Yoganista: Day 7 - They have a fight, triangle wins.....

The side angle poses we did today had me begging (out loud) to go back to lunges. There was lots of heavy breathing and sweating going on in this class as well. We worked on more fluid movement between downward facing dog, lunge, warrior, and side angle poses. I realized that I hadn't been pushing myself hard enough and could actually take the lunges down deeper (which made the side angle pose a bit easier to hold). I came away from it feeling good, albeit a bit wobbly.At the beginning of class, one of the other women called me out on always taking the same space each class (left, front row near the wall). As much as taking a yoga class solo was my way to step outside of the box, I admit I quickly sought out some comfort from seeking out the same spot. There were lots of unknowns week to week (e.g. what poses we would do, how strenuous said poses would be, and who if anyone would be breaking the fart barrier). As a therapist, I fully embrace and acknowledge the power of change, in my personal life? Not so much. :]

The major take home for me today was our teacher explaining to us the meaning of "purna" which roughly translates to perfection coming through the act of trying one's best. Yoginis are deep and ripped!

The minor take home for me was that I like the smell of dude, but not smelling like a dude. You see, I had run out of deodrant that morning and had to bust into my 72 hour kit and scrounge for the free Speed Stick that Southwest provided me when they sent my luggage to Reno and me to San Francisco. If you want to find me in an emergency, head towards the manly scent.

SBD:0

L&P:0

Yoganista: Day 6 - Shooting at the walls of heartache. Bang! Bang!

There was a lot of glancing at the clock today. This class went by very slowly. I think it had something to do with my lack of sleep and motivation. It might also have had a little to do with our quick alternations from downward facing dogs to lunges and back (a la Zack Mayo in "An officer and a gentleman", unfortunately there was no fine Navy man in dress whites to sweep me off my feet as a reward for my efforts).



We continued our work on Warrior 2. Our teacher kept emphasizing how important it was for us to engage all of our energy loops continuously as we transitioned between moves (way easier said than done). She said we waste a significant amount of energy otherwise and lose the major benefits of our yoga practice. I saw yet another yoga-dissertation correlation in this little tidbit of info. You see, once I actually start researching or writing it's easy to keep going. The problem for me comes in the starting and stopping. Once I stop, good luck getting me going again and I've also spent an inordinate amount of time just avoiding the thing altogether.



So, that which is true for yoga is also true for writing a dissertation: Be ok with your best effort. Commit to a regular practice schedule. Thank yourself for the work you do each day. If it hurts a little bit, you are probably doing it right.

SBD: 0 L&P: 0

Namaste.

Yoganista: Day 5 - Lunging with Darth Vader

Today we learned a new breathing technique commonly known as Darth Vader breath (aka Pranayama). Basically, you breath in and out through your nose very loudly which is reminiscent of being at the ocean. Breathing through your nose is all fine and good when you are sitting in your “comfortable seat”, but it gets a lot harder when you are working on proper lunge position.

We spent a lot of time lunging today. Like a lot of time, a lot a lot. Everything in yoga builds onto each other. Proper downward facing dog helps with lunges which are the basis for other poses like warrior. Again, I was amazed at all the muscle groups involved in holding the proper lunge. It felt good the first couple of times then I started getting pooped. My legs felt like jell-o leaving class and I worried that the next day would be a killer, but luckily it wasn’t. I’m a bit wary of what tomorrow in class might bring though.

As far as improvements, I think that the meditation part of yoga is helpful and I feel energized on the days that I do it. The vain part of me also noticed a bit more definition in my calf muscles while prancing about in my heels on Sunday. Now, if only the boys would notice.

SBD: 0 L&P:0

Yoganista: And on the 4th day, they sweat.

This morning was an exceptionally cold and rainy one and they had the heater up to make up for that. This was also the first day that we started to do lunges. Heat + core work + lunges = sweat.

What I'm coming to be amazed with in yoga is how many muscle groups we have that we don't utilize. A great thing about this class is that it isn't just about mimicking the poses, but the teacher walks us through and helps us isolate the individual muscle groups that we need to engage to get the full benefits of each pose.

So far, my favorite move is the cat/cow where you start out in a table pose and then on the inhale arch your back like a cat and then on the exhale you stick up your butt and head like a mooing cow. It feels really good. You should try it. You might also like to try a little game that my friends Mike and Amanda play called cow/kitty. One person calls out one of these animals and the other person has to mimic that sound. They get going pretty quick and it makes me giggle a little.

SBD: 0 L&P:0
Apparently, my friend L is right (though he'll never hear it from my lips) that women photosynthesize their waste, as I have yet to hear a peep out of any of these ladies!

Yoganista - Day 3: Delayed

Ok, ok, I'm behind again. It didn't help that my third yoga class had to be delayed because I woke up sick that morning. No, I wasn't faking it to avoid yoga. I actually cancelled clients (a first for me) that day and stayed holed up in my apartment watching season 10 of Law and Order SVU. A pretty good day overall, after the nausea and digestive issues ceased later in the day. Then lo and behold the next day was a half day at work due to snow. Happy January to me!



Nothing too exciting happened during this yoga class. It was still a lot more instruction and I didn't leave feeling like I had a great workout, just a bit stretchier. No doubt due to the new position we learned: Supta Padangusthasana. It looks like this:

After doing this stretch on one leg it feels longer than the other. Then you repeat it on the other leg. This stretch is supposed to help prepare you for downward facing dog. I was pulling so hard on the strap to keep my leg in the air that my hands were cramping. A the end of class our teacher let us know that hand cramps means you were doing it wrong. Oops. I'll keep practicing.

Hopefully, sometime soon my Supta Padangusthasana will look like this:

Not!

Even though there were men in my make-up class: SBD: 0 and L&P: 0

Yoganista: Day 2-Where's my freaking gold star?!

As you can see from my two posts in one day, I'm behind. I sort of feel like I started off behind. Sadly, the feelings about my yoga blog are isomorphic to the feelings I have about my dissertation. (Couldn't I just be given a doctorate for knowing and corretly using the term isomorphic? Pretty please :0) I'm already behind, so what's the point? Might as well give up now. That and it takes me a disgusting amount of time to actually complete my blogs b/c my inner perfectionist comes out wielding her mighty mallet. Still working on lesson #1: Being ok with just being.

I was not so chipper getting up for class on the second day. In all honesty, it's not that early, but I'm a late night person and sleep in whenever I'm given the chance. I made it to class on time (early is on time in yogadom, so you can get your props and settle in). We started out focusing on our breathing. We practiced expanding our breaths starting from our stomach up through our ribcage. I got a little dizzy from all that deep breathing, but it was still pretty calming.

We got into our first position: child's pose. This is supposed to be the easiest position and very comfortable. Not so much for moi. I went home after day 1 and tried to practice, but couldn't really figure out how to get comfortable and that was super frustrating for me. Turns out that going into it on day 2 it felt much better, I think partially because I didn't think about it too much (Not to beat a dead horse, but seeing a theme much?).

Today involved more lecture and we spent the majority of our time learning "downward facing dog". We tried different variations of long dog and short dog and focused on how our bodies actually felt in each position.

The feedback our teacher gave us while in the pose was, "ok, not bad". Then she went on to explain that it was probably the highest form of praise we would get from her because she wasn't a big praiser. Other students who had taken classes from her confirmed this. That's when I realized how much I look for praise/constructive criticism to let me know how I'm doing in everything. When she wasn't saying anything to us, I was assuming that I was doing something wrong. Man! This yoga thing is a lot of work. I haven't even worked up a sweat in class yet, but feel like all this insight is draining! I've heard people suggest yoga to therapy clients as a way to help them calm down and center and never totally bought it before now. I'm realizing that there is power in silence.

Take Home Lesson #2: I am my own gold star.

SBD: 0
L&P: 0

Yoganista: Day 1

The night before was all kinds of giddy anticipation, not unlike the night before the first day of school. I showed up to the studio early, kicked off my shoes (love that part) and proceeded to hang out on a couch near the entrance waiting for my friend to show up and class to start. It was still an early hour for me so I wasn't feeling all that chatty, but a nice lady started talking so we bantered back and forth for awhile.

Truth be told I wasn't all that interested in meeting people since I already knew someone in the class. Well that was blown out of the water when my friend never showed (turns out she had a scheduling conflict). I guess I'd have to take part in forming our own yoga community (as our instructor so aptly put it). I realized that as an adult who will soon no longer be in school that classes such as this one are probably the best way to meet new people (outside of church of course). So wherever my next move takes me, I'll have to be creative and brave in joining new things to meet people (ahem, men) who might share in my similar interests. It's a win-win really.

Class started with a round of introductions and our teacher letting us know that she didn't like people who always stayed in the back row. I quickly learned that she liked things organized (2 rows of 6) and that once she was in the room and the door was closed nobody else was let in. I figured that a ringing cellphone probably wouldn't add much to the ambiance of the yoga class so it was on silent out in the front cubbies. Turns out that not everybody thought to plan ahead in this way as lo and behold a few minutes later someone's cellphone trilled. I had to keep from laughing as the teacher said something like, "Is that what I think it is"? Haha! Busted! (I should have learned my lesson that you shouldn't laugh at other people's misfortunes last year as I got my first speeding ticket a few seconds after laughing at the lady getting the sobriety test along the roadside- but alas, I'm a slow learner). Now I'm just waiting for karma to come back and bite me on that one.

The first class consisted of a lot of lecture, learning how to stand in mountain pose, and engaging the different energy loops in your body. The thing that stood out to me the most was the motto of "valuing a beginner's mind". It was interesting to see that there were some people in this beginner's class that had some substantial yoga experience and yet they were going back to better focus on the basics without shame or impatience with the process.

I'm a planner who spends very little time in the now and revel in crossing things off my list. So, not only am I not encouraged to cross things off my list, but I'm starting to feel like in yoga you shouldn't even have a list!

Take Home Lesson Week 1: Work on being ok with just being.

SBD: 0
L&P: 0
(Did I mention that my class is all women? I think this might impact my anal acoustics tally)

Yoganista

Yoganista: A grrl with a passion for fashion; flirting with yoga (read: not quite ready to commit to a lifetime of downward facing dogs, but willing to give it a good old college try).


Left: Me Right: Movie Stand-In Sara Rue

The Goal: Get stretchier while learning to stay in the now. I've got a lot of anxiety over finishing my dissertation and figuring out what to do with my life and I hope this helps me make time to be quiet and listen. I’d like to say that I’m trying yoga just for the sake of yoga itself, but that’s not the case. I also want to get some skiing time in this March and thought this would be a good way improve my endurance.

The Contender: A 30 year old PhD student trying to discover her passion and execute her next life move.

The Plan: Attend an 8-week beginning yoga series.

How it came to be: I admit it, I’m the person who loves to try new things, but then quickly drops the ball (bootcamp, 5K training, Zumba, craft projects, etc., etc.). I had tried a yoga class a few years back and liked it, but never got into it more consistently. My renewed interest had something to do with the time of year (New Year’s Resolution to shape up, anyone?) and a mention in one of my recent chick lit reads (single girl in NYC trying to meet guys by responding to roommate ads). The fates so aligned that when I was cruising the internet looking for possible yoga options in Lubbock, I stumbled upon a studio with a beginner’s class starting the next week. It fit my time schedule, was affordable, and a friend agreed to do it with me. Gulp! All of my potential excuses ripped right out of my grubby little hands. Nothing left to do, but hand over my credit card and dust off my yoga mat - literally, I live in West Texas.

Making this challenge more me: There are lots of positives associated with the practice of yoga (stress reduction, muscle toning, improvements in concentration). I’ll take a little (or a lot) of each of those please! While I look forward to seeing what benefits I gain, I also want it to be a good time. Therefore, I will be playing the role of fart detective in my class. Come on!? That many people bending and stretching themselves into awkward poses, someone is bound to let one slip! Therefore each post will close with an anal acoustics tally. There will be two categories: Silent, but deadly (SBD) and Loud and Proud (L&P).

Pose on!