I've been away from my mat for months.

I'm training for a marathon. I will be running a half marathon in 2 weeks and a marathon about 2 months after that. I haven't been on my mat in so long. I canceled my unlimited membership. I miss being sweaty. I miss savasana. I miss it all. I haven't been to yoga in so long that when I looked at this week's schedule of classes and who is teaching them, I didn't recognize some of the names! Some of my old instructors are still there - the ones who taught me my first classes 5 or 6 years ago, but I definitely haven't been around the hot room lately.

Wow...

Ok, so I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but I didn't realize it had been quite that long! October 2012? Really? My yoga practice has been quite sporadic since then. I've gotten sucked into the world of spin classes at Flywheel. They are basically the Bikram yoga of cardio classes - kinda hard core, make you feel amazing afterwards, totally kick ass! Also I'm running a half marathon this summer so that has require me to start putting some mileage in. It's so hard to fit in 90 minutes of yoga with work, life and other workouts... but I really want to get back on my mat more often. I practiced yesterday and I felt great after class even though my postures were pretty lame. I couldn't wrap my foot in Eagle. :sob: (Yes, I know that other people have real problems - and I do, too - but right now I want to be in a pity party about my loss of Eagle)

two days to go... TWO DAYS TO GO!

I feel like my practice has improved, I'm living more in the moment and my last couple of classes were totally fine. That being said, I'm still pretty stoked to only have 2 days left of my 30 day challenge :)  Practiced with my mama this morning at the studio up north. It's so spacious and lovely. Not much else to report...

Day 24 - the day it all went pear-shaped...

I don't know what happened all of the sudden, but class today totally sucked. One of the worst classes I've had this month, possibly this decade. First, the part of the room I was in smelled like dead squirrel before class. Either the smell stopped or I just got used to it after the first couple of postures, but when you're supposed to be breathing through your nose, eau de squirrel corpse isn't what one likes to be smelling. That did not start class off on the right foot. Second, the teacher was not my fave. Third, my body seemed to be rebelling. My face was super red, I was really tired, I was getting angry when the teacher was talking about technique because I just wanted her to shut up and to top it all off, I just tried to put on my Uggs and I got a cramp in my calf. Awesome. (Note: I do know that Uggs are ridiculous but I got a pair at a sample sale at work a few weeks ago and they are super cozy to put on after yoga.)
WELCOME TO MY PITY PARTY!

Reality check: I'm fine. I'm happy I'm pushing my mind and body with this 30 day challenge. I do not like the yoga room to smell like dead squirrel.

I love yoga, but omg I am tired of yoga

Day 23. I definitely would not have gone to yoga tonight if it wasn't for this challenge. I was super tired and took a 20 minute-ish nap before heading to class. I do not recommend this. Also I have turned into a super sweaty yogini. Not sure when that happened, but I am now the person who drips with tons of sweat and manages to get her mat all wet during the warm up. Super sexy. Good times.

21 of 30 - the postures are making sense!

I've been doing this yoga off and on for almost 5 years. These 5 years have been the hardest years of my life. This year has felt like things are finally turning around and the same thing has happened with my yoga practice. The postures make sense! My teacher told me that my practice has improved a ton in the past week! Only 9 days to go. I'm 70% of the way done with this challenge. WOO HOO!

Day 17 - the day I thought I might have to go on injured reserve

I rocked Day 15. I was feeling high on life. And then I realized something was not quite right around the waistband of my yoga shorts. I was itchy and there were gross red bumps. Fast forward to Day 16. Rocked class again. Like whoa. But red bumps seem worse. More red, bigger, more irritated. I reluctantly bust out ye olde Google and try to figure out what's going on. Most likely culprit seems to be heat rash. Recommended treatment for heat rash: avoid getting hot. Seriously. Well, that doesn't exactly go along well a 30 day Bikram challenge. So I continued to Google. Apparently heat rash and diaper rash are similar-ish. So fast forward to lunchtime yesterday and I'm at Whole Foods looking at the diaper rash creams. I picked up a nice Euro tube of diaper rash cream and a kombucha and I was on my way. The cream worked its magic - it was super soothing and didn't even smell like baby. I think that's because I picked the European brand :) I am now on the mend! Just wanted to document this here in case any of my other internet yogi friends encounter heat rash.

Day 14 - I think we've turned the corner!

I almost didn't make it to class on time. I was jogging down the street in rain boots trying to get to yoga! For a moment, I wanted to get to yoga. I was happy when the studio door opened because it meant I could do the earlier class. It was crowded and I was hot and sweaty before class even started, but somehow it was good. YAY YOGA! YAY ME! I'm actually looking forward to the fact that I get to go back to class tomorrow. I felt bendier and stronger today. My only issue (because I MUST COMPLAIN ABOUT SOMETHING) is that I've been going through so much water in class. My water bottle is now empty at the end of class. I (obviously) need to work on my hydration... or buy a tower of shame!

Day 13 - almost halfway but totally in the weeds

Another crazy crowded class this afternoon. I think I'm going to have to do morning classes next weekend. I'm a bit in the weeds at this point - going to class is feeling like an obligation rather than a privilege... but I have noticed one thing. Before I went on my vacation, I was having headaches in the afternoons at work almost every day. I started the 30 day challenge right after I got back from my vacation. I've only had ONE headache at work in the two weeks since then. JUST ONE! And I think that was maybe caffeine related, not stress/tension related. So I do feel like the challenge is helping my mind/body even though I am not exactly enjoying it at this point in time.

Class 11 - the class that almost made me run away to PDX

Class last night was so challenging. It was intensely hot and humid. I was probably not hydrated enough. I was wearing capri-ish pants instead of my normal (too short) shorts. I don't even know what to blame - ghosts, spirits, the universe. Whatever it was, it sucked some serious ass. It was ridiculously unpleasant. So much so that I walked out of the room thinking that I would never go back in the hot room. But I've had ~20 hours to settle down and I am going to go back. I'm not going to retreat to Portland this weekend even though my friend did give me a very tempting invite to come visit. I have yoga and other things to do here in Seattle. Namaste bitches.

Day 10! 1/3!

We're well on our way - now into the double digits! I can't exactly say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel... but there has definitely been progress made. I'm starting to get used to the ups and downs - every class is different, some of the postures that were easy yesterday were hard today and vice versa.
In food/hydration news, I've been eating salad for lunch pretty much every day and it's working out well for me. When I was traveling for work last month, I ended up at a fantastic custom salad place in Denver. Since returning to Seattle, I've been looking for the same thing. I found something near my work which isn't as good as the Denver salad place, but it's not bad. I've been rocking a salad with hard boiled egg, garbanzo beans, walnuts, beets, feta and/or bacon and it is rad. Protein is my friend. Coffee is not my friend. While sometimes being more caffeinated seems to give me a bit of a boost at the beginning of class, by the end of class, I feel more dehydrated. Not cool. Going to try to cut back on the coffee. But overall, I'm really happy with how I'm doing. In the past, I've struggled a bit with leg cramps in the evenings after class, but that hasn't been an issue lately. Yay!

Day 9 - yoga helps

Left work early yesterday for an appointment of sorts. Said appointment left my ego feeling a bit bruised. I felt misunderstood. I wasn't able to control the outcome of things and it left me feeling icky. I rushed around my apartment to grab my yoga stuff and headed off to class. It was exactly what I needed. The teacher encouraged us 30 day challengers to take it easy in class when we needed to and that was a really helpful thing to hear. Also she said a few words about how when we get into the habit of judging everything as good or bad (our yoga practice, our kids/partners/etc.), it can be very negative. It made me think of the serenity prayer which also presents another way to separate life events. Everything is either something we are going to try to change or something we are going to accept. Yoga class is something I'm going to accept and the only thing I'm going to change is making sure that a regular practice stays in my life even after these 30 days.

Day 6 + 7 - pro tip: don't eat baby back ribs before yoga

The last two days were tough in terms of the yoga. Real tough. Yesterday morning I went to spin class. It was so fun! We were rocking out on our bikes to the Go Gos and Katy Perry and it was the opposite of a Bikram class. Then in the afternoon, I went to yoga and it was bad. Real bad. Normally Saturday afternoon isn't crowded but yesterday was probably the most packed class I've ever been to. And of course there was a super tall dude in front of me who couldn't stay on his mat during the floor series. Generally I feel like yoga is really good for helping me to control my mood (and my depression/anxiety), but when someone's sweaty feet are in my personal space, it's hard for me to be cool about it. So I was hating life and feeling like a big ball of anxiety/panic towards the end of class. And it was especially hard after coming from my spin studio which is new, gorgeous and very nice in terms of personal space because you reserve your bike online in advance and it's yours. So yeah, that was a challenging class yesterday.
Fast forward to today. My friend and I were going to meet for 10am class, but then we both ended up not wanting to do that so we met for brunch. I went straight from brunch to a birthday party across town. I didn't think there would be much food at the b-day party because it was for a 1 year old and it was in the middle of the afternoon. I was wrong. I ended up being super tempted by a slider and baby back ribs. I'm not a vegetarian but I haven't been eating much meat lately. The greasiness of the meaty goodness was not sitting well with me, but I had to go to yoga because that's what one does during a 30 day challenge. I had that humbling experience of feeling like I was either going to yak or shit my pants during class. I did neither, but I did do a lot of lying on my mat. There was no triangle, there was no camel, there was only one set of a lot of other postures. My stomach has finally settled down and now I'm trying to get myself pumped for the week ahead. There is still a huge pile of laundry next to my washing machine, but I did get some grocery shopping and cooking done. Monday here I come!

Day 4 of 30...

There was also a day 3 of 30, but I can't think of anything interesting to say about that class. I was there and I did 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. That's about it.
I do have comments about today. I saw one of my besties from college at class today. That made me happy. We even hugged after class which made me think of this someecards card...

In addition, my favorite teacher (and sometimes blog reader) was teaching tonight. He's a total celeb at the moment because he's on the cover of the Stranger. He's a really nice person and fun yet serious teacher. However tonight when I was dying towards the end of class, I JUST WANTED HIM TO STOP TALKING! During the final breathing, he gave a few pointers on hand position which I normally would have been interested in, but tonight I was giving him the evil eye and willing him to shut up. It didn't work, but eventually class ended and the cool Seattle night (and some cool Seattle tap water) were amazing!

day 2 of 30 (or 3 of 31)

Really tough class last night. Really tough. I was sweating like crazy but felt like my muscles never started stretching out. I felt tight the entire class. I know that this is how things go, but still it was hard not to get a bit discouraged. It's like back in my pre-Bikram life when I used to run a lot. Sometimes the runs were good, sometimes they were bad. Overall I was getting faster and more fit, but it wasn't like each run was better than the last. Bikram yoga is the same. It's been ages since I've practiced three days in a row so I just have to remind myself that yesterday's class isn't an indication of how today's class will go.

day 1 of 30 (or day 2 of 31)...

So today is officially day 1 of the 30 day challenge, but I practiced yesterday, too, and saying that it's day 2 of 31 seems like I've made more progress. Class tonight was crowded, hot and kicked my ass... but in a good way!

t-minus 1 day.

It's one day until the 30 day challenge but I am an overachiever so I practiced today as well. Was not as bendy as I was on my tropical island vacation, but it was good to be on my mat and I'm cautiously optimistic about the 30 day challenge. It's nice to have a priority for the month of October (besides of course, my work) and it makes me think that I need to come up with some sort of 30 day challenge for every month of the year. I could put up a posterboard and star stickers at home just to keep me honest.

One leg, one love

Attended two bikram yoga classes near my beachside mystery vacation destination. One of the instructors was so little and cute and spunky! During the part on full locust (that's what posture I think I mean - I'm not sure though because sun and surf seems to be melting my brain) she was talking about getting legs together into one leg and said "one leg, one love." I must admit that I do love a random Bob Marley reference especially when I'm on vacation.
Once I return from vacation, it will be October. Guess what October means? 30 day challenge at ye olde yoga studio! I haven't signed up yet, but I'm planning to. Good times!

The good and the bad...

I have been doing a lot of spin classes lately. I have been doing a few Bikram classes. This is both good and bad. Overall I think I'm more toned, but my thighs/glutes seem bigger and my flexibility in my legs seems to be suffering a bit - I could hardly wrap my foot in eagle last night. I think I need more yoga mat time and less bike time!

In other news, I have a new favorite snack. Organic apple sauce mixed with 18 Rabbits Gracious Granola. So yum! And dairy free which is good because I'm trying to cut back on my dairy intake.

Not much else to report. Thinking about participating in my studio's 30 day challenge next month.

i've been a bad, bad blogger...

It's not that I haven't been on my mat at all... I have been on my mat. I just haven't made time for blogging.

It's actually been a really good year yogawise and bodywise for me. Although I'm still not that close to touching my head to my knee in standing head to knee, I'm finally at a point where the thought of it doesn't seem totally crazy. The last 5 or so years have been incredibly tough in a lot of ways and I feel like my body is finally shedding the weight and stress that accumulated over that time. In addition to Bikram, I've started doing spin classes at Flywheel. It's a fun way to get cardio in. And it fits in well with my new urban lifestyle. Yes, I live in Seattle, but lately I've started to pretend that I live in NYC and Flywheel fits in well with that fantasy :) I'm also trying to eat better which is a fairly constant struggle for me. I'm thinking about giving up dairy and/or getting an expensive blender so I can make kickass smoothies.

Oh! I can't believe I forgot to mention one of the more exciting yoga-related things that is happening! I'm taking my yoga show on the road! (And by yoga show, I just mean my practice) I'm taking myself to Hawaii for a week in September and my hotel is a few minutes walk away from a Bikram studio. I'm excited about this because I love my yoga and also as my mom reminded me, yogi and yoginis can always recommend a good place to get lunch near the yoga studio.

Fingers crossed that the rest of summah will include yoga and blogging. Please remember to have a summah! I love Howard Kremer's summer promotion/ministry. Life can get hectic so it's good to have a reminder to appreciate the summertime... http://haveasummah.com/