't usually - notably, in my abdomen and especially in my butt. He gave me a couple really fantastic corrections - a tap on the hip, a pull on my feet, a "open up your chest!" - that helped me to achieve success in poses that usually plague me.
The standing series was MUCH faster paced than usual, though I'm not entirely sure how that's possible since class seemingly took the same amount of time as normal. It was so fast and Joseph's dialogue was so driving that my heart was almost leaping out of my chest. I tried as hard as I could to push through it, but I had a couple times where I really had to take a knee and focus on my breathing. At one point, Joseph had to remind me it was okay to take a break if I needed it. I just really wanted to push as hard as I could! Sometimes, it's hard to know what your body can't do vs. what your mind is trying to talk you out of.
After class, I felt pretty amazing, if totally exhausted. Joseph was really friendly and open to talking afterward, so I naturally stopped by to say thank you. He was just as cool one-on-one as he was leading the class. The best part of our interaction was that he and one of the studio owners said I should go to teacher training! Joseph said "I feel the force in this one!" --- meaning, ME. Teacher training is something I've definitely thought about, but I've got to figure out the money + time away from home. It'd be possible to do it with my job, I'd just have to bust ass for a couple months to get ahead 9 weeks. We'll see, but it's definitely a thought on my radar for sure.
I can't believe I've almost finished the challenge. It has done wonders for my determination, for sure.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Days 48-52: A new practice
My practice has started to rapidly improve. The better it gets, the less I feel like writing, which is why I've been slacking my butt off on my blog this week! Sorry, friends, I'll do better on the last week of my challenge for sure!
The most notable changes have been in compression postures, which leads me to believe I'm gaining flexibility and losing bulk in my stomach & chest. I have gotten incredibly close to touching my face to my legs in hands to feet pose. I can consistently touch my forehead to my (bent) knee in standing separate leg head to knee pose. On occasion, I'm able to push my knee back and keep my head to my knee, but I'm still struggling with that part. In similar news, I almost screamed with joy yesterday when I felt my eyebrows brush my knees in rabbit! I haven't really been too close in the past, but with a focus on pulling my stomach in and rounding my spine, I've gotten there. I've also gotten consistent on touching my forehead to knee in head to knee with stretching on the floor. The left leg can almost always lock, the right can sometimes.
Moral of the story: the more I practice, the more I improve. This seems like such a "duh" concept, but it's a breakthrough for me. It really helps me on the days where I feel dizzy or weak or just have a shitty attitude. One of the things that helps me to go daily is to not think too deeply about the process of the postures before class. All I need to do is remind myself that no matter how much I struggle, class will eventually come to an end. I just need to get to class and the rest takes care of itself.
The challenge is so close to being over (one week from today is day 60, if you can believe that) and I'm starting to get a little nervous about what happens after that. It's become routine to go daily, but I definitely feel like a day or two off a week would very much help restore some balance to my life. I've been neglecting certain aspects of life, notably my crafting. I have a craft fair coming up in November that I need to get a lot more work done for, and while I don't want to neglect my practice, it's very important that I'm prepared and set for the two-day fair. So I think in my post-challenge world, it's all about instilling balance into my routine. I need to continue practicing, but do it in a way that doesn't interfere with things I need to do and enjoy doing.
Backstory: I lost a lot of weight before my senior year of college and felt awesome and looked the best I'd ever looked. At the height of my weight gain, I looked wistfully back on these days, wishing I could get back there somehow. Well, I tried on my smallest size jeans from that era and THEY FIT. Okay, maybe "fit" is a loose term for it, but I can put them on and zip them up. They're tight as though vacuum-sealed on my body, but in a few more pounds, they'll be comfortable. Weirdly enough, I'm still probably 15-20 pounds heavier than I was in college, but my body is much shapelier than it was at that time. Yoga changes and heals all, apparently.
The most notable changes have been in compression postures, which leads me to believe I'm gaining flexibility and losing bulk in my stomach & chest. I have gotten incredibly close to touching my face to my legs in hands to feet pose. I can consistently touch my forehead to my (bent) knee in standing separate leg head to knee pose. On occasion, I'm able to push my knee back and keep my head to my knee, but I'm still struggling with that part. In similar news, I almost screamed with joy yesterday when I felt my eyebrows brush my knees in rabbit! I haven't really been too close in the past, but with a focus on pulling my stomach in and rounding my spine, I've gotten there. I've also gotten consistent on touching my forehead to knee in head to knee with stretching on the floor. The left leg can almost always lock, the right can sometimes.
Moral of the story: the more I practice, the more I improve. This seems like such a "duh" concept, but it's a breakthrough for me. It really helps me on the days where I feel dizzy or weak or just have a shitty attitude. One of the things that helps me to go daily is to not think too deeply about the process of the postures before class. All I need to do is remind myself that no matter how much I struggle, class will eventually come to an end. I just need to get to class and the rest takes care of itself.
The challenge is so close to being over (one week from today is day 60, if you can believe that) and I'm starting to get a little nervous about what happens after that. It's become routine to go daily, but I definitely feel like a day or two off a week would very much help restore some balance to my life. I've been neglecting certain aspects of life, notably my crafting. I have a craft fair coming up in November that I need to get a lot more work done for, and while I don't want to neglect my practice, it's very important that I'm prepared and set for the two-day fair. So I think in my post-challenge world, it's all about instilling balance into my routine. I need to continue practicing, but do it in a way that doesn't interfere with things I need to do and enjoy doing.
Backstory: I lost a lot of weight before my senior year of college and felt awesome and looked the best I'd ever looked. At the height of my weight gain, I looked wistfully back on these days, wishing I could get back there somehow. Well, I tried on my smallest size jeans from that era and THEY FIT. Okay, maybe "fit" is a loose term for it, but I can put them on and zip them up. They're tight as though vacuum-sealed on my body, but in a few more pounds, they'll be comfortable. Weirdly enough, I'm still probably 15-20 pounds heavier than I was in college, but my body is much shapelier than it was at that time. Yoga changes and heals all, apparently.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Day 45: Solid & Unspectacular
Today's class was another solid one! However, I again struggled in standing separate leg stretching and I think I'm going to talk to an instructor about it after tomorrow's class because it's really starting to bug me. It doesn't help that it's the posture immediately before triangle and consistently shakes my focus, making trikonasana even more terrible and difficult than it already is. Bah humbug!
I can't really think of any crazy improvement or any pose that was much better or worse than any other. Class today kind of flowed in a way it hasn't yet. It just kept on truckin' from pose to pose. I was careful to reduce wiping and fidgeting, at least marginally. I think that really helps with the feeling of being in control of the class, instead of feeling like the class is beating the crap out of you.
Day 45. 3/4 of the way done! Just over 2 weeks left. It's insane. Jason asked me what I plan to do after the challenge is over, and I'm not entirely certain. I know I'm keeping up my practice, but I think I'm going to need one day off a week to work on my etsy store and my upcoming craft fair. I think going back to the 5-6 days a week strategy might be good. But you never know, I might just try to stay with a 7 day a week plan. Stay tuned to find out!
I can't really think of any crazy improvement or any pose that was much better or worse than any other. Class today kind of flowed in a way it hasn't yet. It just kept on truckin' from pose to pose. I was careful to reduce wiping and fidgeting, at least marginally. I think that really helps with the feeling of being in control of the class, instead of feeling like the class is beating the crap out of you.
Day 45. 3/4 of the way done! Just over 2 weeks left. It's insane. Jason asked me what I plan to do after the challenge is over, and I'm not entirely certain. I know I'm keeping up my practice, but I think I'm going to need one day off a week to work on my etsy store and my upcoming craft fair. I think going back to the 5-6 days a week strategy might be good. But you never know, I might just try to stay with a 7 day a week plan. Stay tuned to find out!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Day 44: Hated posture improvements!
Today's class was another good one. I felt really strong and solid. I had some fantastic improvements in some of my most hated postures - half moon, standing head to knee, locust, & head to knee with stretching.
A quick note before I get into the bulk of today's work: The reigning men's U.S. yoga champion, Joseph Encinia got his start at Bikram Yoga Dallas and will be coming to teach a class on Friday, September 24 at 6:30 pm with a demonstration. Then later that weekend, he'll compete to defend his title! You should definitely swing by if you've been reading this and thinking about checking out a class. Joseph is an inspirational character - he had a heart attack at a young age, along with a slew of other health problems, and rose above it to become a truly fantastic yogi. I can't wait to see his postures in person!
So, in looking at Joseph's website, I was struck by his backbend in half moon pose. I think for the first time, it dawned on me what that pose is supposed to look like, and what exactly pushing your hips forward while keeping your weight on your heels entails. It helped my posture SO MUCH today in class! Instead of feeling like my back was stiff and unbending, pushing my hips forward allowed me to relax and bend my spine more than ever before. It really kind of surprised me, to be honest!
I grabbed my left leg in standing head to knee for the first time without releasing my ten-finger grip! Again, it was rather surprising to me. I dropped it almost immediately, but I had hand-to-foot contact with the proper grip! A step in the right direction. I also managed to lock my left knee out completely on the other side while holding my foot. I kept it solid for a few counts before I had to drop. This is a marked improvement from where this posture began for me, when I couldn't even balance on one foot.
Locust is probably my least favorite pose, to be honest. I really feel my extra bulk in this one, and I can kind of float around on my stomach at times, throwing off my hip alignment. But today, I got my elbows really close together and was able to use my arms to push up my legs. I could feel my lower spine curling up. It didn't exactly feel pleasant, but my arms exploded in tingling after I released, so it was really worth it.
Notably, my sit-up is improving and I actually felt the energy you're supposed to feel after performing one. This helped me in head to knee with stretching quite a bit. In the stretching part, I really pushed my elbows towards the floor and got so much closer than I ever have before. Now I need to think a lot more about stretching from the lower spine and getting my head to my feet.
A good day overall! Tomorrow is day 45 - 3/4 done with the challenge. I can definitely say that my mind, body, and spirit have improved drastically since undertaking this challenge and I'm excited to see where I end up at the end of the 60 days!
A quick note before I get into the bulk of today's work: The reigning men's U.S. yoga champion, Joseph Encinia got his start at Bikram Yoga Dallas and will be coming to teach a class on Friday, September 24 at 6:30 pm with a demonstration. Then later that weekend, he'll compete to defend his title! You should definitely swing by if you've been reading this and thinking about checking out a class. Joseph is an inspirational character - he had a heart attack at a young age, along with a slew of other health problems, and rose above it to become a truly fantastic yogi. I can't wait to see his postures in person!
So, in looking at Joseph's website, I was struck by his backbend in half moon pose. I think for the first time, it dawned on me what that pose is supposed to look like, and what exactly pushing your hips forward while keeping your weight on your heels entails. It helped my posture SO MUCH today in class! Instead of feeling like my back was stiff and unbending, pushing my hips forward allowed me to relax and bend my spine more than ever before. It really kind of surprised me, to be honest!
I grabbed my left leg in standing head to knee for the first time without releasing my ten-finger grip! Again, it was rather surprising to me. I dropped it almost immediately, but I had hand-to-foot contact with the proper grip! A step in the right direction. I also managed to lock my left knee out completely on the other side while holding my foot. I kept it solid for a few counts before I had to drop. This is a marked improvement from where this posture began for me, when I couldn't even balance on one foot.
Locust is probably my least favorite pose, to be honest. I really feel my extra bulk in this one, and I can kind of float around on my stomach at times, throwing off my hip alignment. But today, I got my elbows really close together and was able to use my arms to push up my legs. I could feel my lower spine curling up. It didn't exactly feel pleasant, but my arms exploded in tingling after I released, so it was really worth it.
Notably, my sit-up is improving and I actually felt the energy you're supposed to feel after performing one. This helped me in head to knee with stretching quite a bit. In the stretching part, I really pushed my elbows towards the floor and got so much closer than I ever have before. Now I need to think a lot more about stretching from the lower spine and getting my head to my feet.
A good day overall! Tomorrow is day 45 - 3/4 done with the challenge. I can definitely say that my mind, body, and spirit have improved drastically since undertaking this challenge and I'm excited to see where I end up at the end of the 60 days!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Days 39-43: Double-dominated
Okay, it's been a while since I've written because I was on the road to Memphis and then too exhausted to even think about sitting at the computer and typing anything up! I'll get to Bikram's lecture in a later post - this one is solely going to be about my practice in the last few days.
So in going to Memphis for the Bikram lecture, my friend Sunny and I had decided to take the 4:30 class (since they only had classes at 9am and 4:30 pm) so we structured our day around that. We went to Graceland (my second time, and it's so much fun!) and ate at a really delicious vegan restaurant (in the land of barbecue, no less). I took a short nap while Sunny dabbled on her iPad and then we headed to class to find the studio locked up tight.
My stomach sunk to my feet as it started to dawn on me that I wasn't going to be able to practice that day. Apparently, the studio had changed their schedule around on account of the lecture later that night and had canceled the 4:30 class in favor of an added noon class. In the past, this would have absolutely wrecked me and made me give up on my challenge, but the new Katie was suddenly and strangely determined to knock out a double as fast as possible and get myself back on track so as to avoid the anxiety that comes along with putting off something you dread.
So, now back in Dallas, I decided to do a back-to-back double mere hours after stepping off the plane. The first class was great! I had one of my favorite instructors who always knows the right thing to say to make my body fall correctly into the posture. I really pushed myself and completed all the postures to the best of my ability with no pauses for sitting or catching my breath. I got a huge cardio workout in this class. I could feel my heart thumping like nuts from half moon all the way to final breathing. It was a really intense and great class.
After savasana, I headed to the lobby for a minute to reset for the second class. I was feeling really weak, which I think was a result of not eating as much as I should have before a back-to-back double. I grabbed a sports drink that had some calories in it and wished I had a few almonds or something to balance out all the sugar - sadly, I didn't. I went back into the room and tried to relax.
The second class was HARD. I didn't have the energy to do the simplest of postures. I felt shaky and weak right from the outset of pranayama breathing. I pushed as far and as hard as I could, but I wound up having to lay in savasana for most of the class. Any time I felt a little bit of energy surface, I stood up and tried to do the posture. Sometimes, I hit the deck right away after surfacing, and sometimes I was able to at least attempt the posture. Suffice it to say, it was definitely not my best class ever.
Interestingly enough, in the class while laying down, I think I might have experienced some kind of trance of sorts. It was almost like I lost time, really. It was a really strange sensation, I suppose it was some sort of meditation or something. It felt a lot like that feeling of being half-awake, half-asleep, but with a slight hum in my body.
Since the double, I've been really low-energy. My class yesterday was alright, marked by some weakness and just overall exhaustion. I have been eating sensibly, lots of protein with a nice carb balance, and I can tell that I'm starting to lose weight for real now (ok, I may have cheated and looked at the scale, whatever). My chest bones are starting to poke out, I'm getting major definition in my legs, and my ass is (incredibly sore &) becoming more firm. There are serious changes happening to my shape. I feel great about these body changes, which are really a result of the incredible changes that are happening in my mind.
Today's class was pretty solid. I only had to back out of standing separate leg stretching, which is an annoying nemesis pose for me now. Stupid hamstring. The pain starts when I lock my knee and any attempt to pull on my heels gives me a warning-warning-warning-STOP pain in my left hammy. I do what I can and if I can't stay in the pose, I come up and stand still with my hands by my side, attempting to breathe normally. That's really about all I can do at this point.
Camel was notable today, because I thought very deeply about relaxing my body and folding in half while pushing my hips towards the mirror. I felt as though I could hold it forever. It was really nice and, as you all know, I live for the feeling of humming and tingling throughout my body after releasing the pose.
Speaking of the humming feeling, I've started to feel it outside of class, too. There is pretty much always a slight humming feeling along my skin if I pause and allow myself to feel it. I don't know what it is - energy? blood flow? both? neither? chickens? - but it feels great and unlike anything I've ever felt before. I think this might be the "glow" people talk about when they suggest that yogis and yoginis have a certain air about them.
My poses are all certainly improving and it's starting to happen kind of quickly. So now that I completed the double class, I'm back on track to finish my 60 classes in 60 days. Here's hoping nothing comes up that forces me into a double again! I'm glad I had to try it, but in the future, I would definitely do a class early in the morning and then later in the afternoon, with some time to eat a big, protein-and-carb meal with lots of nutrient-rich vegetables. At this point, I think that's the smartest way to attack a double in the future.
...let's just hope that doesn't need to happen anytime soon, okay?
So in going to Memphis for the Bikram lecture, my friend Sunny and I had decided to take the 4:30 class (since they only had classes at 9am and 4:30 pm) so we structured our day around that. We went to Graceland (my second time, and it's so much fun!) and ate at a really delicious vegan restaurant (in the land of barbecue, no less). I took a short nap while Sunny dabbled on her iPad and then we headed to class to find the studio locked up tight.
My stomach sunk to my feet as it started to dawn on me that I wasn't going to be able to practice that day. Apparently, the studio had changed their schedule around on account of the lecture later that night and had canceled the 4:30 class in favor of an added noon class. In the past, this would have absolutely wrecked me and made me give up on my challenge, but the new Katie was suddenly and strangely determined to knock out a double as fast as possible and get myself back on track so as to avoid the anxiety that comes along with putting off something you dread.
So, now back in Dallas, I decided to do a back-to-back double mere hours after stepping off the plane. The first class was great! I had one of my favorite instructors who always knows the right thing to say to make my body fall correctly into the posture. I really pushed myself and completed all the postures to the best of my ability with no pauses for sitting or catching my breath. I got a huge cardio workout in this class. I could feel my heart thumping like nuts from half moon all the way to final breathing. It was a really intense and great class.
After savasana, I headed to the lobby for a minute to reset for the second class. I was feeling really weak, which I think was a result of not eating as much as I should have before a back-to-back double. I grabbed a sports drink that had some calories in it and wished I had a few almonds or something to balance out all the sugar - sadly, I didn't. I went back into the room and tried to relax.
The second class was HARD. I didn't have the energy to do the simplest of postures. I felt shaky and weak right from the outset of pranayama breathing. I pushed as far and as hard as I could, but I wound up having to lay in savasana for most of the class. Any time I felt a little bit of energy surface, I stood up and tried to do the posture. Sometimes, I hit the deck right away after surfacing, and sometimes I was able to at least attempt the posture. Suffice it to say, it was definitely not my best class ever.
Interestingly enough, in the class while laying down, I think I might have experienced some kind of trance of sorts. It was almost like I lost time, really. It was a really strange sensation, I suppose it was some sort of meditation or something. It felt a lot like that feeling of being half-awake, half-asleep, but with a slight hum in my body.
Since the double, I've been really low-energy. My class yesterday was alright, marked by some weakness and just overall exhaustion. I have been eating sensibly, lots of protein with a nice carb balance, and I can tell that I'm starting to lose weight for real now (ok, I may have cheated and looked at the scale, whatever). My chest bones are starting to poke out, I'm getting major definition in my legs, and my ass is (incredibly sore &) becoming more firm. There are serious changes happening to my shape. I feel great about these body changes, which are really a result of the incredible changes that are happening in my mind.
Today's class was pretty solid. I only had to back out of standing separate leg stretching, which is an annoying nemesis pose for me now. Stupid hamstring. The pain starts when I lock my knee and any attempt to pull on my heels gives me a warning-warning-warning-STOP pain in my left hammy. I do what I can and if I can't stay in the pose, I come up and stand still with my hands by my side, attempting to breathe normally. That's really about all I can do at this point.
Camel was notable today, because I thought very deeply about relaxing my body and folding in half while pushing my hips towards the mirror. I felt as though I could hold it forever. It was really nice and, as you all know, I live for the feeling of humming and tingling throughout my body after releasing the pose.
Speaking of the humming feeling, I've started to feel it outside of class, too. There is pretty much always a slight humming feeling along my skin if I pause and allow myself to feel it. I don't know what it is - energy? blood flow? both? neither? chickens? - but it feels great and unlike anything I've ever felt before. I think this might be the "glow" people talk about when they suggest that yogis and yoginis have a certain air about them.
My poses are all certainly improving and it's starting to happen kind of quickly. So now that I completed the double class, I'm back on track to finish my 60 classes in 60 days. Here's hoping nothing comes up that forces me into a double again! I'm glad I had to try it, but in the future, I would definitely do a class early in the morning and then later in the afternoon, with some time to eat a big, protein-and-carb meal with lots of nutrient-rich vegetables. At this point, I think that's the smartest way to attack a double in the future.
...let's just hope that doesn't need to happen anytime soon, okay?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Day 39: A real, true breakthrough
Today's class was AWESOME. I had so many breakthroughs I barely know where to begin. Today was one of those motivating classes that makes me so excited to get back in the room and practice again. This past week has been really tough for me and I really believe the results of the struggle of this week was my incredible class today. One of my instructors frequently says, "There is beauty in the struggle because that's where the change happens," and as I wax poetic about this experience, I'm inclined to agree.
So, half moon is getting better all the time. I've figured out how to make my body stretch up out of my waist, which is helping several postures. I can now feel a stretch in my sides from the wrist to the waist, and I just have to keep pushing to feel it down my entire side. Additionally, hands to feet pose went really well. My instructor told me to put my weight more in my toes. Once I did, my face was hovering ridiculously close to my legs. It's coming soon.
In the standing series, I definitely got a good cardio workout. The dizzy feeling I usually get kind of morphed into this buzzing through my whole body. It was rather pleasant. Pushing into the feeling is turning out to always be better than pulling away from it. I worked hard to keep my breath even but still I could feel my heart pounding, especially after standing bow pulling.
I finally had a triangle breakthrough! Again, it was thanks to some awesome direction from my instructor. Sometimes you just need someone to put the concept of the pose into different words for it to suddenly make sense to you. I'm not even entirely sure what she said that made it click for me, but I realized that I needed to push my hips down while pushing my arm and chest towards the ceiling. My heart was pounding like crazy but it felt great.
In tree pose, I think I now understand how I'm supposed to rotate my hip to open up my hip joints. I was able to balance easier and get my hips in alignment. Having properly aligned hips is such a huge deal in my world.
In half-tortoise, I had a MAJOR breakthrough. This isn't even really pose-specific but it was a huge deal for me. As mentioned earlier, I've figured out stretching from my waist in postures with the hands over the head. This really helped in half-tortoise. When I got my pinky fingers to the ground, I pushed my fingers towards the mirror and felt the uncomfortable burning sensation and slightly dizzy feeling that usually freaks me out and makes me pull away. I distinctly recall thinking, "I love this feeling!" and pushing into it instead of pulling away. When I got out of the posture and laid in savasana, my body felt like it was laying in a pool of water instead of on my mat. It felt kind of like the floor had a heartbeat and it was pulsing against my body. Yes, it really was that trippy.
After that, the rest of the class kind of passed by in a buzzing blur. I felt strong and energized. After class, I've been feeling increasingly energized and just plain happy. I feel relaxed in body and mind. I'm so excited to have had this class today.
Oh, and did I mention I'll be hearing Bikram speak tomorrow? BECAUSE I WILL. I'll be sure to talk to you all on Thursday about my experience!
So, half moon is getting better all the time. I've figured out how to make my body stretch up out of my waist, which is helping several postures. I can now feel a stretch in my sides from the wrist to the waist, and I just have to keep pushing to feel it down my entire side. Additionally, hands to feet pose went really well. My instructor told me to put my weight more in my toes. Once I did, my face was hovering ridiculously close to my legs. It's coming soon.
In the standing series, I definitely got a good cardio workout. The dizzy feeling I usually get kind of morphed into this buzzing through my whole body. It was rather pleasant. Pushing into the feeling is turning out to always be better than pulling away from it. I worked hard to keep my breath even but still I could feel my heart pounding, especially after standing bow pulling.
I finally had a triangle breakthrough! Again, it was thanks to some awesome direction from my instructor. Sometimes you just need someone to put the concept of the pose into different words for it to suddenly make sense to you. I'm not even entirely sure what she said that made it click for me, but I realized that I needed to push my hips down while pushing my arm and chest towards the ceiling. My heart was pounding like crazy but it felt great.
In tree pose, I think I now understand how I'm supposed to rotate my hip to open up my hip joints. I was able to balance easier and get my hips in alignment. Having properly aligned hips is such a huge deal in my world.
In half-tortoise, I had a MAJOR breakthrough. This isn't even really pose-specific but it was a huge deal for me. As mentioned earlier, I've figured out stretching from my waist in postures with the hands over the head. This really helped in half-tortoise. When I got my pinky fingers to the ground, I pushed my fingers towards the mirror and felt the uncomfortable burning sensation and slightly dizzy feeling that usually freaks me out and makes me pull away. I distinctly recall thinking, "I love this feeling!" and pushing into it instead of pulling away. When I got out of the posture and laid in savasana, my body felt like it was laying in a pool of water instead of on my mat. It felt kind of like the floor had a heartbeat and it was pulsing against my body. Yes, it really was that trippy.
After that, the rest of the class kind of passed by in a buzzing blur. I felt strong and energized. After class, I've been feeling increasingly energized and just plain happy. I feel relaxed in body and mind. I'm so excited to have had this class today.
Oh, and did I mention I'll be hearing Bikram speak tomorrow? BECAUSE I WILL. I'll be sure to talk to you all on Thursday about my experience!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Days 37 & 38: Free Day of Yoga & more!
Today was the DFW Free Day of Yoga and I brought my friend Dalya to practice today. It's nice having some buddies to head to class with and to chat with after class is over. Dalya did really great - I could barely stay on my feet at my first class and she tried almost every posture. I think she might have been bitten by the yoga bug, too! Also, we got free popsicles after class, which clearly made sweating through 90 minutes in a packed class totally worth it.
Today was great because I felt super motivated and had good strength. I was able to do every posture today! That hasn't happened in some time. I keep reminding myself to breathe and struggle through it even if I'm dizzy or off-balance or what have you.
I think I'm figuring out half moon for real. I got a really great stretch in both sides in both sets today. I have to focus more on pressing my hips to one side and think about stretching one side of my body up and over the other while keeping my elbows locked. It felt good for the first time in forever, which was nice. I got a lot of rushing blood through my body in the standing series today, when I normally only get that during the floor series.
However, I'm having problems with standing separate leg stretching. The second I try and grab my feet, I can feel a really weird pulling-and-not-in-a-good-way sensation in my left hamstring/groin? I don't know what it is, but it doesn't feel good and so I'm just working on touching my hands on the floor in front of me and locking my knees solidly. I can go from there, I suppose.
In other, pseudo-related to yoga news, there were no blue stickers left today so I had to stick up my first green sticker. I will cover it with a blue one tomorrow for consistency's sake, don't worry. I know you were nervous.
ALSO: heading to Memphis for Bikram's lecture on Wednesday! I am so excited and brimming with nervous energy. I've been feeling a little meh about my practice as of the past few days and I'm hoping this will revitalize me. I'm the sort of person who needs to constantly seek out inspiration to stay focused, and if seeing the man himself talk about the practice won't motivate me then I don't know what will! I may not have my computer with me for the trip but expect a huge blog post sometime this week dealing with my experience!
Today was great because I felt super motivated and had good strength. I was able to do every posture today! That hasn't happened in some time. I keep reminding myself to breathe and struggle through it even if I'm dizzy or off-balance or what have you.
I think I'm figuring out half moon for real. I got a really great stretch in both sides in both sets today. I have to focus more on pressing my hips to one side and think about stretching one side of my body up and over the other while keeping my elbows locked. It felt good for the first time in forever, which was nice. I got a lot of rushing blood through my body in the standing series today, when I normally only get that during the floor series.
However, I'm having problems with standing separate leg stretching. The second I try and grab my feet, I can feel a really weird pulling-and-not-in-a-good-way sensation in my left hamstring/groin? I don't know what it is, but it doesn't feel good and so I'm just working on touching my hands on the floor in front of me and locking my knees solidly. I can go from there, I suppose.
In other, pseudo-related to yoga news, there were no blue stickers left today so I had to stick up my first green sticker. I will cover it with a blue one tomorrow for consistency's sake, don't worry. I know you were nervous.
ALSO: heading to Memphis for Bikram's lecture on Wednesday! I am so excited and brimming with nervous energy. I've been feeling a little meh about my practice as of the past few days and I'm hoping this will revitalize me. I'm the sort of person who needs to constantly seek out inspiration to stay focused, and if seeing the man himself talk about the practice won't motivate me then I don't know what will! I may not have my computer with me for the trip but expect a huge blog post sometime this week dealing with my experience!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Days 34, 35, & 36: Struggling through ennui
The past three days, I really have not wanted to go to class. I have gone, but I have struggled with a sour feeling towards leaving the house. The classes themselves have been fine, but man, I just don't wanna goooooo some days. The interesting thing about this is that once I get to class, I'm mostly fine and focused. It's just that anxiety that builds pre-class that urges me to quit rearing its ugly head. I usually feel better after class, and it's better for me to go earlier so I get it out of the way and don't spend all day stressing about how I don't want to go.
I've been having a nice deal of improvement on the compression postures lately. My body has begun to grasp the concept of lengthening my spine with the help of my stomach contraction. I can now touch my head to my knee in standing separate leg head to knee pose! Okay, sometimes it's more like the bridge of my nose or part of my face, but mostly it's my forehead! It's still pretty awkward and I have to push my chest out of the way to the right spot, but it's getting better. I have to be careful to not let my shirt fall towards my nose and block my airway. That makes for gasping breathing, not slow and steady breathing.
In surprising news, I was able to lock my left leg in head to knee in the floor series. I could only hold it briefly, but I wasn't even expecting to get that far in the pose at all! My right leg is usually way ahead of the left, but in this pose I'm starting to feel my years-old right hamstring injury working its way out. In other hamstring news, my left hamstring is almost completely back to normal. I'm very grateful. The only pose I feel it in is standing separate leg stretching and I think this pose might have been where I hurt it. I think I need to focus simply on locking my knees for a while, and not pulling my head towards the ground.
I'm creeping up on 40 days, and that is exciting in itself. I know I'll be able to finish the challenge, and truth be told, I'm really looking forward to a day off. I'm thinking forward to post-challenge life and how my practice will continue after that. After the challenge, I'll be going to Boston for a couple weeks to visit my family because my sister is having a baby! In Boston, I'm going to set a 3-class a week rule. I must practice at least six times while I'm in the northeast. Then, I'm thinking I'll go back to my 5-class a week minimum with a 6 class a week preference. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, though, so time for this entry to end!
I've been having a nice deal of improvement on the compression postures lately. My body has begun to grasp the concept of lengthening my spine with the help of my stomach contraction. I can now touch my head to my knee in standing separate leg head to knee pose! Okay, sometimes it's more like the bridge of my nose or part of my face, but mostly it's my forehead! It's still pretty awkward and I have to push my chest out of the way to the right spot, but it's getting better. I have to be careful to not let my shirt fall towards my nose and block my airway. That makes for gasping breathing, not slow and steady breathing.
In surprising news, I was able to lock my left leg in head to knee in the floor series. I could only hold it briefly, but I wasn't even expecting to get that far in the pose at all! My right leg is usually way ahead of the left, but in this pose I'm starting to feel my years-old right hamstring injury working its way out. In other hamstring news, my left hamstring is almost completely back to normal. I'm very grateful. The only pose I feel it in is standing separate leg stretching and I think this pose might have been where I hurt it. I think I need to focus simply on locking my knees for a while, and not pulling my head towards the ground.
I'm creeping up on 40 days, and that is exciting in itself. I know I'll be able to finish the challenge, and truth be told, I'm really looking forward to a day off. I'm thinking forward to post-challenge life and how my practice will continue after that. After the challenge, I'll be going to Boston for a couple weeks to visit my family because my sister is having a baby! In Boston, I'm going to set a 3-class a week rule. I must practice at least six times while I'm in the northeast. Then, I'm thinking I'll go back to my 5-class a week minimum with a 6 class a week preference. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, though, so time for this entry to end!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Day 33: AHA!
So, my awesome Bikram teacher friend Liz gave me some great advice that helped me out so much in today's class. She said, "You can still do the postures when you're dizzy." This was a total revelation to me. I'd been getting to the dizzies and then pulling back, which usually resulted in me having to take a knee or lay down. Today when I hit the dizzies, I tried to get in control of my breathing and focus on one spot in the mirror. Even if I felt dizzy, I did the posture. I didn't have to take a knee in any poses, though I did pop out of a few a little early. Compared to the past few days, this is a huge victory for me and I'm so happy.
I had a really intense and awesome standing bow pulling pose today. My left side is a lot better than my right in this pose, and today I felt this incredible sensation in my back as I pushed my foot up to the ceiling and urged my body forward. I felt like I was curling back up instead of just lumbering forward. The rush of blood to my body after I was done was insane.
I pushed bow to the point of getting a cramp in my lower back in both sets. Score! I thought about dropping when I felt the cramp but I figured I only had five seconds at best to suffer with said cramp, and if I wimp out over a measly five seconds, that's pretty pathetic. So I just pushed through until the instructor told us to release and I felt incredible for it.
In food news: I had some carrot/apple/ginger juice before class this morning and I think it might have helped me out a little. I'm going to keep trying to make juice every morning pre-class to make sure I've got some good nutrients in my body. I tend to go to class pretty soon after I wake up, so making sure I get some kind of calories/nutrients in my system is pretty important. Otherwise, I'm running on an empty tank and it makes sense that I would burn through whatever usable calories are in my system pretty quickly. Then, enter the dizzies and weak feeling and malaise.
I feel good after class today. I'm definitely a little tired, but I'm trying to stave off the post-class couch crash as long as possible. I made it til 7:30 last night before I gave in. We'll see how it goes today.
I had a really intense and awesome standing bow pulling pose today. My left side is a lot better than my right in this pose, and today I felt this incredible sensation in my back as I pushed my foot up to the ceiling and urged my body forward. I felt like I was curling back up instead of just lumbering forward. The rush of blood to my body after I was done was insane.
I pushed bow to the point of getting a cramp in my lower back in both sets. Score! I thought about dropping when I felt the cramp but I figured I only had five seconds at best to suffer with said cramp, and if I wimp out over a measly five seconds, that's pretty pathetic. So I just pushed through until the instructor told us to release and I felt incredible for it.
In food news: I had some carrot/apple/ginger juice before class this morning and I think it might have helped me out a little. I'm going to keep trying to make juice every morning pre-class to make sure I've got some good nutrients in my body. I tend to go to class pretty soon after I wake up, so making sure I get some kind of calories/nutrients in my system is pretty important. Otherwise, I'm running on an empty tank and it makes sense that I would burn through whatever usable calories are in my system pretty quickly. Then, enter the dizzies and weak feeling and malaise.
I feel good after class today. I'm definitely a little tired, but I'm trying to stave off the post-class couch crash as long as possible. I made it til 7:30 last night before I gave in. We'll see how it goes today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)