Goodbye 2011.

Saying goodbye to 2011. I can't believe another year has come and gone, my daughter is going to be 1, my son will turn 5, my stepdaughter is going to be 8, and this year I will turn the big 3-0. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.
If theres one thing I learned from this past year, its that I need to stop saying "I can't believe my daughters almost one" "I can't believe how fast time is going" etc. etc. etc. I really need to learn to be present. It seems the more I say those kinds of things, the faster everything goes. I feel like I missed the last year almost because I was so wrapped up in how it was passing me by.
Be present in life. Be present in your relationships. Be present as a parent. Be present in your yoga.
Namaste

Sometimes Yogi's wear pants.

So, my challenge within a challenge. I recently signed up for the 60 day challenge at the BYC. Thats 60 Classes in 60 days, either one a day or doubles or what have you. MY personal challenge, besides 60 classes, is to purposely position myself around people who I might find distracting, and see if I can stay focused. I am all about pushing myself. Today, there was someone wearing PANTS. Not just pants. BUT LIKE CARPENTER JEANS that were Khaki. And all I could think about was how that guy was wearing PANTS in class. This is not the focus of my yoga practice. Or rather, it shouldn't be. There are several things in the hot room that can be incredibly distracting during practice. Lights, people, fans (or lack there of) peoples hair, peoples sweat, people not paying attention, peoples breathing, etc. The list goes on. I get particularly annoyed when I am having an especially hard class, so my new focus is to "un-focus" on what others are doing, even if I am being distracted by them because they have been practicing for a long time and are very good at the postures, I need to not be concerned about what my neighbor is up to. Both in and out of the Hot Room. Today at work I am going to try to "un-focus".
Namaste

DD's make it hard for Rabbits.

This is, in fact, true. All the compression posture seem to almost be impossible for anyone bigger than a B cup. I wonder if people will judge me if I just duck tape them down next class....hmmmm...
Yesterday was my first class back in a week, I was worried that it would be hard. And, surprisingly, it didn't feel overwhelming, it was just the right balance of challenging, and satisfying. I went for coffee with my dad afterwards, who was in the same class with me, and I mentioned that I didn't think that it was that hot, he immediately shot me a look and said "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" Proving, that everyone feels differently at different times, one persons "too hot" may not be yours.
This mornings class I had a bit of a personal breakthrough.
I found out that the postures that scare me, I can actually do. I can do the third part of Awkward, I am just LAZY. I have this weird mentality most of the time that if I put out too much effort in the beginning posture then the rest of my practice will suffer. I am starting to think that its just the opposite.
Today I got all the way down in fixed-firm pose for only the SECOND time EVER!! Even when I first started going two years ago and was practicing regularly. I was soo happy. I still am. Its the little things. And while there was still mild discomfort, it was nothing like I had imagined it was going to be. I love my life. I love that I get to do this practice on a regular basis. I may try for the 630 class tonight, since I won't be able to come back until Friday. I'll keep you posted.
Namaste

Measurements.

I havent stepped on scale since I was pregnant with my daughter, and I don't plan on ever stepping on one again, so I thought that I would keep track of my shrinking body with measurements. So after 9 classes in 14 days I measure myself. Keep in mind that when I had first measure myself (which was on the 7th, not the 6th like I had originally thought) I had already been to 5 classes. So I just measured myself again, I lost 1 3/4 inches off my hips, 1 inch of my waist, 1 inch off my right arm, 1 inch off my left arm, and 2 inches off my bust!! Thighs have stayed the same but are getting much stronger!!! YES!!! I can't wait to see all the changed in my body!!

100% of the benefits.

So when we last spoke I was planning on doing a double, which I did. I went to the 930 AM class on friday and then came back for the 430 class the same day. I was definitely more flexible in the afternoon class and got deeper into some postures then I had been able to before, but, my strength in the standing series was considerably less, which I had expected. It still felt great and I slept very well on friday night. Colby ( my husband ) and I watched this documentary on Netflix about Dr Max Gerson called "The Beautiful Truth" and it has literally changed our whole mentality about food and the things we put into our bodies and how we want to raise our kids. Bikram plays such a key piece in this lifestyle for me, I am so grateful that I have found it. ( Well actually Emily found it first, so thanks Ems!!) I really think that if I could, I would live at yoga and do nothing else with my spare time.
Last Tuesday after class I measured myself ( hips, thighs, arms, bust, belly ) today after class I am going to do the same. Will let you know the results. :)
Namaste

Not everything is under your control.

So when we last spoke I was planning on attending my very first 6 AM class. This plan, unfortunately, was foiled by my daughter who would much rather me spend the wee hours of the morning snuggling and nursing her then stretching and strengthening my body, she wins, it will only be a matter of time before she no longer wants to nurse and I have to whine and cry to get a little attention from her, they grow up way too fast. I did, however, get to attend the 430 class later on on Wednesday and while mornings are my favorites, as long as I get to get in a class I'm not too picky about the time. It was extremely humid, about 70 % I think, and while the temp never got up above 96-97 the humidity can sometimes be more intense then the heat is, but I like to sweat, I don't like to be hot without sweating a lot, I feel like when I am sweating my body is getting rid of everything unhealthy and bad. Its a good feeling. When I left that class my fingers were prunes. Yes please, I'll take it.
This mornings class with Raquel I felt like I was really concentrating, I was really concentrating on concentrating and making sure I wasn't concentrating on what my dad was doing, I was really concentrating on doing all my postures correctly and I was really really concentrating on making sure I wasn't thinking about my mind, I was just doing what Raquel said. Allllllllll this concentrating lead to me not concentrating and falling out of most of the standing postures because I was spending so much time trying to concentrate, if you get my drift. I sometimes imagine my brain is silly putty and its just kind of hanging out in my skull when I am lying there, I wish it would be silly putty in the standing series so that I could 100% of the time let the instructors tell my body what to do. *sigh* I am going to try to go to the 430 class today, I love me a good double, and tonight, I will sleep like a Yogi :=)
Namaste

26 postures, 2 breathing exercises, 0 expectations, thousands of happy, twisted, yogis.

Here as promised, descriptions of all postures etc. http://www.bikramyogaportsmouth.com/table/byp/26-postures/ this link was taken from the bikram yoga Portsmouth's web page, great videos and descriptions, also a great intro to the practice by the studios director and owner Sara Curry.

"I dont sell cheesecake!" -Bikram

Its true, there is no cheesecake on Bikram or near Bikram, but the benefits are sweet as pie. Thanks very much. My Mantra today seemed to be "I'm definitely skipping the next posture. I am DEFINITELY skipping the next one.....etc" but, alas, nary a posture was skipped, even though I was SURE that I couldn't do just one more posture, I did. I did them all. I felt so good, its what I love about yoga, its why I am an addict. Indeed. Tomorrow I am trying my first 6 am class. Never have I practiced so early, I am stoked.
Namaste

What came first, the camel, or the rabbit?

My second class back was amazing, despite all the doubts that were racing through my mind, "I ate too much this morning, I haven't had enough water, this morning, I didn't get enough sleep, etc. etc. " My lovely friend Allie was teaching, she knows what I am capable of, she won't let me quit. I find that my mental state has changed since the last times I spent in the hot room. I am focusing on TRULY letting go of all expectations in the room, letting the instructors words co-erse my body through the postures, never anticipating the next step, really listening for the cues, it is much harder than one would imagine.
Its hard to not bring anything with you to yoga (anxiety, angst, nausea, emotions from outside etc) I feel like thats my main focus right now, leaving my stuff at the door if you will (though I will admit, in the last few savasana's after I had had this epiphany, I found myself thinking about how I was going to write about it later) I really tried to picture all the good things happening to my body and let go of anything I was feeling without going to much inside my own head, which is also harder than one may think. This all (and always does ) came out when I did my first Camel pose (for those of you who don't know about camel, I will post a brief description of all the postures as soon as I can) and as I was in that first sweet backward bend I literally pictured all of my negative energy and reservations, emotions, all the things I had been holding on to, flowing out of my fingers, down my feet, and out onto the floor where it left me for good. Then it all clambered back in during rabbit! Hahaha. I have sometimes held a grudge against rabbit because it pains me so, but I know thats good, and I can't have a camel without a rabbit so I guess I'll have to keep trying. Always keep trying. Be the change you want to see.
Namaste

VEGA superfoods by SEQUEL

So along with my yoga challenge, I figured I would also document the things I am eating, well, because one usually can't change without noticing what one is putting into ones own body right? Right. I went to Granite State natural foods to get something for my mom and there happened to be a lovely lady there sampling a few items that they had on sale, so I thought "hey, sure, I'll try something while I am waiting" and I am glad I did because I found this stuff called VEGA, its made by Sequel, which is a company out of Vancouver British Columbia, (the most beautiful place on earth) you could actually live off the stuff, ( I dont know if I'll go that far but we'll see...) As for now, I am replacing one meal with it, usually breakfast or lunch, I am excited to notice how my body reacts to all the nutrients that are in this. I'll keep you posted.
Today this is what I did for lunch,
In my Juicer.
1 Beet and the greens
1/2 an apple
4 strawberries
about 10 blueberries
1small(about 7 small leafs)  bunch of kale
about 1/2 cup of cucumber

Then in a blender I mixed all of the above juice, some ice cubes and one scoop of the Berry flavored VEGA. Oh my, it was sooo tasty and a lovely purple color ( i need things to be pleasing to look at or I wont consume them, which is why I often use beets ) So much nutrients just getting straight into your body!! Amazing!

My first class back in the room.

Yesterday was my first class back in the Bikram room, and I gotta tell ya, it was hot!!! I am not sure if it was because I wasn't used to it or because it happened to be one of the instructors who likes it particularly hot (not mentioning any names but his initials are MIKE MORRIS!! :) ) I noticed after my first backward bend I got dizzy, I literally FEEL all the blood returning to my spine where I know it had been interrupted for months by poor sleeping positions (thanks to nursing baby) and also the type of work I do (thanks to silly restaurant) I had to lie down at one point and the only posture I skipped out on was awkward, and thats always been my nemesis, I surprisingly kept some of my flexibility, more of it than what I had expected.
I look forward to next time.
Namaste