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

 

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

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

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

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