Time for a Challenge

One of my goals when I started this daily practice was to be able to flow through Sun Salutations from plank to chaturanga to upward dog to downward dog with strength and grace. And guess what? After 64 days of yoga, I can. Ok, well maybe not with grace, but I can do it without struggling.

It's funny that today is when I noticed that I'd accomplished that goal. The timing was perfect for my next challenge.

A friend asked me today if I did the 'kind of yoga where you stand on your head'. I had to admit, that no, I do not. Headstands have always intimidated me. Even as a kid in gymnastics, I enjoyed handstands, and shied away from headstands. Maybe it came from my chronic headaches, and my fear of ever putting pressure on my head. Either way, it stuck with me, and even now, I avoid headstands at all costs.

I know now that it's actually about arm strength, core strength, and balance. It's not the pressure on the head and neck that scared me as a kid. But I still avoid it.

With one challenge overcome today, I think I'm perfectly poised to make headstand my next challenge. I worked on a few prep poses today after a series of sun salutations. I've been instructed on how to do them before, though I didn't give it my full effort. Now that's going to change! I am excited for the day that I can come post that I've overcome this challenge too!

Namaste

Another Day of Vinyasa Flow

Last night's practice felt great, but I didn't want to push it too hard tonight. I can definitely feel the workout in my legs, and while it's not painful, I thought I should be cautious.

So tonight, I did the same Vinyasa Flow DVD, but back to my old level. 

One thing that I noticed tonight was how much I tune into the cues about opening the collar bone, especially in Warrior Two and Triangle Poses. This is not a stretch that comes naturally to me. I curve forward naturally, and probably make it worse by sitting in front of the computer and the TV. So to stretch my back, and open the collar bone feels wonderful. I definitely need the cue to remind me to do that. This is the only DVD I've ever had that includes that cue in these poses, and that's a really relaxing and beneficial tweak to the pose.

Namaste

Good Workout Tonight

Tonight, I did the next level up on my Vinyasa Flow DVD, and it was a great workout! I feel energized.

Most notably, this series added a high lunge pose with arms extended overhead that I found very challenging, and it also incorporated Stage 2 of Triangle pose, which really deepened the stretch for me.

Towards the end, my legs were starting to feel worn out, so I was very content to reach the twists and then Shivasana.

All in all, my practice was 50 minutes long, but it was so engaging that it really didn't feel that long at all. I love when I can really get into it, and not feel the minutes ticking by!

Namaste

Namaste

Headache Relief

I'm sure I've posted about it before, but it really made an impression again today, so I'm writing about it again. And 'it' is using yoga for headache relief.

Today was another long, full day. Nothing went wrong, but it was full of tasks I don't exactly relish. I recognized that I was letting tension build, but after 3 hours at the vet, I couldn't seem to reign it in.

When I finally got home, I settled in for a 50 minute headache relief practice, and it was absolutely wonderful. My neck and shoulders feel spacious, much of the tension is gone, and most importantly, the pain is fading.

Yoga = Relief (in so many ways!)

Namaste

Simplicity

Simplicity has been my theme today, even before I realized it.

I am a relatively neat person, and I'm not fond of clutter. While picking up around the house today, I was thinking about the surfaces, and if they had too many things on them. Obviously, the concept of Aparigraha is sticking with me.

Then I opened the kitchen cabinets, and was struck by how many glasses I have. There are only two of us, and we've never had more than 6 guests at a time, so why do I have over 30 glasses? I certainly don't need that many. Time to clean out the cabinets, and donate.

Later, I was thinking about how I could really use some more streamlining in my organization, to keep it simple. It's not always an easy task, but once it's done, every day chores are easier.

I really do love simplicity. It makes me happy and content.

For my yoga practice, I chose Lunar Flow again, the Shiva Rea CD I recently purchased. It is one of the most simple practices I do, with a series of Lunar Salutations that repeat over and over and over. First with cues, then just with the mantra, and then just the music. As simple as it starts out, Shiva takes it a step further, stripping away one layer and then another, until it just you, your body, and the music. Simplicity.

Then I read my Meditations from the Mat entry. It started with Lynyrd Skynyrd lyrics, "All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied. And be a simple kind of man, someone you can love and understand..."

And that sums up my day, doesn't it? I want to lead a simple, satisfied life full of love and understanding. I think most people do, but not so many realize it. Even fewer know how to do it. Recognizing how much simplicity satisfies me is a step toward that goal for me.

Namaste

8 Weeks are Complete!

I am so excited that today marks the start of my 9th week of daily yoga. 8 weeks of practice have brought me far, and I am so happy that I have made this commitment, and stuck to it!

Tonight, I practiced on my own. I mixed basic Sun Salutations with a few things pulled from a variety of the DVD's I own. I basically made a yoga mix tape in my head.

It felt great to indulge in only the things I really enjoy, only the things that feel exceptionally good to my body. One of my favorite moves is from Rodney Yee's Power Yoga. Lying on your back, you rock back and forth up to sitting and back down gently, and then you expand the movement to rock all the way from Plow to Seated Forward Bend. It feels wonderful. I hear a lot of popping and cracking, but not in a worrisome way. In fact, I think my back might be realigning itself the way the chiropractor would!

To end, I used some of the breathing and restorative exercises I've been doing a lot of this last week. That wrapped my practice up in a neat little bow, and now I'm feeling really good. Strong but relaxed - that's the goal, right?

Namaste

Back to the Heart Opener

Tonight, I went back to the restorative pose series with the supported heart opener that gave me so much trouble earlier in the week.

I've been thinking about it since then, and tonight, I didn't have any of those same flashback thoughts. I think I relaxed a little more into the pose, trusting myself enough to open a little more. Mentally, I had no problems this time, but physically, I could feel my muscles pulling back, not wanting to give in and release their tension.

This doesn't surprise me. I have that kind of posture, the rounded kind with my shoulders caved in. That lends to tension in the small muscles between the front ribs. I had a massage therapist once who told me I had chains of tiny little knots running between my ribs like a rosary. She tried to work them out for me, but I found it much too uncomfortable.

So I'm going to keep at this position. Maybe not every day, but with some regularity. I'm going to keep telling my body to relax through breath, and see if I can get some of that tightness to release on my own.

I'm still in the Aparigraha stage of Meditations from the Mat - it's all about letting go. So I'm going to try to let this inner defense mechanism of curling in and guarding my heart go too.

Namaste

Namaste

Pranayama

Today, I focused my practice on Pranayama. I've been struggling this week with not feeling well - low grade fever, stuffy nose, queasy stomach, blah, blah, blah.

I realized that my breathing was suffering from this. Laying back and working through various breathing exercises combined with supine poses really helped me feel revitalized. I was worried my nose would be too stuffy for it, but it didn't pose a problem.

The best part of tonight's practice was breathing while twisting from side to side, every movement synchronized to the inhales and exhales. I felt like all the stiffness from spending so much time resting was getting squeezed out of me, like wringing a wet rag. And the movement really seemed to increase the depth of my breath naturally, and I think that's exactly what I needed.

I'm still feeling under the weather - after all, yoga is not a cure all. But I am feeling much improved after my pranayama practice, and I think that's an awesome result.

Namaste

A Gentle Reminder

Today, I did an "Evening Revival" routine, which is a gentle routine meant to open the shoulders, back, and hips. I know I've mentioned it before, but I was again amazed at how difficult I find the simplest poses when I need to hold them for extended periods, and really focus.

I hold stress between my shoulder blades, and this routine focus on the upper back much of the time. What the DVD claims to be a release of stress feels much different to me in this area. It's not painful, but it's very uncomfortable, and makes me feel uneasy.

Standing with my feet wide apart, arms extended out to my sides, and twisting around, I could feel that my upper back just did not want to release. I'm taking this as a gentle reminder from yoga that I need to be more mindful of my stress. I need to let things go as them come up, instead of storing them away in the tense muscles of my back.

And most of all - I need a massage! ;)

Namaste

Lunar Flow

More goodies came in the mail today! Yay! My new Manduka mat, 2 cork blocks that are more stable than the foam one I had before, and a new CD "Drops of Nectar" which is a guided Lunar Flow practice with Shiva Rea.

I tried out the CD tonight, and marveled at the difference between Lunar Salutations and Solar Salutations. The poses are so similar, but with the rhythm so much slower, the outcome was very different.

At first, I had trouble keeping my breathing in line with the movements at that slow of a pace. But after the sixth or seventh series, I was getting better at it. I also found that moving so slow allowed me to pay more attention to my form coming out of Cobra and moving into Downward Dog.

I'm excited to have another tool in my Year of Yoga Toolbox!

Namaste

Be Flexible

"Be Flexible to Be a Better You." The truth in that statement astounds me. Obviously in yoga, flexibility helps to deepen our practice. In other sports, flexibility helps us avoid injury, and allows us to accomplish more impressive feats.

But in real life, every day life, flexibility is essential to joy. As a military wife, I've found that if you go with the flow, take on each change and challenge, and make the best of it, you can be happy anywhere, in almost any situation. If you fight the changes, dig in your heels, and refuse to bend with the currents, you will find yourself to be miserable. Often.

I don't know about you, but I want to be happy, joyful. So I work on my flexibility, not just physically, but mentally as well. Thank goodness for yoga to help me do that!

Namaste

Closed eyes

Have you ever tried standing in Mountain Pose, but with your eyes closed? How about tree pose? Tonight, I spent a lot of time in tree. I varied the arms, focused on breathing, and eventually worked my way towards tree with closed eyes. It is so amazing how much harder it can be to hold a balance pose with out having a 'focus point'. This is yet another thing I want to work on - my inner sense of balance, and my ability to rely on it, without reference to the outside world. Maybe it's an unrealistic correlation, but I feel like mastering that would help me stay calm when everything around me is in chaos. Inward balance - physically and mentally - that's what yoga is all about, right?

Namaste

My arms are changing.

Seriously. My arms are changing, and I love it! I recognize that physical appearance should be one of the lesser concerns in my pursuit of yoga, but it does make me happy to see the physical changes right there in front of my face. It's 'proof in the pudding', and yes, my arms were about as hard as pudding before!

Probably, most people wouldn't notice the changes. But that's ok, because I do. My triceps are starting to have visible definition, and my biceps are getting firmer. Even the area often called 'armpit chest' is getting more toned, less soft.

I think all of this comes from chaturanga dandasana (push up position). So tonight, I went back to Solar Flow, because Shiva uses that pose alot, and encourages you to hover in it. By the end of practice, I was really feeling it in the arms, and I'm happy about it!

This is really reinforcing the fact that when something seems difficult, it's worth the extra attention and hard work to master it. I haven't come close to mastering chaturanga dandasana, but I've been putting so much effort into, and I know that's why I'm reaping these physical rewards.

Namaste

Teacher Training?

Today, I'm thinking about my career path, my passion, and what impact I want to make with my life. I have been considering yoga teacher training for a while now. Thus far, I put it off because I wasn't physically ready. As I get stronger every day with my daily yoga practice, I realize that it would be very easy to always think I wasn't ready. There will always be room for improvement, and weaknesses to overcome. So when do you know it's time?

There is an upcoming 200 hour teacher training session, starting in January. I think by January, with daily practice, I'd be up to the challenge. But the timing isn't great with the rest of my life. Signing up then would create a major scheduling conflict between my husband and I. But will there ever be a 'just right' time?

I was doing Power Yoga this evening, thinking about how I would change the routine if it were 'my' routine... does that mean I'm cultivating the teacher within? Or is it just time to switch to a new 'every day' routine?

I'm full of questions tonight, but not so many answers. ;)

Namaste

Jello Legs

I got behind in reading my Meditations from the Mat. Tonight, after an hour of Power Yoga, I caught up. While I appreciated everything I read, none of it stood out to me as particularly special, and none of it got my mind thinking in any one specific direction.

So, I've got two things to mention. One, I thoroughly enjoyed my practice today, and now I have jello legs from it being such a good workout. That's such a good feeling!

Two, yesterday I went to a wonderful concert, "Two Native Voices". Keola Beamer, a Hawaiian Slack Key Guitarist, and R. Carlos Nakai, a Native American Flutist, joined forces to create something beautiful. While I listened to the guitar, I was mesmerized. While I listened to the flute, I was intrigued. But when I listened to the third set, where they joined the two together, I couldn't help but envision myself practicing flow yoga to the music. The two sounds together created such harmony, and my mind went straight to yoga. There was something magical about it, and I can't wait to get the CD and start practicing to it. I feel very lucky to have been exposed to such beautiful, artistic native music.

Namaste

Wishing...

Tonight, I'm wishing I could keep the confidence and inner strength I feel doing yoga going all the time. I'm wishing, because right now, it feels so far from reality. I finished my practice tonight - a vigorous power yoga session - feeling great, feeling strong, feeling accomplished. But then I read something that upset me, and I lost that feeling in an instant. How do you get it back? Even better, how do you not lose it?

When I feel personally attacked, or worse, when I feel someone is attacking someone I love, my heart starts to pound, my breathing gets shallow... I guess it's some version of fight or flight. I don't like it at all, and I recognize that it's an unnecessary reaction. Why can't I breathe through it, focus on calm, see the trivial nature of the problem, etc.?

I was planning on coming here to post about how my neck and shoulder practice has released so much tension that I felt I could arch back in my standing back bends with much more ease tonight. And, my arms are getting so much stronger that for some chaturangas, I'm not using my knees - that's a huge improvement. But then I read that one thing... and I let myself get diverted.

Yoga is definitely not an easy answer, or a cure all for everything. I guess I should focus on the skills I have, and know that I'm working on strengthening them, and with time, I can hope to react better to stressors that really shouldn't stress me at all!

Namaste

Full House

We've got a full house for a couple of weeks. Family arrived today from upstate New York, and in a tiny 2br, 1ba house, double the people equals quite a crowd ! I'm going to have to be extra dedicated to carve out the quiet time and space for yoga for the next two weeks.

I squeezed in today's practice while my husband was en route to the airport. I don't like to think of yoga as something I 'squeeze in', but some days, that's just the reality. It's better than just pushing it aside completely, right?

With my arm sore from having the burn irrigated today, I focused on my legs. I deepened my lunges, balanced my strength between both legs, and really stretched those heels in downward dog.

It felt great to really work my legs, but more importantly, it felt like I was doing the right thing to choose to create that mental space in my head and in my heart.

Namaste

Snap, Crackle, Pop!

No, not Rice Krispies... my neck! I feel as good as if I just came from my favorite chiropractor, or maybe even my favorite massage therapist! (Both of whom are back in Georgia, and are two of the very few things I miss about that state.)

Tonight, after a long day of errands and working on projects around the house, I did Yoga for Stress Relief - the Neck and Shoulder Tension series. While in the first series of breath related stretches, my neck started cracking and popping. Normally, this would freak me out. I don't like for my joints to make noise, even when I'm paying for it! But if felt so gooooooooood.

I haven't been to a chiropractor in over 6 months, and I've only had one massage in that time too. Normally, I have my atlas adjusted, which makes everything else fall into place on its own. But here in Hawaii, there aren't any chiropractors who use the Atlas Orthagonal method or machine. This makes me sad... but maybe if I keep up the daily yoga, I won't need it as much!

Namaste

Right Action

Today's Meditation from the Mat is so good, I wish I could quote the whole thing! I am really enjoying this book, and looking forward to working through it with the same enthusiasm I have for a good fiction novel.

The entry today is all about the right path, the right action, and working towards knowing ourselves, and what is good for us.

I've heard it talked about so much on shows like Oprah, and in magazines, and I truly believe that the ability to say 'no' is a very empowering thing. We are raised, at least as women, to give as much of ourselves as we can. The more we are able to do, the more successful we are. As a person who loves to volunteer, I always feel a little guilty saying no. But I'm getting better at it.

In the last week, I've been exercising this ability. And I'm really working on not feeling guilty about it, as long as I'm saying no for the right reasons. If I'm saying no to avoid overextending myself, to avoid a precarious situation that I don't think is right for me, or to enable someone else to act and think for themselves instead of relying on others, then these are all good times to say no.

But I'm not saying no to yoga of course! Even with my arm hurting, and feeling a little run down from all the stress of the last week, I'm saying YES to yoga, which is of course saying YES to myself!

Today I practiced with power yoga again. It's amazing how a few 'easy' days to let my arm rest have shown their effects in the rest of my body. But it felt good to do a slightly more vigorous routine, though it was far from difficult. I'll build back up to that, and feel great while doing it!

Namaste

4 Weeks Have Flown By!

Today marks the completion of 4 weeks of my year of yoga.

Today, my burnt arm is feeling much better, so I decided to ease into yoga with "Yoga for Stress Relief". I'm feeling groggy from so much rest, so even though it's the evening, I did the 'Wake Up Slowly' Routine. I tried a modified down dog, but couldn't hold it for long, because it was too much stretching and pressure on my arm. But it still felt good to do it. I found I couldn't do the shoulder opener, with hands clasped behind the back, rising up. That was too much stretching of the wrist. It was a good practice though, and if nothing else, I am proud of myself for not giving in and giving up!

Namaste