Cultivating My Inner Tree

Got back to my past-usual Thursday night yoga. Different teach who I hadn’t studied with prior to last night. Her pace was slow, but the poses and overall class was difficult. I needed the challenge after being mostly off my practice for most of February. Even had to face my nemesis twisting triangle. Good overall practice. Looking forward to class on Sunday.

 Also, haven’t been logging it, but I’ve been doing loads of hands-on gardening sessions. Spending about 4 hours a day in gardens teaching, so getting lots of fresh air and exercise daily!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 03/13/2008
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

Tonight’s yoga class will be my last one at the studio for a few weeks. I was powerful tired going in after doing yoga yesterday & a lot of heavy garden work yesterday as well. Still, I worked hard and felt much better after class.

In a couple of days I head to Virginia to visit family and speak at the Maymont Garden Show. I also hope to meet, in person, a couple of fellow Sweat365 bloggers who live nearby.

Now, its time to pack!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 02/18/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

It feels great to be back on track with my yoga practice. Last week was all off kilter, and my yoga really suffered until I went on Sunday morning. And, today I felt back in the swing.

It’s interesting. I wonder if a body eventually reaches a point where, when on a regular exercise program and a pretty consistent diet, that it stops building muscle and focuses more on releasing fat reserves.  Here’s the deal: I’ve dropped about 5-8 lbs since December without trying. Now, I say that, but keep in mind that I do exercise regularly, so “not trying” only means that I still eat pretty much whatever I want. I’ve been doing pretty much the same exercise program for almost 2 years. One small change is that I have been outdoors a lot more now that garden coaching is ramping up with a lot of plant ID and pruning consults, but I’m not doing a lot more strenuous work, just meandering outside. Could that be it? Or could it be that my body has hit a point where it is just releasing some last fat reserves or burning through everything I eat faster? I’m not sure.

I do know that I’ve lost a few pounds, haven’t gotten flabby and am definitely down a size in clothes. Well, except for my big shoulders and upper arms that are starting to look a bit too enormous for me. Maybe I should take up body building (Yes, that’s your queue to LOL!) At least the flab is gone, but what I’d give to have skinny arms and shoulders. Sigh…I need to keep focused on the “bright” side, right? If my arms would just get out of the way ;)…

Or, I should just stop questioning and be happy with the new changes. I actually think I see some abs in there somewhere!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 02/11/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

Good mix of strength & flex training. Well balanced. Learned way to use strap in seated forward bend so that the strap balanced the stretch along all parts of the leg. Plan to this more!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 02/10/2008
• Time: 12:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

Yoga was wonderful tonight. The class was small — only 5 students — which was a treat as we all got lots of adjustments and hands-on attention. When the request for anything special came up, one woman asked for inversions. I asked for side plank. We got both.

We did a lot of flow, ending in side plank, which I felt I did well on both sides. I skipped the variations as I wanted to really work the main pose.  Then, after several other standing poses, we worked on handstand.

We started with 1/2 handstand at the wall. Then we worked on kicking our butts to the wall, which is something I’ve got a ways to go on. Then we did handstand with a partner assist to get us into the pose. Once pushed into the pose, I was able to stablilize and hold myself up for a short bit. For me even “a short bit” is a big deal.

Following handstand we worked on headstand. Though I was at the wall, I got into it without the wall. I did briefly regain my upside-down balance using the wall, which enabled me to hold the pose longer than I ever have before. After yogic headstand, I did a tripod headstand, and I lifted into it strongly and gracefully. I held it for a while, but by then the top of my head was a little tired of supporting my body weight.

We did pigeon, which is usually a fine pose for me, but my mental chatter wouldn’t let me really relax into it. Then, we wrapped up with plough-shoulderstand-fish.

A very good practice. My body feels tired. My mind relaxed but alert.

Oh, and yes, I got to the studio early with my instructor. We did a bit of practice on our own before the class started, hence the extra time logged today!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 01/31/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 2:00:00.00

Great yoga practice. Went in feeling kind of yucky…a little neck tweak…a little sneezy…a little thinking I might be getting sick. Ended up having a great practice and feeling 100% when I left.

Had my best Upward Bow ever. Was able to really push up and really backbend. Arms straight & strong. Feet forward and knees not bowing.

Also felt like my chatauranga is back on track. In my past few practices I’ve felt my breath out of sync and my arms not quite up to the task. I had been modifying to avoid injury, but today I was truly a plank and my chatauranga (follow prior link to see great photo of form for lowering in chatauranga/how it differs from a push up) was consistent and good!

Also managed full lotus on both sides (meaning right foot on top once; left foot on top once) and in that bind lifted into a lotus handstand.

Good all around. Must keep this up!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 01/28/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

Okay, so probably didn’t use a real word there, but that’s how I felt tonight. My body just wasn’t cooperating the way I most enjoy. A little stiffness here. A little tightness there. Not my best moments.

The class itself was great & I worked through my issues even in the face of some of my biggest nemesis poses — twisting triangle, virasana, 1/2 supta virasana, full supta virasana, warrior one with fingers interlaced behind back back and face diving toward lunging front foot (sorry name escapes me right now)…Even some of my favorites weren’t fitting me quite right — camel, triangle…Not sure why I felt off. I did all the poses. Heck! I may have had my best 1/2 moon ever — on both sides. But, something was off, and I’m not quite sure what it was. Hopefully, whatever it is will just go away after I sleep on it.

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 01/10/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

I set up to do headstand at the wall today, but I didn’t need the wall. When I go for the wall, I’m like a kid with the training wheels off and Dad pretending to hold the bike for me. I don’t need it anymore. I am confident I can do a headstand anywhere now. In my headstands tonight had that elated feeling like looking backward when my Dad did let go of the bike so many years ago, and I knew I could balance and ride.

I lifted into headstand twice and didn’t touch the wall at all. The first time I went up, I held for about 10 deep breaths. I didn’t fall out, but I came down gracefully when I knew it was time. During my 10 breaths, I balanced and worked on dropping more weight into my head (less in my arms and shoulders).  I thought the one time would be enough. I didn’t want to push it.

But then Diane told our group she wanted to see us start working on headstand variations this year. Tonight she asked us to give it a shot, at the wall if we’d never tried headstand twist  (also known as side headstand) before. So, after watching her demo and having doubts that I could do more than lift into headstand and hold it, I gave it a shot. I lifted up again, engaged my core to hold myself up, and twisted my upside-down body to the left then to the right, centering and holding in between and after each twist.

I love twists. What I really liked about this one is that it forces you to really engage your core. As you engage your core, your headstand becomes stronger as does your balance. Plus, you get the benefits of a hip/groin and partial back twist (your upper back stops you from twisting it as it is grounded and holding you up).

So, not only was tonight a personal best that shatters all other headstand achievements, giving me the confidence to release the wall, but I also achieved doing a balanced headstand while also twisting and moving my body. And I didn’t fall out of the pose!

Oh, and the rest of practice was great too!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 01/07/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

Wednesday I had time to go to both my regular restorative class and the Level II-III Flow class that follows.

The first class was pretty full (as it always is). A few students were really new. At least one had gotten a yoga gift certificate for a holiday gift. The class was slow and a good warm up. I modelled Warrior III, and lost my balance in it on my first attempt. I think that was perfect for beginners to see. Even a regular yogi doesn’t always nail everything perfectly. Yoga is a practice!

The second class was much smaller, filled with 3 regulars and one student I didn’t know. We did a fast vinyasa warm up with a lot of chatauranga. We were working our way toward practicing handstand, which a couple of us requested.

Here’s the problem I ran into — balancing getting warmed up enough for a challenging pose like handstand v. wearing myself out before I get to it. We did loads of shoulder stretches and openers and strength builders to help us build the strength and opening to eventually become successful at handstand. My arms were exhausted after all of this. Unfortunately, it meant I was so tired that 1/2 handstand, which is really important, was barely available to me. I was disappointed in this, but I also learned a lesson. I’ve got to be patient and balanced. I’ve got to remember that I’m nearly a beginner at handstand, so I’ve got to take that mindset and work my way up. If my arms and shoulders get exhausted from practicing toward it, maybe I’m not quite ready to “own” the pose yet.

We did do partner handstand where we lift ourself partially into the pose and our partner lifts us the rest of the way into it. My partner held my legs somewhat the first time I got into full handstand. The second time, I engaged my core and held myself for a while. So, my challenge, I believe, is really tackling my fear of getting into the pose. (Not unlike my growth process with headstand has been.) Once I’m up,  I’m up…at least for a little while.

Also, practiced headstand without using the wall and was successful in getting up & holding a bit without the wall. I made a couple of attempts lifting both legs at the same time to work my core further (along with balance). I’m definitely getting better at this one!

Workout:

• Type: Flexibility
• Date: 01/02/2008
• Time: 19:30:00
• Total Time: 2:30:00.00

The saying You get what you pay for came to me in yoga today. It wasn’t what I’d paid for the class, but what I’d done to my body over the holidays that bubbled this one to my thoughts.

During the holidays, I wore heels, exhausting my feet. I didn’t exercise enough, tightening my usually limber muscles. I ate…and I ate….and I ate some more — some healthy, some very not healthy. Result = yoga was rough today. I had to work really hard to balance my mind while my body seized up now & again, breaking my breath balance and my flow.

The teacher for today’s only class is a hard one, and her classes are very different from most of my other teachers. I knew this going in today and was looking forward to it. She does loads of core exercises, which let’s face it, I need. She holds poses for a (relatively) long time, which I’m not used to. And she doesn’t do a lot of vinyasa, which I adore and crave. So, I had to put on my beginner’s mind hat and let it be.  I settled in and was ready for this as we started our opening meditation and breath practice.

Then, as I opened my eyes just after beginning meditation, just after the teacher had locked the door (indicating that late comers are too late to join the class), a woman is standing outside the window facing me, waving her arms like mad, insisting I give her my attention, demanding that I open the door for her.

Okay, first off, this is bad form. If you’re late and the door is locked, tough cookies. As an adult, didn’t you learn this by now? Next, it is really not cool to distract a yogi who is clearly just coming out of meditation and starting a practice. And, if the teacher locked the door, do you think a student should really interrupt the teacher to tell her to let in a late comer? I shrugged my shoulders, broke her gaze, trying not to be annoyed, and settling quietly back into my in-progress practice.

THEN she started pounding on the door! The teacher got up to stop her. She did let the woman in. Actually, I don’t think she could have kept her out without a baseball bat. This woman was about to push her over to get into the class. Okay, so maybe she needed a yoga class, but geez, I was not impressed by her behavior.

Okay everybody breathe, right? So I did. I didn’t think about rude lady again until I started writing. I was too busy trying to keep up in class to concern myself with the past.

Okay, maybe I was thinking a bit about the past. Everytime my foot cramped up or my IT-band cramped up, I released a pose to stretch or massage out the cramp, mildly cursing myself for neglecting my body over the past few days.

And, class was hard! If you know what chatauranga is, have you ever held yourself 1/2 way down in it for 3-5 breaths? Have you ever done it in reverse? No. Well imagine getting into plank pose, which is somewhat like a push up but your body weight is held by your core and arms. You’re balanced, but not weighted on your tippy toes. You bend elbows, keeping them tight to your ribs as you push forward and down, hovering above the floor. Yes, hovering for 3-5 breaths. And, if you were kickin’ ass today, you reversed this back into plank after doing up-dog, and then into down dog. (I was not kickin’ ass today.)

I managed to hover, but there was no reverse chatauranga for me today. It was definitely a core strength class rather than a lot of flexibility work. I’m glad I went. I’m glad I forgot about rude lady for the duration of class.

And honestly, I’m looking forward to getting back on track with my regular practice as soon as the holidays are over. There’s something very comforting in routine sometimes.

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 12/28/2007
• Time: 14:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00