All about balance

class thirteen of the 40 day challenge was a 9:15 gentle with Zelinda.

This class was different in a lot of ways, and I really enjoyed it. For instance, we practiced in a circle today, facing in. Zelinda said basically that she wanted to balance comfort with newness, to take the edge of boredom off our practice.

We also did a lot of balancing in practice today. My ankle is not a lot better, and I always appreciate when Zelinda gives me strengthening exercises for it. The half moon pose remained elusive on one side, though I did try hard to make sure both sides got a shot at it.

It's hard for me to find balance on with the right leg as my standing leg. It's also elusive in life. We all talked about what made us uncomfortable in life, and I mentions how pilates makes me self-conscious but also determined to be kinder to myself. It's a delicate balance.

Kind of like tree pose.

Don't forget to scroll back a few entries and enter our contest. It runs until Sunday!

Night, y'all

Lorna

Class 13 of the 40 Day Challenge, or Swallowing the Frog

The saying is: Swallow a live frog first thing when you wake up, then you can have your day knowing the worst has passed.

We talked about that today in yoga. We talked about creativity, about discomfort, about community. We talked about art and disappointment and life. We talked about being unsure and isolated and boredom and the really great sale at Academy and and and...

We did the half moon pose, too.

I tend to see things during tree pose. It may be lack of oxygen to my brain. I prefer to think of it as soul messages. Today's word (yes, on the floor, the Yoga Room's floor has LOTS of words) was BUOYANT.

It was a good word.

Practice is my buoy right now. Breathing makes me buoyant. This community makes me buoyant. My yoga family buoys me.

I'm beginning to notice that I need it to get the day started. O.o

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Zelinda

 

Make like a bunny!

Class twelve. Gentle at 9:15 with Zelinda

Let me tell you, y'all, that while this as not a heavy duty warrior class, it was not gentle on my hips or chest. Wow, we opened a lot of things. Who even thinks about the muscles between their ribs?

Me. I do. Now.

Maybe for the next week.

On the good side (what, opening up is good, but sore is kind of on the side of suck) we revisited a pose I hadn't done in maybe a year today. Rabbit. Go from tall kneeling to folding forward. Grab your heels. Put the TOP of your head on the floor. Do this without falling over. Voila. Rabbit.

I have never been able to get into this pose before. I have never been able to attempt it without massive amounts of ow.

Today, my head went, ploop. Right on the floor. Skadoosh.

Go me.

I made like a bunny!

Hooray yoga!

Class 12 of the 40 Day Challenge, or Joy as a Full Time Gig

First things first. Yes, that's a hand-welded iron longhorn head wine bar behind me. It is a constant source of smiles and glee.

Secondly, yep. That's an apple. I eat one every day. I balance one on my head not-considerably less often than that.

If I had any shame, I'd tell you that this photo was posed just for the blog, but I'd be lying.

You see, I spent 20 years of my life very busily dying. It was a full-time occupation and involved a lot of doctors and fear, pain and unhappiness and hiding. One day I gave it up. I know how glib that sounds, and in some ways it was a process, but in many ways, it was just that simple.

One day I had a vision and I gave up dying as a lifestyle.

My goal now is joy.

Yoga is a part of that for me. Tree pose. Happy baby pose. Laughing with Zelinda before class. The way Angela's hands are always cold or the smile B gives me every time she sees me. Michelle's laugh. The way Stacy wiggles. Teasing Christin. Then there's the fact that we're doing this together. The best parts of my day are the post-yoga chat (at the 620 Cafe, the Starbucks, Cafe Java). What worked, what didn't. Did you notice that my belly was growling? What did you think about during final relaxation? I think my butt fell off.

My joy level is *always* higher after yoga. (I have even been known to laugh after pilates. That may be hysteria.)

Some days I totally suck at my job. Mostly, though, I'm one hell of a professional dork.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda

what happens when I try to breathe from the back of the heart

Tonight's class was 6:15 Hatha 1 with Stacy.

She wanted us to be very aware of our body in three dimensions. At one point we were in child's pose, Stacy asked us to breathe into the back of our heart, pulling out the things we hid there and breathing out the pain.

I took a deep breath. I thought of the things weighing heaviest on my heart right now. I tried to exhale.

I swear to God, y'all, I couldn't breathe out. Instead of a nice long ahhhhhh, there was an urk. I tried again. Innnnnnnn. Urk.

Huh.

Clearly I wasn't ready to let go of that particular heartache yet. It's not ready to go away.

Oftentimes we tend to completely divorce our emotions from our bodies. Yoga sure teaches us that's not possible, and for me, it really helps me be aware of stuff I try to hide, even from myself.

Class Eleven of the 40 Day Challenge, or Trying to Breathe

So, I'm at the end of the head cold of doom. I'm not contagious. I was able to ponder forward folds without hysterical tears or exploding sinuses. So, off to Hatha I.

I'm great.

I'm solid.

I'm feeling good.

We start class and I start to (try to) breathe and all I can do is think, "Don't cough."

The tickle in my throat got worse. I swallowed.

Then, "Don't. Cough."

Then the tickle became a scratch.

DON'T COUGH!

I swallowed harder.

All that happened? Coughing.

Hacking.

There was a bit of wheezing.

I might have cried a little.

Finally the tickle backed off and I finished class.

The good news? My head did not explode.

Much.

;-)

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Stacy

In lieu of content

We didn't get to a class today. Sadly, Shawn came down with a vicious head cold last night, and I don't go when she doesn't. It's not fear, or even laziness on my part. This was solidarity with the sickly.

So, in lieu of content, we give you a contest. Comment on this post (or if you're shy, email us at shawnandlorna@gmail.com) by midnight Saturday the 4th of Febraury and enter to win a fancy water bottle and yoga strap, pictured below!



You know you want it!

As Shawn would say, Namaste, y'all

Lorna

Patience

Today in the 9:15 gentle class, we were all about patience.

I am not generally a patient person. I'm also most impatient with myself.

Today I worked hard to get my intention set in my mind and work through it. I think I did pretty well, but I have to say the stillness of the last 15 minutes of class *did* test my patience. I really had to struggle to clear my mind during the bolster work.

Patience is a turtle-slow process for me. Doing yoga six days a week is paving the way, though. Every so often I have a breakthrough.

Strangely enough, though, today it was in the car while we all settled into singing the Boxer, by Simon and Garfunkel. You know those moments when everyone agrees to stop talking and be moved by a song? Yeah. That was where my work in class finally manifested itself today.

Weird, huh?

Night, y'all!

Lorna

Class Ten of the 40 Day Challenge, or... I got nothing

Sorry, y'all. What I thought was a little bit of allergies this morning has become a bad head cold, complete with drippy goo, fever, chapped face, and racing heart.

:(

I did get up and go to class this morning; I am posting. I make zero promises for tomorrow.

Someone send chicken soup and hot tea.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Angela

My inner thighs don't surrender

Angela's 5 o'clock gentle class tonight was about surrender. You might have seen that in Shawn's post.

I have trouble with that concept. My body and mind fight it. I'm not sure why, as I would hardly call myself a control freak. I am a huge procrastinator, though, which means I do have trouble surrendering to the fact that some things must get done.

I was pondering that when we were laying on our backs doing a variation on the bound ankle pose. I pressed the soles of my feet together, let my knees fall to the sides. Uh-huh. You should have seen my inner thighs, y'all. My legs were flapping like duck wings, and it was all involuntary movement. My muscles were so not surrendering. It made me giggle, but it also made me think of all the things I've been putting off and why. Why I'm resisting.

I'm not sure I came to any conclusions, but it was sure worth mentioning.

Thanks to the lightning strike that hit just outside our house at 7am and the resulting chaos, I was pretty stressed tonight. Class put me in a much better mood, so I think I must have surrendered something, right?

Night y'all!

Lorna

Class Nine of the 40 Day Challenge, or Electric Toothbrushes, Explosions and Surrender

So, I had this whole blog post planned. I was going to tell y'all about the transformer that exploded at 7 a.m. this morning, throwing fireballs outside my bedroom window and waking me up with a noise like I'd never heard before. My heart thought the world had come to an end.

I was going to bitch about the editor that needed a final copy of a novel TODAY, no matter that my whole day was taken with fire and electricity and computers and...

But, I'm not.

You see, today in class Angela made a fabulous analogy. She was talking about how yoga was like an electric toothbrush. (And yeah, I'm just going to leave it at that. That's her analogy and you should ask her to share it with you. Stealing cool analogies is crappy writing Karma. But do ask. It's totally worth it.) It made me laugh, though, and it opened my mind up enough for her next words.

Start where you are.

I'm going to make a sign and put it up where I have to see that 100 times a day.

Shawn, start where you are.

The practice tonight was all about surrender -- giving up control and stress and baggage and garbage that you didn't need anymore. Let me tell you, I needed more props tonight than in any practice *ever*, but you know what? I actually had a 30 second point in there that I did it.

I just was. Right there. On the floor.

(Also -- and this is for Zelinda -- at one point, my shoulders touched the floor when I was on my back. Me. Relaxing enough that my shoulders let loose. Eee! Personal victory dance!)

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Angela

Learning to Love the Downward Dog

I have a hate/hate affair with the downward dog. My hands sweat. I slip. My arms shake. No matter what I do, I can't hold it very long.

So, since I am swimming in a sea of yoga for the next 32 days, I decided to take the bull by the horns (or the dog by the ears) and make this pose work for me.

I went online. I looked at various solutions. I ordered yoga rosin and a sticky/prickly surface towel. (I also ordered matt freshener spray, because, DUDE... I've been sweaty in Hatha class)

Today, I tried the towel. (Insert angels singing) Ahhhhh. I did not slip. I did not strain. I held my down dog. More than once. Hooray. I have the rosin as a backup, but I am learning to have a love/hate relationship with the darned pose, at least.

Note, I still look like this while trying to down dog and breathe:




This is a little less than satisfying when you walk into class and see Zelinda warming up with inversions to help with her allergies. She was doing shoulder stands and head stands. She looks more like this:



Hey, I may never get there, but at least I didn't end up on my knees half the class today, cursing my sweaty hands!

Night, folks

Lorna

Class Eight of the 40 Day Challenge, or Half Moon Pose with Dogs

So, today's blog post is short and to the point.

Hatha I. 8 days in. There was balancing and such. (Okay, some of us balanced. Some of us (meaning me), less so. And when Zelinda asked us to lay on our bellies and reach back and grab our feet, I was the one who broke into hysterical laughter.)

At any rate, we did the half moon pose. It's supposed to look like this:

Here is what it looks like when I do it. (Please note, it's WAY easier if you use the back of the couch as a prop and puppy snuggles count as mediation, right?)

;-)

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Zelinda

Lorna, Unplugged

This morning was class #7. Gentle at 9:15 with poor Zelinda, who could barely talk due to allergies. It hurt to hear, so it had to hurt her. :(

Still, I had Thoughts. Yes, with random capitalization.

I had thought, with the kind of pragmatic cynicism that only comes from being the member of a partnership who is used to hearing, "I have an idea," that the 40 day challenge would just be a huge thing. Like the kind of thing that hangs around your neck at a conference and holds your name tag. It's not heavy, but it interrupts everything you do. I thought that. I admit it. I have so much work to do I'm hysterical, we're taking a week out of town mid-challenge, and I was sure all I would get out of the challenge was sore muscles.

As evidenced by this blog, I have already learned better. But what I got out of today was the realization that, since I work from home, and all of my work involves being plugged in (even at the Target I can do marketing work on my iPhone), my daily yoga practice is the one hour a day I can completely unplug. No phone. No tablet or laptop by the bed. No Kindle, tempting me to do market research. (How cool is it that I get to read romances and call it market research, y'all?)

Yoga is totally me time. I think of yoga. I think of intent. Sometimes I might wander into karma thoughts. It's not always physically easy (pilates, anyone?) but it's something totally unrelated to everyday stress.

That's kind of made of awesome.

Later, y'all!

Lorna

Class Seven of the 40 Day Challenge, or Living in My Skin

So, here's the deal.

I've been a big girl all my life. When I say big, do not misunderstand. I mean big in that topping out at 500 pounds, there were 8 Xs in my clothes tags, buy me two or three airplane seats sort of way.

I am still a big girl.

I lost half my body weight four years ago. I'm still big.

I'll always be big.

Now, though, I'm big with skin.

LOTS of skin.

My apron is a stunning thing. Floppy, loose, empty, C-section and hernia surgery skin that sort of...hangs down there and reminds me that you can't weigh 300 (400, 500) pounds plus for 25 years without repercussions.

I'm talking skin that you can do origami with, y'all. It's...amazing.

It's also a big yoga challenge. I forward fold over it. I catch my elbows in it. When we try inversions, periodically I worry about drowning in it. Today in class I couldn't find a good place for it during the seated forward folds. (Hey, I promised honestly, right?) No matter where I shoved and pushed, it was there, possibly trying to fold itself into one of those paper cranes...

It's my challenge and, I admit, sometimes I consider having it all removed, but, you know... It's mine. It's my badge reminding me that healing is possible, that my body is not my enemy, that perfection is for magazine covers.

Also, you know, my basset hounds find it comforting. ;-)

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda

Dragging Ass

Hey, I wish I could say I was talking about the donkey that lives in the pasture across the road from us, but I can't. We had a party last night at the Rio Grande (So yummy) and then some of Shawn's old high school friends came to the house to catch up.

They were grand. We had stories and fun and laughing. Until 2:30 am. Now, mind you, I had no tequila instead of the 4 Shawn had, as I was driving, but I also need about two more hours of sleep than Shawn a night.

Even with two cat naps today, I was dreading Hatha 1 at 6:15 with Stacy. I pulled myself up off the couch, got my yoga clothes on, and went, though, because I'm on class six of 30 and I'm not about to give up yet.

Stacy was new to me, and I found her encouraging and constantly offering minor adjustments that taught me new things about old poses. The best part, aside from the fact that we spent maybe three minutes in down dog, was the fact that when I set my intention tonight, I had one word come to mind.

Energy.



I've been so draggy and blah today that the dogs have been worried, and I just wanted to get a little energy flowing through me.

It worked. I swear, as I went through the poses, my smile came back, my energy improved, and I thought I might make it to see tomorrow. Some days I fight my body all the way, but tonight I worked with it.

It would still be way funnier if I was pulling that donkey across the way around the block...

Class Six of the 40 Day Challenge, or Rice Krispies, Tequila, and Balancing the Brain

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you realized that, somehow, you had more shots of tequila last night than hours of sleep?

No?

Oh.

Well, uh.

I sort of do.

Now, before you think badly of me, I have to point out that I only had 3 hours of sleep last night, so the four shots are suddenly less impressive. ;-)

Anyway, yesterday was a huge party, lots of stress, lots of fun, lots of tears and booze and old high school friends and company and...

Have you ever heard the way Rice Krispies sound when the milk hits them in the bowl?

That's my neck.

No matter how I move it today, I'm the eternal bowl of rice cereal. In fact, if I move just right? I sort of sound like someone dropped a bowling ball in the bowl along with the milk.

I'd love to be able to say yoga class helped -- it didn't, but two things happened in class that did help.

One, Stacy (who I'd never taken a class from before -- quite lovely and she offered TONS of options, which was grand. I will absolutely take another class from her) said at the beginning of class to announce your intention for the practice.

I am under stress like whoa with deadlines -- and let me tell you, writing blog posts is WAY more fun than the edit I needed to get to my editor last week -- and I'm scattered as all get out. I need focus. I need energy. I need inspiration and faith and a couple of good reviews and and and...

INNER PEACE.

(Yes. Just like Po in Kung Fu Panda 2.)

That's what my brain says I need from this practice.

Inner peace.

Well, okay. Me. Yoga. Inner peace. Let's go.

Now, this is where thing number two happened. Toward the end of class, Stacy had us sit and breathe, closing our nostrils in a specific order. Now, I can't remember for love or money what she called it (and I felt like an idiot when we started), but I swear, y'all. It was like...finding that perfect spot on your pillow right before you fall asleep. You're there, you're settled, but you're awake enough to appreciate it.

Dude. Inner peace. Just like the panda, if the panda was stuffed with Rice Krispies. :D

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Stacy

What is that smell?

What is that smell? I thought this morning when my alarm went off. The world answered, "7:15 a.m."

It's been awhile since I was up that early. Maybe since the last time I took a flight out of Austin-Bergman, which I think was Las Vegas... Vegas and yoga are kind of antithetical to one another, so we'll cut that analogy right off.

Anyway, at 7:45 we were off to 8 a.m. gentle class, which was class 5 of the challenge for me and Shawn.

I was pooped. When the cold front moved in last night, my dog went nutso. She hates it when the weather changes; her arthritis bothers her. So, I was awake for about an hour at 4:30 this morning while I let her out and let her in and got her an aspirin and a chew and... Yes, this means I have a spoiled dog, and that I was about this sleepy this morning:



My Sadie is the one on the left.

Class was crowded like whoa, but that turned out to be a huge advantage for me. We never stood up today; Zelina put us through a lot of poses lying down and sitting, and I worked out all manner of soreness. I might even have had a nap during our relaxation... I don't think I snored.

It just goes to show that the universe gives you what you need if you're open to receiving it.

I still woke Sadie the basset hound up when I got home and made her run around the house a few times. If I can't get the sleep I need, why should she?

Night, y'all!

Lorna

Class Five of the 40 Day Challenge, or There is One Reason I am Awake at 8 a.m. on a Saturday

Class today was packed! (See me tie in this wicked cool image with something yoga-y? :D) 21 people, I think. Crazy, but there was fun chatting and bending and folding and I didn't smack anyone even once (accidentally).

Lorna and I were talking on the way out about how the 8 am gentle yoga was where we started, 2 1/2 years ago.

Let me tell you, I was sitting one day after a hard weight workout, and I decided to try yoga. I told Lorna we were trying yoga and, after the look of shock stopped (well, okay, first there was a look of shock, then a spate of hysterical 'we're going what?' laughter, then another look of shock/horror, then pure, unadulterated fear, because that was how I get us into trouble...), Lorna says, "Uh, okay...where?"

So, I googled.

As an aside: Do any of you remember life before Google? When figuring things out involved Yellow Pages and libraries and long distance phone calls to your mom to ask what to do? I mean, Yay Search Engines!

Anyway, I googled and found a few places. Some closer, some free. Some this. Some that. Some not at 8 am on a Saturday morning (hey, I'm a professional writer; my working day starts at 8pm and goes to 4am).

Still, I have to tell you, I never considered another class. My soul said Zelinda was it (Go ahead, mock. I'm used to it. I listen to the universe when it tells me to pay attention. It's a thing.) and so, off we went to Target to find yoga mats.

(Mine was pink. Feel free to pretend surprise.)

Saturday morning rolled around. We got up, walked the bassets, Lorna cursed me, I considered just going back to bed. We got into the car, drove over to the dance studio and passed it five or six times before pulling in.

We turned off the car and sat. We sang "Voices Carry" with Til Tuesday.

We stared at each other.

We discussed just leaving.

We sat in the air a little longer, making it halfway through "Thriller" before we did our "we are grown ups and brave and not cowards and already printed out the new student forms and filled them out and wasting paper is bad damn it" pep talk and went in (yes, we rationalized THAT much).

B and Zelinda would laugh now to know just how much gumption it took for us to finally take the plastic off my yoga mat and walk into that room the first day, but it did. I was so scared my glasses were shaking, me and my new yoga pants, trying to look confident so Lorna didn't bolt.

As soon as I was in there, B said hello, Zelinda chatted, and it was okay enough that I didn't run.

It took a couple of weeks before I knew it was okay enough that, when Zelinda asked me to do something basically impossible, that I not only didn't run, I cracked up. (And usually fell over. I'm sort of Weeble-shaped.)

So, yeah. Still getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturdays.

Still bending and stretching.

Although I admit that, sometimes when we pull up, we do sit in the car and car dance for a few minutes, if the music is *really* good.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda

Class Four of the 40 Day Challenge, or Sometimes You Gotta Let Go

So, today is the start of a busy weekend. Company coming, a big party, cooking, cleaning, I have a book I have to get to editing NOW. But I'm not tense.

Or stressed.

Or bitchy.

In I come to yoga this morning, doodley-doo, not tense. (Sore, OMG sore. Stupid massaged muscles. Stupid hamstrings.)

I find a place to sit and realize, dude, I'm in a mood.

Huh.

Go figure.

So, Angela says, "Do you have any issues" and, instead of going, "TENSE AND BITCHY WITH ALL THIS CRAP GOING ON OMG THE STRESS AND IF I HAVE TO BEND OVER EVEN ONCE I MIGHT DIE!" I said, "I'm good."

Good, you see, is a comparative term. I was good, if compared to a being a recently run-over armadillo. I was fabulous, if you compared me to someone who is being, say, drawn and quartered or boiled in oil.

I mean, my earlobes didn't hurt, I don't have any stalkers (that I've met in person, at any rate), and Lorna had given me a cup of coffee.

Still, compared to my normal, I was less than good.

We all did our thing -- breathing and stretching and bending and arching and folding. Angela, who is eagle-eyed and whoa-sensitive to my poor stupid shoulder, helps me prop up in the side stretch of death.

I'm still bitchy, but I'm not scowling.

Life is improving.

Then we do the cat and cow poses seated and this sound happens.

I'm sure to the rest of the class it wasn't a sound, but in my body, it was giant Russian rifle shooting down a bad guy during the quiet time in the tense music during the movie.

POP!

My rib went in.

I could BREATHE!

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Oh, wow.

Breathing is. Yeah, y'all. Breathing.

I didn't even know I couldn't breathe until I could breathe again.

My bad mood disappeared, because I was breathing, damn it. (I'm working on a theory that negative internal garbage is anaerobic and thereby chased off by breath. I could be wrong.)

So, I'm good. Full stop.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Angela

Get over yourself

Class four of our forty day challenge was the 9:15 gentle yoga class with Angela this morning.

I would have said I was in a pretty good mood this morning, even if I am sore from pilates (still) and my back is super sensitive from the massage I got yesterday. You know how you feel really bruised after someone pummels your muscles? Yeah. Ow.

I have to admit, though, that when I walked into class this morning, I found my mood was as sour as an old fashioned lemon drop.

We were talking in the gentle class on Tuesday how the "morning group" at the Yoga room is chatty and not too introspective before class. This morning, I felt incredibly intimidated when I stepped through the door, because the atmosphere was... almost somber. Everyone was in place already, and most folks were getting centered, focused inward. Angela greeted us with her usual grace and cheer, but otherwise, it just felt weird. I mention this not to upset anyone, but just to take notice of how any change in our routine can make us instantly uncomfortable.

So, when Angela asked us to set an intention for our practice today before we got started, the one thing that instantly popped into my head was, "Get over yourself, Lorna."

I worked through stiff hamstrings and sore abs, and when we rolled to our back to pull our knees in and rock, I almost let out an operatic scream as my muscles protested. (I'm sure everyone is glad I didn't.)



As we relaxed into shavasana, I checked in with myself to see if my intention had been met. Nope. I was still grumpy and sore and grr. Hey, it happens, even when we try our hardest.

Then we sat up, pulled our hands down to our heart center, and Angela smiled at us, and POP. My bad mood burst just like a soap bubble. And suddenly everyone in class was chatting and laughing and asking where Shawn and I got our blankets, and I realized that 99% of the time it's our perception that needs to change, rather than any kind of outside influence.

I just thought it might be worth mentioning. Now, if my hamstrings would just relax the same way...

Pilates is like death

Or at least that's what I told someone at the kickoff party on Sunday. Today marked my third pilates class ever, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I mean, I'm not Michelle, our instructor, by any means. She's a dancer, and she has great turnout and extension and all those other dance-y terms. (I'm serious. She's got great form.) I may not have all that, but I only had to stop about three times today and let my muscles stop seizing up like melted chocolate that needs a hit of cream...

Mmm. Chocolate.

Anyway, Shawn tells me I have the length of limb to be graceful. She insists I look like this.



(Well, she says gazelle and this is an antelope, but I'm a Colorado girl and antelope are indigenous)

I figure I look more like this:



A baby water buffalo, you ask? Absolutely. Not entirely awful too look at, but a little blunder-y.

Still, in keeping with my resolve yesterday to be kinder to myself, I can say I felt calmer and more in tune with my body today, and that all in all, I did good, even if my butt, like Shawn's, is broken.

Edited to add:

Michelle was nice enough to take extra time after class to show me ankle exercises that I can do to strengthen my ligaments and tendons and muscles. I really appreciated the insights, and I've gotten a couple of stretchy bands to use at home! Thanks, Michelle.
Peace, folks!

Lorna

Class Three of the 40 Day Challenge, or Pilates Broke My Butt

So. Pilates.

Long.

Graceful.

Lean.

Flowy.

Yeah. Right.

Me? I'm built like a wind-up robot. Short, squat, square.

This is pilates class #3 for me and I still suck at it.

I have the sneaking suspicion I will suck at it until the end of time.

Does this stop me? Of course not. Never let it be said that I won't try. Basset hounds think they're greyhounds, right? I'm sort of like a pit bull attempting to be a... Hrm. Irish setter? Maybe a Visla. Something less torso heavy and muscly thighed.

Everyone in class lifts their legs like gazelles and my short muscled legs goes crick-crick-crick (yes, you can hear the gears and wind-up mechanisms inside, just like the picture) and then crack-crack-crack all the way down.

Gazelle.

Wind-up Robot.

*grins*

Also, I may never sit comfortably again. Still, you will see me next Wednesday, and you can hear the crackage and creakage of my inner workings for yourself.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Pilates

Teacher: Michelle

Be kind to yourself

Class 2 of the 40 day challenge was the 9:15 Hatha 1 class with Zelinda.

At the beginning of class, Shawn and I were talking about the gentle class the night before, and how one of our new challenge classmates was being extremely hard on himself. Obviously an athlete, and a competitive man, he was struggling with a new form of exercise that he hadn't yet mastered, and he kept repeating, "I'll do better next time."

When Shawn and I first brought Larry to class with us, he reacted exactly the same way. He would go home frustrated and sore from trying to force his body to do something it didn't want to do.

Shawn and I talked a bit about how our classmate needs to be more gentle with himself, and realize that there is no bad or good, that he just needs to do what he can and honor his body.

I haven't been to a hatha class since I took my hiatus several months ago. Maybe 6 or 8 months. I've always struggled with parts of the hatha class, namely the plank and down dog combinations. We did a lot of those today. A lot. So much that my chest is sore, and my hamstrings hurt. We did a lot of wide-legged forward folds, too, which normally don't cause stress, but today made my ankle ache.

So, as we did about our fourth sun salutation series, and my hands slipped like they always do because I get sweaty, and my knees and ankles gave out and I had to flop to the floor like a landed fish, I started grumbling at myself. I was out of shape, I thought, and I needed to work on my arms and abs, and everyone else in the class was half my size, and ruh ruh ruh...

Then, as I dropped into child's pose to pant and rest after that last down dog, where everyone else was still kicking their legs in the air and waving them around, it occurred to me. Here I was telling someone else to be kind to their body, and that yoga wasn't competitive, but I wasn't following through on that.

So I proceeded to wallow in my child's pose for a bit, letting my tight muscles relax.

Okay, so I still muttered a little sigh of relief when Zelinda said we were moving into sitting instead of tall kneeling and lunges...

Class Two of the 40 Day Challenge, or How Zelinda Saved an Editor's Life

So, this morning when I went into yoga I had rage.

I got one of those work-related emails that surprise you at first, then hurts really bad, then knocks you on your butt. Then you have the rage.

Like the I'm going to hit something with a shovel rage.

Fortunately for me, and for the writer of said email, I went to Hatha I.

We bent. We balanced. We twisted. We dogged. I sweated and panted and possibly grunted a little.

I breathed. A lot.

One of the things that I know about yoga is that, when I'm doing yoga, that's all I can think about. I can't worry about work or deadlines or sales or pissed off editors or nasty reviews or...

I think about not falling down.

I think about breathing.

I think about how my butt hurts or how my rib just popped back in (yay).

If I'm super lucky, I stop thinking and just am for a few seconds.

Today, Zelinda offered me a place to just let the rage go. Am I still mad? Yeah. Yeah, I really am, and my feelings are hurt, but it happens and I'll fix it or I won't and I can breathe and delete the email instead of reading it obsessively.

Go Yoga. Saving lives, one downward dog at a time.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Hatha I

Teacher: Zelinda

Things you think you know that you don't

We went to the kick off party for the 40 Day Challenge at the Yoga Room in Round Rock yesterday. It was very neat to meet our fellow participants and get an idea of why everyone wanted to do the challenge.

I have admitted more than once that I do yoga because Shawn decided to do yoga. Otherwise I would still be on the stationary bike at the Y, or maybe rowing away on the rowing machine. (Not at the Austin Rowing Club. Don't get me started. That is not a calm or peaceful thought.) When Shawn decided to try yoga, she asked me to come along, and I did. I felt awful that first time, not being able to touch my toes or sit back in child's pose because I was too big to fit between my knees.

I got better.

So, I have to say I'm doing the challenge because Shawn is incapable of passing one up. I am still unlikely to go to yoga without Shawn. Not because I dislike it, or am uncomfortable, but because I am, at heart, too lazy to leave the house without someone to kick me.

I am the one who does yoga at home on her own, however, so I guess that means it's a part of me now.

Tonight we did the gentle class at 6:15 with Zelinda. This is where the things I think I know comes in. I said my shoulders and neck needed work. I had a dentist's appointment this morning, and I spent the whole time with my shoulders up around my ears. I thought sure it was my shoulders that needed a good tenderizing, but as practice went on the muscles along my spine got tighter and tighter, my lower back all but seizing up on my last seated forward fold. Then we went to the mat for a twist and a little beginner's bridge pose, and something in my back let loose.

It felt so good I almost cried.

Sometimes, even when you're trying to listen to your body you have no idea what's going on at the beginning. You have to make it a progression. A process.

That's a pretty cool thing to learn on the first day of challenge.

Night, y'all!

XXOO

Lorna

Class One of the 40 Day Challenge, or Can You Write a Vampire Yogi

So, we went to the 615 gentle class today because Miss Lorna had a dentist's appointment at 945 this morning and I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for not going, "well, we'll just skip today because..."

*grins*

That's the way you find yourself not going for 6 months.

I had a truly blergh sort of day and I have to admit, after practice I'm awake, I'm chipper, and I'm settled in my bones and ready to get to work.

Yesterday we had a welcoming ritual (my words, not Zelinda's) into the challenge and the question was raised, "why are you taking the challenge?" There were some lovely answers, and some truly funny ones. Some serious. Mine was honest -- I have a problem not taking a challenge. That's my thing. However...

Today I was considering the last few years. You see, I've gone through some huge physical changes -- I have lost half my body weight, I have become gluten-free, healthy, strong, and released from a chronic illness.

I also did something that I swore I'd never do last year.

I became obsessed with my weight.

Not my health. Not my quality of life.

My pants size.

I caught myself in December trapped in a cycle of dieting and hysterical exercise leading to injury and overtraining, poor eating choices and weight gain which led to dieting and...

Well, you're smart dogs, you get it.

This challenge is an excuse to be good to my soul, to the part of me that giggles during happy baby pose and cries sometimes during the deep twists, to breathe in deep.

What I want from life is me, not living inside my body like the victim in a house fire, but me. My body. My mind. My heart. My energy. One imperfect experiencing my own personal joy. My moving, living, maybe size 16 jeans instead of 12, healthy, laughing joy.

Otherwise I'm wasting precious opportunities to cause chaos and random acts of hysteria.

Speaking of hysteria... I have a confession to make.

During shavasana tonight, I had a vampire yogi make himself known. We haven't gotten to know each other very well yet, but one day soon there'll be a book cover with a toothy little guy during the downward dog. ;-)

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda

X marks the Challenging Pose

This morning was a lovely class with an instructor I'd never worked with before, Angela. What a dear. :D She had this amazing voice and was super-receptive to what people needed. The class itself was incredibly gentle -- very slow and meditative with a LOT of hip work. Lots of times when I do hip work I find it leaves me worn out, emotionally, but the last few days have been super tense, so I left the class full of energy and ideas, bouncy.

I will say, though, I'm SORE now. In that I have to crawl up into the car sort of sore way.

Weirdly enough, the more challenging pose was the last one -- we were supposed to lay out in an 'x' on our back on the mat. Now, I have a bum shoulder so my x was less...xy than it might be, but that wasn't it. It was uncomfortable on my upper back, shoulders, and incredibly challenging to sink into.

Yes, that's it. I was challenged by laying on the floor. O.o

Interesting thing I noticed today, my breath doesn't flow. I breathe in. Stop. Breathe out. Stop. And it's a real effort to not do that.

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Angela

Raging river of death

Went to the gentle yoga class with Angela this morning at The Yoga Room in Round Rock

I always find it so interesting to go to a class with someone who's not my usual instructor (I admit to loving Zelinda's style). Angela is a bright, cheerful soul with a lovely smile, and her instruction is very meditative, focusing on how your body feels and on breathing through each movement.

I really enjoyed the mat work we did, and I can definitely feel space opening up in my hips. My hips are a constant source of stiffness for me; I was born with my hip joints turned in rather than out, and between the ages of about 2 and 6 I wore orthotics and special shoes and did all sorts of exercises to give me turnout. Caused me no end of trouble in third grade ballet, you can bet. Sometimes it causes me stress in yoga, because unlike everyone else, I can't sit cross-legged. My left hip just won't bend that way. It was really illustrated today in the modified pigeon pose we did. I could bend all the way to the floor with my left leg bent back behind me. With my right leg bent back, I had to straighten my left leg instead of folding it across the front of my body, and I could only bend a few inches. Occasionally it makes me self-conscious; I know yoga isn't competitive, but you can't help but feel odd when everyone else can cross their legs. *g*

On the good side, I felt much more flexible in that hip when we were finished with class, and not sore, which is a minor miracle.

Worst Lorna's mind is wandering moment? At one point, Angela told us our breath should be like a river... And I immediately thought, "Careening out of control down a raging river of DEATH!" - what? I have a movie line for every occasion. (Emperor's New Groove, anyone?) My breathing is often like that... Not so smooth. More like an asthmatic buffalo on steroids.

The more meditative the practice is, the more the voices in my head talk to me. I think I need to work on that notice your thoughts then let them go thing, huh?

I love how every yoga practice gives me something new to think on!

Peace, y'all

Lorna

The fainting goat syndrome

Notes on class today at the Yoga Room in Round Rock

I did the 10:30 gentle yoga class with Zelinda as the instructor. We had a great bunch of people in the class, and it was very gentle today.

This was both good and bad for me. When we're moving slowly from pose to pose, I tend to lose my balance more. I have a bad, bad ankle that I sprained years ago, and recently pulled the ligaments completely out of shape again on. Put me in triangle pose, and boom-- fainting goat.

Strangely enough, our teacher had never heard of fainting goats. We made her watch them on You Tube.

On the good side, a very gentle class was what I needed today. For the last week I've been taking new supplements and meds from my doctor to increase my circulation, and as with all things homeopathic, it gets worse before it gets better.

Before I start sounding like I'm all doom and gloom, I'll mention that when I did my seated forward folds today, I started thinking about how far I could reach as opposed to when I first started. I may still struggle with warrior two (my shoulders and arms get so tired) but my flexibility is so much better, and I feel so much more capable now.

My goal the next few months is to work on balance, and on that silly ankle, so I have less chance of falling over the dogs...

Stay tuned, and I'll let you know about my progress!

Lorna /Scoobie Doone

Give Love, Downward Dog, and the Damned Child's Pose

So, today's class was gentle yoga -- stretchy and nice, perfect for my first real class back after major tattoo work and my birthday. :D

I felt good today -- the class had new folks in it and it made for a slower class. That always has good and bad points in it. The good points? I really feel like I can settle into the poses, make adjustments, and I could tell in warrior one and warrior two today that I was sinking into them.

The bad? If I'm not staying busy enough, my brain thinks. A lot. Today I was telling myself stories about a dark Red Riding Hood and her Werewolf. Which, you know, great for the writer in me, not so great for the stress relief.

I'm still learning how to make downward dog work for me. My hamstrings scream, my arms shake, and there's a general lack of bendiness. At least today. Usually (I think), I like down dog. Hrm. I need to pay attention, huh?

Something fabulously neat did happen in class today, but first I have to groan.

I hate child's pose.

Hate it.

My belly gets in the way. My boobs get in the way. I end up balancing on my knees and forehead while the rest of the world looks comfy. I feel a little like one of those Australian toads. I don't have to be good at it, but can I at least be...lizard-like?

Brr-rup. Brr-rup. (That was my toad noise.)

Okay, fabulously neat thing.

So, we were tree posing. (I love the tree pose. Love it. I makes me happy. Almost as happy as the happy baby pose, which gives me joy. Yes, joy is cooler than happiness. I'll take both.) I was finding my focus point on the floor and right there on the floor, in the pattern of the wood was the word, "give."

I mean seriously. Clear as a bell.

I watched it and it morphed into "love".

Give love.

Yeah. I mean, yes, please. Every day. Thank you. I want to.

So me and my tree pose were happy and rooted and going, give love. Good plan. Me and the trees. :D

Namaste, y'all.

S.

 

Class info:

Location: The Yoga Room

Class type: Gentle

Teacher: Zelinda

2012, here we come

Me.

Lorna.

Reducing stress, gaining flexibility.

Forward folding.

It's a thing.

*chuckles*

We only managed one class last week due to schedule, a huge tattoo, and oversleeping, but there's no guilt.

Right?

Right.

Shawn