Monday morning, 7 am. Where are most people? Stuck in traffic? Trying to get ahead of the traffic? Getting ready for work and dreading traffic? I know where most of them aren't... most of them are not in a yoga studio, listening to Metallica and listening to a bearded biker dude talk about being present and creating community within your life as well as your yoga practice. Maybe more people should do that at 7 am on Monday morning. And then getting inverted into a partner handstand at 7:30 am. Gives you a totally different view of the world. And before 8 am, getting into Bridge Pose or Wheel and roaring like a lion. These are all things I do before 8 am in my Monday morning Outlaw class. And it is my favorite part of the day.
Be a silent observer; quiet the ego.
So this week, I'm doing two-a-days a couple days, starting on Monday. Outlaw at 7 am and Vinyasa at 1:30. I brought an old friend to Vinyasa. We were a few minutes late (I always feel so bad when I'm late to yoga.... ) But it was an awesome class. We did several arm balances, which was fun. First was Crow, my current obsession. And I can't describe the sense of pride and awe I felt when I looked back to see my friend in an excellent Crow pose (and this was his second yoga class, ever, btw). I was expecting jealousy but just felt pride and happiness for him. The second was Hurdlers Pose, which is where you basically have one leg over your shoulder and the other one is going back, like you're trying to hurdle over your own arm. I'll add pics for these because my descriptions are not very good. Anyway, the third one I had to look up. It is called "Astavakrasana" or Eight-Angle Pose. And I almost got it! It was actually easier than I thought it would be. I think the studio is going to have an arm balances intensive workshop soon... I should look into it.
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| Astavakrasana or Eight-Angle Pose |
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| The ever elusive Crow |
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| Hurdlers Pose |
It is one of those days where it feels like Outlaw was literally three days ago.... but it was this morning.
I wrote that Monday night... it was a very long day. But a good day. A great way to start the week. Also, I have decided I want to teach yoga. After a year, I'm sure I will do some teacher training, especially the next Outlaw training. I'm just putting it out there.
Peace, light and grace. Positive light.
Tuesday, I did an Align & Flow class. I was late (again). Positive light was my intention, the phrase to keep me anchored in my practice for that time. Another good class but no big take aways.
It's not all perfect, yoga practice is just that, practice. Breathing. Crow improvements. Two a day?
Oh Wednesday... Wednesday was an AMAZING day, not just with yoga but also personally. I started with 7 am Vinyasa Flow with an instructor who is quickly becoming a favorite. The focus and guidance he gives with breathing is fantastic. Plus I enjoy his music selections. Anyway, so I walk in at like 7:02 and he's behind the desk and I'm just thinking "Yay, he hasn't started class yet!" While I'm checking in he's like "You're the only one here" I shrug. I don't care if I'm the only one. I have no problem with that. And about 2 minutes later, two more girls walk in. So it was a class of three. I like smaller classes like that sometimes because you have the freedom to play around and ask for more guidance and maybe try more advanced poses. I am working on my breathing. And I started playing with the Crow float back to Plank. He and I chatted for a bit after class and he admitted that when he saw me coming in, he wondered how he could get me to leave without being a jerk... I was like "ha! Sorry dude, I am determined."
Less is more. Build the discipline as you build the flow. Open your heart. Do the things you are afraid. Be raw and authentic. More Crow improvements and Crow Float Back to Plank.
I enjoyed the 7 am class so much, I decided to go back for more at 9 pm. Same instructor and another awesome class. Starting and ending my day with yoga seems to be a really great idea. Ok, so 9 pm class... a little different. There was a girl helping with aromatherapy and hands-on adjustments which was nice. He made us breathe through our noses the whole time (challenging when you are fighting a head cold). My Crow is continuing to improve and I even successfully floated back to plank once. And then when I tried it again, I stubbed my toe and totally screwed it up. Lesson learned, Crow, lesson learned. But now that I know I can do it, I will definitely keep trying. The only way to get better is to fall. So then he pauses class and is like "hey, let's do partner handstands... who has done Outlaw?" I raised my hand, expecting other hands to go up as well. Apparently none as quickly as mine. So I ended up being the model for how to do partner handstands. That was fun and horribly frightening at the same time. I know I didn't do as well as I could have but it was fun and exciting to get thrown out of my comfort zone.
Gratitude. Felt really strong.
Thursdays class was supposed to be Hatha but I left late and I knew I wouldn't make it to the other studio on time. So I went to my usual studio and did Kind Hot instead. The focus was gratitude. And it was a particularly strong class for me. I mean, I do that series often but today felt really strong. Especially for 9 am. Not much wobbling or anything like that. Plus, it was one of those classes where it would have been really easy for me to just look around at everyone else and judge and compare and get stuck in my own head. Especially with the girl who was just in a sports bra. Now, I won't judge her on that because I end up just in my sports bra often enough. But she kind of strutted in to class like she was going to own that practice and since her mat was practically right in front of me, I got to see how it actually went for her. I am not sure if she was as frustrated as I imagined... but I didn't spend much time thinking on it. I just stayed focused on my own practice.
I have realized today that I am in a constant state of soreness. I am using muscles that I have never used on top of my new weight training routine. It would be weird if I wasn't sore. And I think I mix things up enough that no muscle is being overused. So there is my catch up blog for this week... I tried to remember everything from all six classes but yea... I'm only human. I can't remember everything. Even with notes.
Namaste friends.
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