Day 21 am class (Monday) -After having had to miss two days in a row to attend my daughters hockey tournament I have to make up those two classes this week. So I figured I may as well get right on that and do it today. I was so stiff. I thought the break would be so good for me. Give my muscles a chance to recover….oh heck no! It was bad! bad, bad, bad! I was so stiff this morning and postures that usually are easy for me were even hard. I did do my best though, and that is good enough for me!
Day 22 pm class (Monday) – AMAZING class. Really and truly amazing. This is only the second time I have done 2 classes in one day and both of those times were really great. I think the fact that my muscles are still nice and stretched out from the earlier class really makes a difference. Tonight I was able to stretch so much further into my postures for sure but the biggest thing that happened was how well I did my Standing Bow Pose. This pose has been giving me a great deal of difficulty. Finding my happy place between my balance and stretch has not been easy. While I usually can see my toes barely peeking over the top of my head, tonight I was able to get a lot further into the posture. Tonight I managed to see my whole foot come up and over my head, both sides, during both sets!
This is Standing Bow Pose. While I am not looking quite like this, I’m working on it. Like I said, at this point I can only get my foot just up over my head, so there is still quite a lot of bend to my knee BUT, 3 weeks ago I couldn’t bring my toes up even close to my head.
Day 23 – No fans were turned on until the final Savansana today………it was brutal! This teacher is tough, but its good. They are all good, and even though they are all using the same dialogue every single one seems different than the other. When I need my butt kicked into gear, I attend the classes that this instructor teaches.
Day 24 am class (Wednesday) – Today my usual favorite place in class was taken so I decided to set myself near the far back corner so I could see myself in the front mirror and peek at myself in the side mirror too. I am glad I did. While it was a little distracting to see so much of myself I was quite impressed with how well several of my postures looked. There are a couple of postures that I did not think I was improving in all that much, but seeing them from another angle made me realize differently.
Day 25 pm class (Wednesday) – Again, taking a later class was so different. Maybe its that I am still warmed up from this morning or maybe its because I am truly not a morning person and getting up early to go to class feels off to me. Tonight I had an awesome class. I also had another super exciting moment. I actually locked my knees in the Hands To Feet posture. It looks like this. I am sure I did not look quite this good but we all start somewhere right?!
Day 26 – This morning I threw my back out. Or, at least I think I did. I have never done it before so I can’t say for sure. I was lifting Etain out of the tub, did not bend my knees and as I lifted her a sharp pain, really sharp pain, ripped across my lower back on the left side. I could not stand up, and it hurt to breath…….the first thing that crossed my mind (after “oh shit”) was, how on earth am I going to get through yoga class tonight?
Well, I did. I told the teacher when I arrived what had happened and she advised that I take it easy, listen to my body and skip the sit ups. I took her advice and went into every pose with caution, listened to my body and wouldn’t you know it, I had a fantastic class. I felt great throughout. After the class I could feel some soreness and tightening down my left side but I came home, applied heat, took some Tylenol and went to bed. I woke up feeling great.
Day 27 – Today I realized that class feels like its flying by now. Today I also realized that I feel like my spine is flattening out against the floor a lot more now. When I first started I had quite a curve in my back while laying in Savasana, today it feels like that curve is a lot smaller.
Day 28 -Today was the day. I touched my head to my knee in Standing Head to Knee. It was brief, and I almost fell over right after I did it but YAY!! I feel like I am back on a roll now.
Once again, this is Standing Head To Knee Pose. Amazing to think that when I started 28 days ago I could not even lock my knees. Now, I can lock both knees without any pain and actually touch my head to my knee, even though only briefly. THIS is why I love Bikram. You can SEE the improvements over time, and its such a great motivator to keep going.
Day 29 – Today I was actually quite sore. I don’t know, maybe its just because I am getting so much deeper into my postures now that my muscles are fatigued. I can’t believe that I only have one more class to go in this challenge. I can’t believe that I have done 29 classes in the last 29 days.
This weeks tips for a better class :
After Pranayama Deep Breathing (the first breathing exercise and posture in the series) your teacher will tell you to concentrate on breathing in and out through the nose during the entire class. DO this! I can tell you from experience that you do not want to start breathing through your mouth. The day I felt like I was hyperventilating, that was what I was doing. When you breath through your mouth during the postures you will start gasping for air because you lose control of your breath. If you concentrate on breathing in and out through your nose you will maintain much better control. Its true!
Do NOT leave the class. Stay in, even if you cannot keep up with the postures just rest and breath. One class this week I had to leave to go to the bathroom. I was really quick but I tell you, coming back into the room was awful. It seemed about 20 degrees hotter than when I left.
Keep going back. You may feel like you hate it after the first class or two, but I promise, it gets better and when you start seeing and feeling a difference in your body and practice you will be so proud of yourself.
WEEK 1 :: WEEK 2 :: WEEK 3 :: DAY 30
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