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/

Happy Bikram Yoga Day!

Yes, I know that most of the world calls it Mothers Day, but my mama and I have celebrated with Bikram yoga for the past few years so I associate the two :) The yoga has been good for me lately. Not quite as frequent as it could be but overall it's good. I tweaked my work schedule so I can attend an earlier class a few days a week. That's so nice because then it doesn't feel like my whole evening is taken up by yoga but hauling yoga stuff around makes me feel like a pack mule. Does anybody have a travel yoga mat? On the days I go to yoga straight from work, I'm hauling my mat and my other yoga stuff down a big hill and then back up a big hill. If I can't find a decent lighter mat, I may just rent a mat on the days I go right after work, but that seems kinda dumb. Or really smart. I'm not sure which...

The selfhelphipster has more to say about yoga than I do right now...

I have been on my mat lately but I haven't been making much time to write/blog about ye olde yoga. However Lianne from The self help hipster has been writing about yoga. Check out her free pdf about her yoga journey - it's great! http://theselfhelphipster.com/?p=1059

recipe for yogadisaster

Ok, yogadisaster (or should it be yogasaster?) may be a big of an exaggeration. I was off my mat for 5 days. I was feeling under the weather for about 3 of those days. I had too big of a snack after work. Take all of those ingredients and mix them together and you have a rather unpleasant yoga class... and yet an absolutely perfect yoga class because it was a yoga class I actually attended. I just need to show up at yoga as much as possible. More is better.