Yes, Bikram whooped my behind Monday night. It was very humbling given that I had missed a week of yoga and thought I would be greeted with a superman feeling (you know, having rested and all). It was so bad I talked myself off the ledge (that is a psychological ledge leading to just giving up and leaving the torture chamber early) SEVERAL times before it was over. Well, Bikram sure as hell told me! (*arm wave* mmmm hmmm)
I'll drag my behind back tomorrow, as the shame has almost subsided.
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Descension
It has been brought to my attention by a well-meaning observer that I have lost touch with much of my usual routine. Yes, I can admit that I haven't used my kitchen in over two weeks; nor have I performed a proper grocery store visit since St. Patty's Day. Ok, and so I haven't been to yoga since 3/21 and I've eaten frozen meals and outside food more than I can count. Hey, it happens. We all go through cycles in our seasons where we are on a roll with many good habits and then slowly they start to fall away until you realize that you've had CPK frozen pizzas on 3 occasions this week and have purchased nearly a latte a day for the past 7-14 days, right?. This decline in healthy habits happens so subtly that you barely notice any change at all. Today, however, the jig is up, because a third party observer has recognized my downward spiral,crap, and I guess I can appreciate the wake up call. It has been getting a little scary. I need a fresh post to remedy this situation, asap.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Funk
Last night I watched the second to last episode of Glee season 1 regarding funk. The Glee team's rival plays cruel pranks that psyches them out and puts them in a funk before a competition, or something like that. Anyways, I was completely identifying with this theme of funk. I'm amidst one of my own and my funk is threefold, but I will only discuss 2 parts. One) I am in complete sympathy mode for my friend with the broken leg and I can't stop thinking about what this shocking development could be doing to her emotionally. Two) I am also finishing a novel about a twenty-something year old who is coping with the death of a parent and many other unfortunate events surrounding her transition into adulthood. I have sort of dragged myself into the world of this character and now I can see no way out but to finish the novel, tonight. This is why I hated summer reading lists from the 5th - 11th grades. They always contained some life lessons to teach us about survival and most often included death, doom, and gloom. Which I would avidly prefer to avoid in books. As I have the tendency to get wrapped up in the doom and live too vicariously through the afflicted characters' doom. Unfortunately, I let this novel slide past my radar. Third) Nope I don't want to talk about it, uh-uh no-way. Lets just say I have a lot on my mind.
Yoga tonight at 6, I may not be able to keep it together emotionally, but physically and mentally (forgetting everything exists) I plan to R.O.
Yoga tonight at 6, I may not be able to keep it together emotionally, but physically and mentally (forgetting everything exists) I plan to R.O.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
One man down
http://minoosyoga.blogspot.com/2011/03/home-stretch-with-company-and-sniffly.html
So, remember my amazing friend from the above posting. Yesterday afternoon her amazing abilities were in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was slide tackled in a soccer class and it caused her fibula/tibia to endure a displaced comminuted fracture (basically she needs surgery to put the pieces together and I love to google medical terms). WTF? Since when do we play competitively in P.E.? And furthermore, since when is slide tackling legal, recreationally or competitively? I don't even want to get into the brilliant teacher decision that decided to play a "friendly" game of boys vs. girls. But I will. There are several reasons why in hindsight this was the wrong type of game for even a friendly P.E. game. (My outraged coworker pointed most of these out to me) 1. Boys are naturally bigger and stronger than girls. I know we hate to admit it, but they just are genetically engineered to be as such. 2. Boys and girls approach casual sports differently. Girls can play a recreational sport just for the love of the game and to feel active regardless of the score. On the other hand boys cannot engage in a sports game without some unreasonable sense of competition. Even when they are playing a casual pick-up game in the park, their manhood (which they are competing to maintain) is ALWAYS on the line. And 3. Boys do not know when to quit. Have you ever watched guys engage in a sport. Regardless of the sport, its like man to man combat and they go all out until someone is made to shrink back. I guess when they play a sport (whether girls are included or not) this can be a hard switch to turn off. I hope this gym teacher eliminates this game setup from his future teaching outlines.
Ugh, I miss my friend now. She will likely be under supervision of her parents for a few weeks which means me, home, with no dinner date lol. I hope she has a smooth and speedy recovery. Also, my faith is a little shaken today. My injured friend is one of the sturdiest, most athletic people I know. If she could get so wrecked from a rec game, what hope is there for us mere mortals to remain injury-free? I guess I will stick to non-contact activities like yoga and jogging.
So, remember my amazing friend from the above posting. Yesterday afternoon her amazing abilities were in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was slide tackled in a soccer class and it caused her fibula/tibia to endure a displaced comminuted fracture (basically she needs surgery to put the pieces together and I love to google medical terms). WTF? Since when do we play competitively in P.E.? And furthermore, since when is slide tackling legal, recreationally or competitively? I don't even want to get into the brilliant teacher decision that decided to play a "friendly" game of boys vs. girls. But I will. There are several reasons why in hindsight this was the wrong type of game for even a friendly P.E. game. (My outraged coworker pointed most of these out to me) 1. Boys are naturally bigger and stronger than girls. I know we hate to admit it, but they just are genetically engineered to be as such. 2. Boys and girls approach casual sports differently. Girls can play a recreational sport just for the love of the game and to feel active regardless of the score. On the other hand boys cannot engage in a sports game without some unreasonable sense of competition. Even when they are playing a casual pick-up game in the park, their manhood (which they are competing to maintain) is ALWAYS on the line. And 3. Boys do not know when to quit. Have you ever watched guys engage in a sport. Regardless of the sport, its like man to man combat and they go all out until someone is made to shrink back. I guess when they play a sport (whether girls are included or not) this can be a hard switch to turn off. I hope this gym teacher eliminates this game setup from his future teaching outlines.
Ugh, I miss my friend now. She will likely be under supervision of her parents for a few weeks which means me, home, with no dinner date lol. I hope she has a smooth and speedy recovery. Also, my faith is a little shaken today. My injured friend is one of the sturdiest, most athletic people I know. If she could get so wrecked from a rec game, what hope is there for us mere mortals to remain injury-free? I guess I will stick to non-contact activities like yoga and jogging.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
My first experience with Bikram's torture
Last month, I attended my first Bikram class downtown on a week-long intro special. I went 3 times that week.
The first time I attended a Bikram class I approached it thinking "well I've done yoga many times before, so I should have no problem with this Bikram stuff." I was mistaken from the first breathing exercise. The synchronization of arms, head, breathing, AND my elbows are supposed to touch?! I hate multitasking choreography, that's why I do yoga! If the first breathing exercise was any indication of things to come I was in a for a complicated 87 more minutes. Luckily the rest of the standing series relatively reassembled other forms of yoga I've done. Even luckier that it was my first ever Bikram class and I took to heart the instructions to first timers; breathe (difficult) and stay in the room (more difficult), everything else is optional (phew! thank god). Let me add that I absolutely abhor excessive heat, summertime and otherwise. I tend to get irritable and cranky with prolonged exposure to humid heat. I have only had one experience that could compare with the environment of Bikram. It was the summer day I rode through Sixflags Safari with JW and we were instructed to keep our windows shut because we were surrounded by potentially dangerous animals. Did I mention it was summertime and our car had no AC? We were torn between driving faster (potentially hitting another species) to get out of the hell we created for ourselves and losing the experience of leisurely enjoying the sight of exotic animals in their "natural" habitat. We opted for the latter and I basically looked exactly like I had just come out of a Bikram class (angry).
Back to the yoga. I've never been one to give up during a physical challenge, so I can say that I actively made an attempt (however absolutely wrong) at every posture of the series.
I was duped.
The two minute savasana between standing and spine strengthening series tricked my yoga intuition. In all other yoga classes I've attended savasana generally means "almost over, relaxed stretching time, ie. no more challenges." But in Bikram the two minute savasana is more like "half-time" or really "third-time" because there is still lots of effort to put forth to finish strong. Uggggh, and then the 20 second savasana in between every posture had me thinking "Okay, this is it. You can't possibly have me relax for 20 more secs and then expect me to apply full effort again." But that is exactly what happened after every innumerable sit-up and muscle engaging stretch. So needless to say, the floor series had my mind boggled until the final savasana.
My first victory, and battle scars.
Coming out of my first Bikram class I felt a bit out of sorts. Like I had just been to battle with a flamethrower. My body was soaked, hair a mess, throat dry and kind of icky. I wanted to limit my movement as much as possible for fear that another muscle burn that day. When I got home I was convinced I had a fever and my throat continued to feel funny into the next day. I just kept trying to analyze my senses to figure out what virus I had caught in that humid germ breeding studio room. What I had caught- was a load of excuses. I didn't return the next day as they recommend ("for full benefits") because I made excuses about the practice making me sick.
Curiosity brought me back.
At some point during my first class I told myself "self, congrats for getting this far, if you can finish this class decently I promise, heck, I swear on iPhone that I will never think or suggest attempting this Bikram hellhole ever again." The weekend came and I fell into a monotony of lazy weekend activities. And then the thought hit me Sunday morning. "What if I went to just one more Bikram class? I mean, just to see what all the hoopla is about returning. They did say improvements would be noticeable after just one practice...hmmm" I went back to Bikram that afternoon as a personal experiment to dispel the claims that each class improves you. At least that's what I kept telling my self. The reality is there was another layer to my thought process that day. Part of me, after the ill sensations subsided, decided that my first Bikram class was fun, intriguing, challenging, and fun (oh god, why?). From then onward I approached each class with varied intentions depending on my feelings. Usually I resolved to just engage, not expect miracles and see where it gets me. Other days I set little goals of which directions to follow better (suck in stomach, weight on heels, come up more on the toes etc).
The first time I attended a Bikram class I approached it thinking "well I've done yoga many times before, so I should have no problem with this Bikram stuff." I was mistaken from the first breathing exercise. The synchronization of arms, head, breathing, AND my elbows are supposed to touch?! I hate multitasking choreography, that's why I do yoga! If the first breathing exercise was any indication of things to come I was in a for a complicated 87 more minutes. Luckily the rest of the standing series relatively reassembled other forms of yoga I've done. Even luckier that it was my first ever Bikram class and I took to heart the instructions to first timers; breathe (difficult) and stay in the room (more difficult), everything else is optional (phew! thank god). Let me add that I absolutely abhor excessive heat, summertime and otherwise. I tend to get irritable and cranky with prolonged exposure to humid heat. I have only had one experience that could compare with the environment of Bikram. It was the summer day I rode through Sixflags Safari with JW and we were instructed to keep our windows shut because we were surrounded by potentially dangerous animals. Did I mention it was summertime and our car had no AC? We were torn between driving faster (potentially hitting another species) to get out of the hell we created for ourselves and losing the experience of leisurely enjoying the sight of exotic animals in their "natural" habitat. We opted for the latter and I basically looked exactly like I had just come out of a Bikram class (angry).
Back to the yoga. I've never been one to give up during a physical challenge, so I can say that I actively made an attempt (however absolutely wrong) at every posture of the series.
I was duped.
The two minute savasana between standing and spine strengthening series tricked my yoga intuition. In all other yoga classes I've attended savasana generally means "almost over, relaxed stretching time, ie. no more challenges." But in Bikram the two minute savasana is more like "half-time" or really "third-time" because there is still lots of effort to put forth to finish strong. Uggggh, and then the 20 second savasana in between every posture had me thinking "Okay, this is it. You can't possibly have me relax for 20 more secs and then expect me to apply full effort again." But that is exactly what happened after every innumerable sit-up and muscle engaging stretch. So needless to say, the floor series had my mind boggled until the final savasana.
My first victory, and battle scars.
Coming out of my first Bikram class I felt a bit out of sorts. Like I had just been to battle with a flamethrower. My body was soaked, hair a mess, throat dry and kind of icky. I wanted to limit my movement as much as possible for fear that another muscle burn that day. When I got home I was convinced I had a fever and my throat continued to feel funny into the next day. I just kept trying to analyze my senses to figure out what virus I had caught in that humid germ breeding studio room. What I had caught- was a load of excuses. I didn't return the next day as they recommend ("for full benefits") because I made excuses about the practice making me sick.
Curiosity brought me back.
At some point during my first class I told myself "self, congrats for getting this far, if you can finish this class decently I promise, heck, I swear on iPhone that I will never think or suggest attempting this Bikram hellhole ever again." The weekend came and I fell into a monotony of lazy weekend activities. And then the thought hit me Sunday morning. "What if I went to just one more Bikram class? I mean, just to see what all the hoopla is about returning. They did say improvements would be noticeable after just one practice...hmmm" I went back to Bikram that afternoon as a personal experiment to dispel the claims that each class improves you. At least that's what I kept telling my self. The reality is there was another layer to my thought process that day. Part of me, after the ill sensations subsided, decided that my first Bikram class was fun, intriguing, challenging, and fun (oh god, why?). From then onward I approached each class with varied intentions depending on my feelings. Usually I resolved to just engage, not expect miracles and see where it gets me. Other days I set little goals of which directions to follow better (suck in stomach, weight on heels, come up more on the toes etc).
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