21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 15

Nov 12, 13 21 Day Yoga Challenge:  Day 15

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My  body is changing.  I am noticing that my skin is clearing.  I have had a little blemish under my eye for a while.  It came to the surface and went away.  I have always been a little stinky–especially if I drink coffee.  My body odor has gone away.  I didn’t wear deodorant yesterday and by the evening, there was no smell at all. Today, our class was full of a bunch of McMaster University women’s rugby players.  Guess they decided to try yoga.  The class was packed full of youth and vigor.  It was kind of fun. I made it through most of the class today. Also, I decided to sign up for another 30 day yoga challenge.  So, this challenge will be followed by another 30 days.  They overlap a little, so it will actually be 48 days total.  Should be interesting.  I can only imagine how different my body will be after 48 days of yoga....

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21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 14

Nov 11, 13 21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 14

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Today the  teacher commented on how much better I have gotten.  Actually, she said something yoga-esque like, “It is fantastic to see how much your practice has changed.”  I felt proud. It was great to feel strong again after a few days of feeling exhausted.  It is nice to see it come around again. I got super cold before coming to yoga.  It was so nice to be in the hot room which isn’t feeling all that hot to me any more.  I felt warm and cozy by the end and that was awesome.  I am loving the hot...

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21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 13 — Another Day On My Mat

Nov 10, 13 21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 13 — Another Day On My Mat

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Today is Sunday and figuring out how to get to yoga around family activities is a bit challenging.  I find a class at 12:30 which means we take 2 cars to church.  I could tell Mel really wanted me to go to church with him, so I left right after.  Turns out my clothes were in the dryer so I had to come home anyway, and there he was pulling up behind me, so we could have taken one car in the first place.  There is still a clumsiness to my scheduling and making my yoga work.  I hope this gets more graceful with time.  I am letting the clumsiness be okay.  We are absorbing a new commitment into our lives and it is a gradual process.  Having me exercise 7 times a week is completely new in our relationship. I get to yoga and I get the blocks and strap and put them next to me just in case, but I am deeply tired.  I lie down on my mat and stay there the entire hour and 25 minutes.  I nap a little, breathe a lot and by the end, I feel refreshed. Lying in shavasana for a whole class is still challenging for my ego.  I know I have to do it in order to make it through the challenge when I get tired, but I want to be stronger and able to do more.  It is humbling.  I have heard this word used several times by teachers and it is deeply true.  Not because I feel bad about lying on the mat, but because I wish I didn’t need to.  All that said, it is so amazingly pleasant to lie there.  I feel like I am melting into the floor.  My thoughts are a bit strange, especially when I doze a little and wake up dreaming of video games or weird jarring thoughts.  I notice and let them go and focus on breathing again.  It is deeply restful.  As I get...

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21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 11 – Starting to Love the Yoga!

Nov 08, 13 21 Day Yoga Challenge:  Day 11 – Starting to Love the Yoga!

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I am so excited to get to yoga today.  It has required some child management craziness.  I am entering the studio after having brought the boys with me to yoga.  I have shown them the bench in the lobby, the bench outside and sent them to the dollar store down the way with $2.50 each to “buy something” and $1.25 each to get something to eat, since once we left the house they were “starving” after 3 hours of  being home where there are $200 worth of appropriate snacks I bought at Costco yesterday to try to combat exactly this perpetual starvation.  Mel is on his way to get them but hit traffic and so didn’t make it home today.  We had talked about this dollar store option early in the week and the boys are excited about going shopping alone. I wonder if I will be worried about them the whole time or if I can relax and enjoy my yoga.  We’ll see.  They run off and I get changed and line up for this very busy class.  There are people everywhere lined up to get in.  Apparently Moksha Yoga has prime time at 6:30 on Friday night.  I stand near the door since all the seats are taken.  I am feeling like it will be packed and mention it to a woman next to me.  She says she loves the feel of the collective in full classes, the feeling of all the people moving together in unison.  Talk about a perspective shift. I enjoy the feel of the collective and make it through the whole class.  The teacher is a woman who is shaped more like me.  I really like this about this yoga studio.  People have said everyone who does yoga is twiggy but this is just not the case here.  I feel welcomed, treasured, supported, and stretched.  My mind and my body.  I love...

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21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 9 – I Am Starting to Get Tired

Nov 06, 13 21 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 9 – I Am Starting to Get Tired

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The teacher today is less rigorous in terms of correcting postures than the teacher yesterday.  Some of the teachers are so rigorous and generous in their correction of poses throughout the class.  If they correct even one pose, helping  me to have better form, I notice how their words stay with me for days as I try to get to that perfect form in subsequent classes.  Some of the teachers do this regularly and some only occasionally.  I notice that I prefer rigor.  I like to try to get the poses perfect and to stretch into postures that are as correct as possible. I make it through this class today and feel proud that I have made it through a second class where I was able to do most of the poses. I am very sleepy today afterward.  I feel deeply tired.  I have a medical test on Friday that requires me to go easy on the exercise and I think tomorrow I will take it really slow and try to give my body a...

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