Classes 60 - 63 of the Summer Yoga Challenge

Class 60 - Studio Monday night. Challenging class. However I felt cool and collected - I worked hard and I had it in me to work hard.

Class 61 - home practice felt very little of the peace and strength I did the day before.

Class 62 - home practice ditto class 61

Class 63 - great strong home practice held all postures and did five camels instead of two.

My plans for the rest of the summer - I'm going away for three days, no bikram. Then seven days straight when I get home will get me to 70 classes down, 30 to go. I think a break after the seven days will be in order, then I will do a modified 30 day challenge - I'll do my best to do 30 days in a row but will not stress if it takes me a little over 30 days to complete those classes.

Then I will relax and drop back on my practice in preparation for training!

58, 59

58: Friday class in the studio, worked hard, worked it out. I did Rabbit pose all the way for the first time, ok, well maybe second time. I actually find it easier to try to hold the grip without the towel. I slip, but it's very encouraging to have this pose. Now there are no poses that I can't do somewhat respectably.

59: Home practice after a few drinks the night before. It wasn't the greatest in terms of stamina.

Ongoing challenges in my practice: the standing balancing poses are still challenging me - I can't stay on one foot for the whole time. Well to be more exact, when I really work the pose, I fall out of it.

My new triangle which is deep into the hips like it's supposed to be is very hard to hold for both sets both sides. I'm hoping to check in in a month again to see how I've progressed. Floor series is great.

Today I did some extra camels and about 45 minutes of non-bikram yoga when I awoke, including... backbending up and down the wall. A teacher recommended this to me, he recommended I learn it from another teacher who wouldn't teach it to me. Luckily, it showed up in my yoga journal this month and I recognized that I could definitely do it myself. Huzzah!!!

And congratulations to me for Saturday - yoga then nine holes of golf then two swimming holes. Not the most intense physical labor but I love knowing that I can do my practice AND whatever else life throws at me.

56, 57

Wednesday, practiced in the studio, Thursday, a great practice at home. Feeling strong and slender again. My wrist tendonitis has been selected as my next ailment for bikram yoga to heal. I'm working with it and hoping to see and feel some healing!

55

Morning practice this am... took 3 days off instead of the planned two. It felt good to get my motivation together and practice this morning. I like the option of getting up at 6 and practicing. There is more time in my day than I think... I smell a double coming soon!

54

practiced "halfway" on Friday at home, nice and light. Then took the weekend off, played a ton of golf (27 holes) and did no yoga. Celebrated my anniversary!

Rockstar Yoga 51, 52, 53

51: Home practice. After getting past last weekend I'm practicing on cloud nine. Did a good hard home practice Tuesday after work.

52: Home practice. Yesterday I worked in the morning ran home grabbed a class before a meeting with client and then to Bruno. It was a great day. I worked hard and consistently. I think I skipped out on Triangle though.

53: This morning back in the studio was a fabulous class. I am apparently lifting my back leg too high in balancing stick and it's one of the factors in my falling over so much. Something new to work with. I worked really hard, turned the mats sideways so I could check out my triangle. I still have to go down to a place that feels really "not ok" wibbly wobbly to set up the pose. Continuing to work on it!

50 classes - halfway to 100!

I had a really amazing class yesterday. It was my 50th class! After two classes of struggle and pain, I made it through class yesterday with a minimum of brain chatter. My mind was quiet, my body was calm, I completed all the poses, I worked hard, the heat didn't get to me, I wasn't chugging water, it was a real testament to how far I've come.

I am so proud to be on this journey.

I am going deeper in the poses, my back bend was so great at the beginning of class yesterday. I struggled in triangle - I want to see what it looks like in the mirror because I'm going so deep that I'm losing the integrity of the pose I think. I wanted to write more about that quiet feeling.

I chose to just watch myself yesterday. To be present. To be quiet, to attend to the yoga, and not let my brain chatter take over. It worked - I was so focused and relaxed. I even managed to smile.

47, 48, 49 of the summer

Friday afternoon, nice and hard class, hot room, worked hard.

Saturday night practicing at home, after golfing nine holes that morning... was an ok practice. I don't like practicing that late at night. I had a hard time with my focus and motivation. I was sore and tired at the beginning, which meant I didn't work that hard.

Sunday morning in the studio - I had my worst class in weeks. I felt like I was full of lead. I couldn't move. I made it through most of the standing series then on the floor I was unable to move. I did my best and made it through. I was feeling pretty burnt out, still am.

I'm a little concerned that I'm burning myself out on this yoga. This weekend I'm going away so I'm only going to do a few classes this week after completing my 50th class of the summer tonight. I am also going to add some swimming back into the mix. I don't want to get burnt out before training even starts, cause I'm going to do 99 classes in 9 weeks and there won't be a damn thing I can do about it. :)

More yoga :) Total classes completed this summer: 46

Back from my break, which was lovely. Recharged and ready to practice - Wednesday's class in the studio was great, but I felt a little out of it. I rushed in to class at the last minute because of work. However, I settled down and practiced. It was great. I definitely noticed that my practice was not as deep after a few days off.

Thursday's class I did at home and really worked my butt off. Best home class ever. I was dripping sweat even at the very end in Savasana. I'm very excited that adding a humidifier to the room turned it into more of a studio like experience.

30 day challenge DONE and added to 16 or so classes taken before that

Classes 29 and 30 done... 30 day challenge done... No yoga till Monday night!! Holiday weekend with friends.

So with the classes I did BEFORE the 30 day challenge plus all the 30 classes during the challenge I will update my new totals next post.

Classes 27 & 28 SO CLOSE!

Almost done with the 30 day challenge!

Class 27 - in studio, teacher's b-day, good class. I noticed something wonderful. With all the extra focus points I have for the first three postures, they just fly by. The same is true all the way through the standing series. As I work harder, the class becomes EASIER. Instead of wallowing in my suffering and trying to do a "maintenance level" practice, I am working to deepen my practice as much as I can. It makes class more fun.

Class 28 - part of a double today. Class was wonderful. We did a silent class, which made it harder to work super hard in the breathing exercise for me. Having someone bark orders at me helps me remember all the focus points. My triangle pose was rock solid. The first time I did the new improved pose on Sunday afternoon I felt like my legs were going to collapse. Guess what - it's Thursday morning and it's automatic. Sure it's hard, but my body has accepted it and is moving forward. The body is an amazing machine.

Tonight I'll practice at home. Tomorrow I may complete my challenge at home, or may hit a neighboring studio for my final class. Then... HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

Class 26 back to earth

I had a craptastic practice at home yesterday. I had so little motivation and such sore muscles. I'll just leave it at that... sometimes you just break down.