Sober sister

Went to class after work today. My friend J. from knitting who went to her first class on 4th of July came as well! I'm so proud of her!!! Two classes under her belt! And she likes it :)
It was definitely a hot class today. I felt better than usual at the beginning of class because this was my 3rd day in a row practicing and because the heat made me feel looser at the beginning of class.
I've quit online dating and I'm trying to drink less so being on my mat for 90 minutes a day gives me something to do where I'm away from the temptations of friends and bars and thinking about things that I shouldn't be thinking about. One of my college friends called me tonight and she is also trying to get on the clean living train. In our sorority in college, we had to have "sober sisters" at some of our events - girls who weren't drinking. I said that I'm finding it hard to be a sober sister these days - she feels the same way. We're going to meet up for Diet Cokes and maybe a walk around Greenlake later this week. CHANGE IS HARD!

Back home

Practiced again today. That makes 3 times in the last week which is the most I've practiced in a while. And I'm planning to practice tomorrow after work. My mat is starting to feel like "home" again. I like that feeling.
Class today was a hot one. Everyone was feeling it. My pal M. at ilovesweat posted today about how he pushes himself through postures even when he's feeling kind of meh. While I totally get that and I think it's appropriate some days, there is something else that I've been thinking about lately. My favorite teacher said something interesting in class a few weeks ago. She said that we should lie down when we need to and that she doesn't want to see us get up until we're ready to be practicing again. Basically if we're doing the posture, she wants us to really be doing the posture and be happy about doing the posture. She said if we're not ready to fully participate, then it's ok to lie down until we feel ready. It's an interesting way to think about it. You can be tired and sweaty and hot... and happy to be practicing! Or you can hang out on your mat in savasana until you're ready to be. I'm working on mindfulness and positive mental attitude and all of that good stuff - I even have power thought cards in my bag so this way to think about class and the postures was interesting for me.
Is it ever too hot to go in the hot room? We've got 90 degree temperatures coming this way. I realize that in most of America (or possibly the world), that would not be a big deal, but here in Seattle, it's news.. FRONT PAGE NEWS! We shall see how the week progresses :)
Oh and I got a super cute new water bottle today. TIE DYE! And it has a straw. I'm apparently too much of a klutz to use my Klean Kanteen in class - I can't open the damn thing after my hands get sweaty. Straw FTW!

Holiday yoga

It was hot and crowded at class today. There were 6 new people and one of them was my friend J. from knitting. She did fantastic! She did most of the poses and I think we're still friends :) She said she wants to come back in a day or two.
After class, I went to a friend's house for a bbq. Unfortunately we ended up inside for most of the afternoon due to rain. Fortunately there was a boozy strawberry trifle to eat. However now I have a headache and am probably going to hide out and be a hermit for the rest of the evening.
No work tomorrow so I should be able to find some time for Bikram.

Ups and downs

Life has been up and down lately. My yoga practice has been very occasional - maybe once or twice a week. Practiced last night and I could definitely tell that I had been out of the room for a while. I've been thinking about why I've been struggling to get on my mat. It has partly been a time issue - I would rather do things other than go to yoga before or after work. But it's also a nutrition issue I think. During my attempt at Bikram101, I got really run down and was cramping a lot. I don't cook that much and really don't eat that healthy. While I complain about the extra pounds I've packed on over the last few years, considering how much junk food I eat, I'm actually somewhat surprised that I'm not bigger. Doing lots of Bikram yoga tends to make me want savory, salty, crazy junk food even more. If I want to have a regular yoga practice, I need to focus on getting more healthy, real food into my diet. And maybe in the short term, protein shakes or Gatorade. I need to take better care of my body if I want my body to be able to do 90 minutes in the hot room on a daily or almost daily basis. Oh and I'm starting my half marathon training soon so that's another thing on my plate. But I'm excited about it and want to monitor my progress here on a more regular basis. I miss this blog and the Bikram blog/Twitter community!