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