Double Duty

After 4 days off (for thanksgiving/christmas with the inlaws) I got back in the hot room today and did a double. That's right, 2 bikram classes, back to back (9am and noon). The first one was difficult because I was so stiff from 4 straight days of no class, and the second was also hard, but mostly because I was so exhausted, physically, from the first one. The first half of the second class was the hardest, once we were on the floor and into the home stretch it didn't seem so bad.

I'd write more but I kind of just want to nap right now...

Still at it!

Although I haven't found the time to post much lately, I'm keeping up with Bikram the best I can! I originally wanted to go 5 times a week but some weeks (like this one) it just isn't possible. Last week I made it to 4 classes (had to skip Friday to clean furiously before some guests arrived for the weekend) and this week I plan to do the same (I went to a Sunday night class, as well as Monday AM and will go later today as well as tomorrow morning...), all before the big Turkey day. We're traveling for Thanksgiving and won't be anywhere near a hot room, so I've got to get in as much as possible beforehand.

A couple of the regulars at the studio here were talking about doing a double on the Monday after thanksgiving and I'm thinking about joining in... it'll be my first ever double, so I'm excited but also a little apprehensive!!

Days Sixteen & Seventeen: Not-so-Fixed, Not-so-Firm

I'm really concentrating on my Fixed Firm posture these days... it took a very long time for me to be able to get all the way down onto the floor and now I'm trying to alleviate some of the compression and pain in my lower back when I do so. Any suggestions (except don't tell me to open my knees wider... they're pretty much at the max already!) would be greatly appreciated!

Day Fifteen: I got a new attitude!

I bought myself some new yoga gear this morning, and I gotta say, it totally made me feel better. I looked better (no more semi-saggy bra-top) and it fit better (see previous aside). Just made me feel more positive all-round!

Other good news: in the "notable changes" category I could put down the following: after the first week of this new regimen I took some measurements... I'm not going to tell you what they were, but I will tell you that as of today I have lost 1 inch all-over (literally speaking: 1-inch smaller in the chest, waist, and hips each!) I was especially worried about my waist-line, which seemed to be rapidly increasing and close to entering the danger zone (35" and up, according to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation). I was still below that, but not much. I'll keep you all updated of any more major changes!!

Favorite Posture: Standing Head to Knee. Although I may never get my head on my knee, I was able to keep my legs locked for the entire posture today, which is a first!

Least Favorite: Balancing Stick. There was nothing balanced about it today.

Days Thirteen & Fourteen: Home Again

This week I went to visit my old town for a conference and got the chance to practice twice at my "home" studio, even though I was only in town for about 48 hours! It was awesome!! So different.. the room is bigger and they use a different kind of flooring (I hate to say it, because I know it's the "standard", but I really find carpet in a bikram studio kind of gross) and it was my peeps!! I had two great classes, with a great instructor... I was just sad that I didn't get to see more of them!! Thanks Bikram Hampden!

Day Twelve: on the move

Live blogging straight from the bus, on my way to the airport. Yes, I actually went to yoga on my way to catch a plane. I'm as impressed as you are, trust me.

Class was good. I've been distracted a lot lately but today I decided to concentrate really hard on not getting distracted. My mantra anytime something else popped into my head was "there is nothing so important in this moment as yoga". And it worked!

Fave pose: fixed firm again. After so many bad days of it I can really see the improvements.

Least fave: locus. Something about having your elbows dig into you stomach just doesn't feel so good!

Day Eleven:

Today was a good class. I finished writing my chapter yesterday so I was feeling really good this morning!

Class: Good... tiring, but really good. No nausea and I made it through all the postures except toe-stand, but that was only because I had to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and blow my nose. Yum.

Favorite Posture: Fixed firm! I actually got all the way into it during second set. I couldn't believe it!

Least favorite: Standing Separate Head-to-Knee... see reasons I had to stay out of toe-stand.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to yoga and then straight to the airport... I'm going to visit my old town and my old studio! I'm so excited to practice with my favorite teachers again!!

Day Ten: Preoccupied

Good to get back into the hot room after a weekend off. I got some interesting news last night, however, so I was pretty preoccupied. (No, I won't tell you what... at least not yet. Let's see how it pans out first.) I was also tired: daylight savings always kills me. I woke up at 5am today and couldn't figure out why I could get back to sleep. Sigh. I did make it through all of the spine strengthening series, though, and any day I do that is a pretty good day.

Notable changes: fixed firm is still giving me issues... so nothing, really!

Favorite posture today: Awkward. My legs felt strong and they're usually super shaky.

Least favorite: Triangle. I felt weirdly sick after the first set.

Day Nine: Bad Blogger

I should have posted this yesterday, since it was yesterday's class. Ooops... what can I say, thesis and other duties got in the way!

I skipped Thursday, as previously mentioned, but I think it was a good choice. I might try to go sometime this weekend, although I do have a lot of thesis/job application type work that I want to try and get done too. Friday's class was good, I forced myself out of the thinking pattern that I "had" to sit down during part of triangle and did both sets. It's really about the breathing, and not letting that get out of control.

Notable changes: none that I can think of, although my lower back seems to hurt more these days... not sure what that's about.

Favorite Posture Today (Yesterday): Triangle. I was just so happy to get through both sets!

Least Favorite: Fixed firm... why is this getting harder instead of easier?!

Day Eight:

In order to avoid the near-coma experienced yesterday post-yoga I decided to work all day and go to the 5pm. It may mean that I can't go tomorrow (we have friends potentially visiting tomorrow evening so I'd have to go to the 9am and 5pm then 9am the next day seems a little too much) but I'm glad I made the choice. I got lots of work done during the day and still got my yoga time in!

Class: Not bad. Not my best class ever, but definitely good.

Notable changes: None really... I realized that I'm getting in a pattern of sitting out certain postures every time, so I'm going to try and break that.

Favorite pose today: Half-moon. It's the one I see the most improvement in almost daily.

Least favorite: Triangle. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest during first set and sat out second.

Day Seven: So tired

I'm exhausted. That's pretty much all.

How it went:

Class: Ok. I was hungry before hand and for some reason couldn't stop yawning during the floor series.

Notable changes: So exhausted. I don't know why, but I just want to nap now.

Favorite pose today: Savasana. I'm tired, ok?

Least favorite: Camel. I felt pretty sick after the first set and sat out the second.