This was a rough one. Haven't been in a class since Tuesday, the 21st, Solstice. I was so sore on Wednesday that I skipped hot yoga and donated blood instead. I was very weak on Thursday and still sore so I didn't go to class. No classes scheduled at ZenSpot on Friday or the weekend. Finally I ventured to class today, still congested in the head.
Just my luck, it was a 75 minute class! Twenty-two people sweatin' it up. I can clearly see that some of my strength and balance have diminished during my time away. No worries. I will spend this week as a devoted yogini.
Got an email about satsang with Dave happening in January. I won't be in town so I have the excuse of not attending but in the future, I know I'm not that interested in learning the scriptures etc at this time.
So my advice to myself for the future is this: Do not overdo it! Do not spend 3 and 1/2 hours doing asanas, then 108 sun salutations, donate blood, continue working, and then expect yourself to celebrate the holidays without coming down with something like a cold!
Monday, December 27, 2010
108 Sun Salutations with XoXo
What possessed me to attempt one hundred and eight sun salutations? Simply the challenge of doing something I'd never done before and to honor the celestial change and celebration of Winter Solstice.
In a candlelit room, the participants faced one another in a circle and XoXo lead us through the movements and counted for us. Amazing focus could be felt in the room. It was only disrupted by the guy on my left who had decided to do his own yoga thing. Sometimes he was following the synchronization but mostly he was squirming and flailing, making jerky movements and "tripping out." It was challenging to have him there but also another lesson in acceptance. Similar to another very disruptive character in a different class the other day. He was a very tall and seemed to take up a lot of space. He didn't have enough money to pay for his class/es. He was a dollar short because he bought a bunch of groceries last night. In class he kept tugging at his shorts and moved in a lumbering manner. He shot into bow before anyone else but fell out of it with as much enthusiasm. Distractions abound.
Anyway, the Solstice was wonderful and I'm so happy I committed to participating in the event. Namaste, XoXo!
In a candlelit room, the participants faced one another in a circle and XoXo lead us through the movements and counted for us. Amazing focus could be felt in the room. It was only disrupted by the guy on my left who had decided to do his own yoga thing. Sometimes he was following the synchronization but mostly he was squirming and flailing, making jerky movements and "tripping out." It was challenging to have him there but also another lesson in acceptance. Similar to another very disruptive character in a different class the other day. He was a very tall and seemed to take up a lot of space. He didn't have enough money to pay for his class/es. He was a dollar short because he bought a bunch of groceries last night. In class he kept tugging at his shorts and moved in a lumbering manner. He shot into bow before anyone else but fell out of it with as much enthusiasm. Distractions abound.
Anyway, the Solstice was wonderful and I'm so happy I committed to participating in the event. Namaste, XoXo!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Welcoming the Light
I spent Saturday afternoon at a three hour yoga workshop at Just Breathe with Dave.
This studio sits above a busy parking lot for Woodfield Station, a mass of stores connected to one another by their capacities to generate income for some local families and a few big conglomerates. A place I try to avoid due to the lack of meaning and terrible parking layout. Watching the maze of cars through the windows of the studio made me miss the nurturing surroundings of Tamarack, tucked into the evergreens of the South Hills.
So three hours may seem like a long time for asanas but it felt like an hour.
During the first savasana, I'm pretty sure I made a few snoring/snorting sounds as I grew close to falling asleep.
It was a pleasure to attend the workshop. I do appreciate the relaxing, slow pace of Dave's classes. I did not experience the high I have encountered leaving his other classes. I think the endorphins have learned that this type of experience happens so frequently now that they are not as strong.
Nice studio. Not a great location. Wonderful practice.
This studio sits above a busy parking lot for Woodfield Station, a mass of stores connected to one another by their capacities to generate income for some local families and a few big conglomerates. A place I try to avoid due to the lack of meaning and terrible parking layout. Watching the maze of cars through the windows of the studio made me miss the nurturing surroundings of Tamarack, tucked into the evergreens of the South Hills.
So three hours may seem like a long time for asanas but it felt like an hour.
During the first savasana, I'm pretty sure I made a few snoring/snorting sounds as I grew close to falling asleep.
It was a pleasure to attend the workshop. I do appreciate the relaxing, slow pace of Dave's classes. I did not experience the high I have encountered leaving his other classes. I think the endorphins have learned that this type of experience happens so frequently now that they are not as strong.
Nice studio. Not a great location. Wonderful practice.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Tuesday, Wednesday, and this morning at ZenSpot have been pretty brilliant. I'm up to my 19th class here and seven weeks left in my membership. I'm very pleased with my developing abilities of concentration, balance and strength. During the last savasana, when everyone is rustling and bustling to get out of there, I have begun visualizing the chakras in my body, imagining energy flowing, and counting in synch with my breaths from one to seven, back to one. Keeps my mind from tuning into the disturbances in the room.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Shared two hours with Dave, Lisa, Rochelle, Vicky, Chris, and Colby touching on some aspects of yoga this morning. I was interested in attending this satsang to see if I found it interesting. That simple. Am I interested in asanas more than study? The physical more than the spiritual? I didn't leave wishing for more discussion so I may safely say that I am in it for calming , de-stressing, love flowing, muscle building, limbering, toning, and the oxygen.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Tuesday was also a very hard class with Kelli but I sure loved it!
Wednesday I met with XoXo over a beer (I don't normally drink beer!) and ate pupus while we socialized and talked yoga. She is one of the instructors at what used to be Tamarack. She subbed for Dave's class once and I was instantly soothed by her manner and voice. I started going to some of her classes and we felt we had a little connection (she also loves Ween). So it was fun. It was like a date. We talked about getting together on Solstice for 108 sun salutations.
Thursday I registered for Dave's 3 hour Welcoming Light workshop coming up on the 18th. I'm not exactly sure how much will be dedicated between asanas, philosophy and meditation. There are also satsangs scheduled (the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Tantra, Yoga and the Buddha, the Ramayana and other spiritual modalities as they relate to yoga) and I will be attending on Monday morning.
Friday afternoon I was met by the darkened studio of ZenSpot. Doors locked. Once again I forgot about the different scheduling on Friday afternoons. I had spent the day on the computer, laundering the clothes, cleaning, I watched a dvd, cleaning out the chicken coop. After realizing there was to be no yoga for me, I went home to walk the dogs and made a potato, bacon leek, and gruyere soup and stuffed cabbage rolls.
Saturday, today, my husband and I went downtown to ZenSpot's holiday/anniversary party. There was olive oil tasting, drinks, sweets, crudites, bread and dips, a masseur, and live music. We missed the magician. It was interesting to me to see some familiar faces in a different light. Super Limber Girl is not as tall as I see her when we're in the studio.
Today I realized that I have to respect my position as a practitioner of physical yoga and that I started doing yoga to make myself, my back and shoulders, my body, feel better. And it has worked. There have been other benefits as well, like maintaining a much more positive mood and outlook, less fatigue, gaining better balance, focus, power, weight loss. If the spiritual quest becomes stronger for me, then I will hear it and listen, but recently I have been hope-expecting for a path of purity to grab me by the collar and slap me around, and I will suddenly be pure light. There is a correlation between Buddha and Patanjali and yoga, all stemming from India, but I am an American woman, and I am questioning how all of this fits together for me. Hence Dave's in-depth classes.
I am wondering whether I will stay with my grandma or my mom when i go home to SF next month. There is a Bikram studio on the same block as my grandma's house!
The season of materialism and Christ's birthday is in full swing. I want to understand what more there is.
Wednesday I met with XoXo over a beer (I don't normally drink beer!) and ate pupus while we socialized and talked yoga. She is one of the instructors at what used to be Tamarack. She subbed for Dave's class once and I was instantly soothed by her manner and voice. I started going to some of her classes and we felt we had a little connection (she also loves Ween). So it was fun. It was like a date. We talked about getting together on Solstice for 108 sun salutations.
Thursday I registered for Dave's 3 hour Welcoming Light workshop coming up on the 18th. I'm not exactly sure how much will be dedicated between asanas, philosophy and meditation. There are also satsangs scheduled (the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Tantra, Yoga and the Buddha, the Ramayana and other spiritual modalities as they relate to yoga) and I will be attending on Monday morning.
Friday afternoon I was met by the darkened studio of ZenSpot. Doors locked. Once again I forgot about the different scheduling on Friday afternoons. I had spent the day on the computer, laundering the clothes, cleaning, I watched a dvd, cleaning out the chicken coop. After realizing there was to be no yoga for me, I went home to walk the dogs and made a potato, bacon leek, and gruyere soup and stuffed cabbage rolls.
Saturday, today, my husband and I went downtown to ZenSpot's holiday/anniversary party. There was olive oil tasting, drinks, sweets, crudites, bread and dips, a masseur, and live music. We missed the magician. It was interesting to me to see some familiar faces in a different light. Super Limber Girl is not as tall as I see her when we're in the studio.
Today I realized that I have to respect my position as a practitioner of physical yoga and that I started doing yoga to make myself, my back and shoulders, my body, feel better. And it has worked. There have been other benefits as well, like maintaining a much more positive mood and outlook, less fatigue, gaining better balance, focus, power, weight loss. If the spiritual quest becomes stronger for me, then I will hear it and listen, but recently I have been hope-expecting for a path of purity to grab me by the collar and slap me around, and I will suddenly be pure light. There is a correlation between Buddha and Patanjali and yoga, all stemming from India, but I am an American woman, and I am questioning how all of this fits together for me. Hence Dave's in-depth classes.
I am wondering whether I will stay with my grandma or my mom when i go home to SF next month. There is a Bikram studio on the same block as my grandma's house!
The season of materialism and Christ's birthday is in full swing. I want to understand what more there is.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Fifteenth Class
Outside 42*F
Inside 99*F
Two days without yoga feels like two years. Kelli worked us hard today. So many Chatarangas and Navasana - boat poses. Not just a few but enough to make you wonder if you'll be able to pull yourself off of the floor when the torture is over. Core work, she says.
Inside 99*F
Two days without yoga feels like two years. Kelli worked us hard today. So many Chatarangas and Navasana - boat poses. Not just a few but enough to make you wonder if you'll be able to pull yourself off of the floor when the torture is over. Core work, she says.
Friday, December 3, 2010
I Found My Belly Button!
Outside the Studio 40*F
Inside the Studio 102*F
Fourteenth class
A laugh on the mat day at ZenSpot. Today, being Friday, seemed to kindle a giddiness in the mood of many.
Those sixty minutes were some of the easiest minutes I have spent at this studio. The asanas were nearly effortless, other than the numerous Chaturanga Dandasana. I am still dropping my knees to the floor while lowering my body in what looks similar to the lowering part of a push-up. My upper arms are not as strong as I once thought.
I don't want to get too excited but I had some powerful balance today, especially with Virabhadrasana 3 - Warrior 3 Pose and King Dancer Pose - Natarajasana.
Not so steady in Crow.
I'm annoyed by the level of commotion I experience while Savasana is happening, or rather, not happening. As I've said before, people just jump up, start talking, spraying their mat, opening and shutting doors. I feel like my True Savasana is so far from that room. My focus will have to be on letting go of my feelings of annoyance.
"If you practice to be happy, let go of everything. You have to let go in order to be happy." Michael is right. Deep down, we all know that.
Inside the Studio 102*F
Fourteenth class
A laugh on the mat day at ZenSpot. Today, being Friday, seemed to kindle a giddiness in the mood of many.
Those sixty minutes were some of the easiest minutes I have spent at this studio. The asanas were nearly effortless, other than the numerous Chaturanga Dandasana. I am still dropping my knees to the floor while lowering my body in what looks similar to the lowering part of a push-up. My upper arms are not as strong as I once thought.
I don't want to get too excited but I had some powerful balance today, especially with Virabhadrasana 3 - Warrior 3 Pose and King Dancer Pose - Natarajasana.
Not so steady in Crow.
I'm annoyed by the level of commotion I experience while Savasana is happening, or rather, not happening. As I've said before, people just jump up, start talking, spraying their mat, opening and shutting doors. I feel like my True Savasana is so far from that room. My focus will have to be on letting go of my feelings of annoyance.
"If you practice to be happy, let go of everything. You have to let go in order to be happy." Michael is right. Deep down, we all know that.
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