Today was just great...

...and I don't even mean that sarcastically!

I started off the day with a big glass of green juice, which made me feel amazing. I also brewed my own rhodiola & stevia tea, which gave me so much energy I was bouncing happily about the house doing all sorts of things that needed doing. I know I have yesterday's yoga to thank for a lot of my happy mood and energy. When I have great classes like that, the world just feels so much lighter.

Today was another awesome class, though not quiiiite as good as yesterday's. I'm really pushing myself in the warm-up series these days. I've figured out a lot of my problem in the second part of awkward. I have been noticing that I tend to keep my weight on the outsides of my feet when standing. I've been working really hard at keeping my right shoulder down, which keeps my right hip in alignment, which helps me to balance my weight more evenly on my feet. When all those keys are in place, going up on my toes becomes (just slightly) easier. I can push more weight to my big and second toe and not have my ankles roll to the side. It's a small breakthrough but a much-welcome one. I haven't had much improvement at all in this posture until this week, so I am very grateful.

After the warm-up, I was kind of yoga-wasted. That's kind of the nickname I've given to the wild not-dizzy-dizziness feeling that you get from spineplay. I kept trying to pull away from the feeling ("don't get too attached") but I didn't have much success with that today. I wound up having to take a little break on the floor and didn't get to try standing separate leg stretching, which kinda bummed me out. I did, however, scrape myself off the floor for an attempt at triangle. It was one of my best ones yet! The teacher even gave me a little shout-out - a feat I have never achieved on triangle. I made sure to not put even the slightest bit of pressure on my knee with my elbow and reached for my toes as hard as I could. I tend to lose my balance once I switch my gaze to the ceiling and I wound up falling out of it, but the start was so good that I couldn't be too upset! Despite having to take some breaks, I felt positive about my progress in the standing series.

The floor series was awesome as well. I'm starting to really get a handle on my alignment and it makes it much easier to get the spinal compression in the right spot. I love when I release and I can't quite focus my eyes and I feel all the energy rushing through my body. I'm still having some trouble getting my alignment right in the set-up for bow, which is something I'm definitely going to ask about when I get to taking that private lesson I've been squawking about. (Ooooh, side note! I bought a yoga journal from Phofun on Etsy and I plan on using it to write down things I have questions about, detail my trouble spots, write down quotes from books I read that strike me, etc. I'm pumped.)

I am having a good amount of improvement in rabbit. I can now almost always lift my hips up off my heels and today I felt stretching not just in my neck but also in my lower spine by my coccyx. This posture used to be kind of a lazy one for me, one I'd relax in instead of pushing hard, but the removal of my hips from my feet has totally changed that for me. The best part about that is that I get a similar feeling upon release that I do after camel. Totally worth the extra effort!

I also have been improving on spinal twist. I can feel the twist all the way up to my neck these days. The key is keeping both hips solid and my floor knee in contact with the floor, evenly balancing my weight. Then I can really stretch my spine and use my arms to torque my body backwards. It's great.

Tomorrow is my double date with Nita! It's going to be SO much fun. It's my first double in a while and I plan on definitely making sure I hydrate/eat properly between classes so I can have two strong classes. I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes!