Yoga and Mirrors

I've mentioned before my need to lose weight.  Although I am quite aware of this, it still was somewhat discouraging to see myself at my yoga class today. 

The renovation of our yoga room included the addition of mirrors. 

Mirrors!  Yikes!

I look pregnant.  No joking. 

It didn't help that today I wore my biggest oldest sloppy t-shirt which ended up being too loose to be comfortable for yoga.  I kept needing to pull it down.  Annoying. 

Yes, there is a benefit to the mirrors.  I can see my form better.  And (although I look crappy in weight, my form is not bad) yes, that is good in the long run. 

However, right here and now in the short run, I am seeing my fat body in the mirrors and I do not like what I see.    It's not that I never look in mirrors at home.  However, at home, I am not standing in warrior one pose looking at my big ol' pudgy belly. 

I hope to start a weight loss plan after the holidays.   In the meanwhile, I'll continue to exercise. 

And I'll do my best to keep my eyes off the mirrors. 

The Question on Everyone's Mind: Will You Do Yoga Today?

Wednesdays are my hardest, longest day. 

It is probably the day of the week that yoga is most needed. 

Yet I cannot seem to muster up the energy come Wednesday afternoon or evening. 

I have two choices:  1)  I could do it on my own at home in the afternoon.  2)  I could head back out into the cold to the 6:30pm class where an instructor would push me and make me enjoy it.

Oh and the third choice is to be lazy. 

The weather is cold and dreary today.  Again, it has been a long one. 

I'm just not feeling it. 

I hope to someday be at the point that I want to do it at home no matter what. 

I'm not there yet. 

Is there hope for me?

Do You Exercise When Feeling Icky?

The morning brought with it a headache and a case of the "icks" today. 

If you ask me why I don't feel good, I can't quite explain it.  It's just a bit of ickiness and blahs.  (The headache left after my morning coffee, water, and Ibuprofen.)

I had planned an afternoon visit to the gym for some cardio and weight training, but the icks prevailed. 

Would I have felt better had I exercised?  Most likely. 

Instead I have allowed myself to be icky and blah and ugh all day. 

Do you force yourself to exercise when you don't feel your best?

That's How I Know I Love Yoga...

Fridays tend to be long, long days.  They can seem even longer if I have a bad sleep the night before like I did last night. 

I awoke around 4am because the cat pushed open my door.  (I love that cat, but grrrrr)

Then I never returned to sleep.

Needless to say, I have been so sleepy all day. 

Additionally, I have been extra sad today. 

The easiest thing in the world would be to come home and sit on my bottom while drinking wine and watching movies.  Oh how tempting that was today when I was tired and it was rainy, cold, and dreary!

Yet I craved my Friday night yoga class.   I pushed myself through my tiredness and went.  And yes, not only did I do it, I loved doing it! 

If I were simply planning to go to the gym and workout on the elliptical and the weights, I would have been too tired to go. 

Yoga is different.

When I think of how much I love doing it compared to other workouts, I am amazed at the difference.

I Could Use a Little Zen Today

One of these days soon, I plan to photograph my daughter in some yoga poses to use with my posts.  I keep planning to do so, but not following through.  Life is busy.  In the meanwhile, my personal photos of trees and lovely beach scenes work fine.

Today has been such a rotten day.  I have felt such anxiety due to all sorts of things.  I need some zen.  I need some yoga. 

The busy, busy schedule of Wednesday never allows for Yoga.  Today is even more busy than usual as I have to take my daughter to dance class. 

The good thing is that tomorrow I get to go to my favorite yoga class.  I love this instructor and I want to suggest to her that she make some instructional videos and put them on youtube.  I'd love to be able to benefit from her teachings on the days I cannot make it to her class.  Due to vehicle issues, I haven't been to her class for 4 weeks!  That's terrible!  I miss it!

I three instructors that I see regularly, but she is my favorite.

Do you have a favorite instructor?

Sunrise Yoga? I Don't Get It!

Perhaps it is because I am simply NOT a morning person.  I'm just not.  I would rather sleep. 

In fact, tomorrow I have plans to go to an 8:00am yoga class and I am not thrilled about it. 

I'm thrilled about the yoga, just not the time. 

Again, I would rather sleep.

So when I hear about these yoga studios that offer sunrise yoga, I find it completely unappealing.  For one thing, early in the morning, my body feels extra tight and off-balance.  The early morning classes seem so much more difficult for me to keep the poses or even reach the poses. 

There is way more "ouch" to morning yoga. 

I wonder if the morning yoga might be a better way to start your day if you suffer from anxiety (which I do).  Perhaps the spiritual and mental benefits outweigh the negatives from the stiff morning muscles.

I could see doing sunset yoga.  That sounds nice. 

Much nicer because it does not require me to set my alarm clock.

Three Months of Yoga

Does three months of regular practice of yoga sound like a lot to you?   In the scheme of all things zen, it actually is not.  Yet I feel good about three months.

 I attend some advanced classes and I do a pretty good job of keeping up at this point.  That's something.  I still say how much easier it will be for me when I shed some of these unwanted pounds.  I was especially thinking that tonight at my class. 

The instructor who is already fairly tough decided to hold each pose longer than usual.  As my arms were burning in plank pose and downward facing dog, I couldn't help but dream of weighing 50 pounds less.

 As I still struggle to keep learning poses and mastering poses, I do not focus as much on breathing, relaxing.  However, I do already see the benefits to this aspect of yoga practice.

Prior to starting my yoga journey, I could never breathe (it seemed).  My breathing has improved.

As I have mentioned before, there is definitely the benefit of less anxiety.  I would like to say that all anxiety has disappeared, maybe someday!

Three months ago, I could not do the tripod pose.  Today I did. 

Three months ago, my hands and wrists hurt for days after my first two classes.

Three months ago, I didn't know a cobra pose from an eagle pose.

Three months ago, I didn't know how much I would love yoga.

A New Option for Yoga

As I have mentioned, I have been without a vehicle for nearly a month now thanks to a paperwork nightmare that we are trying to straighten out.  The biggest issue has been me getting to the gym for my Yoga classes.  (thankfully, the children are in low activity mode right now)

My husband's work schedule has made it so I can get there occasionally, but not regularly like I need. 

I know so many folks who do their yoga at home always. 

I am just not good at exercising at home. 

I'm just not.

A month or so ago, I downloaded a yoga app, but I found it boring. 

Yesterday I decided to check out youtube.  I found many yoga videos on there.  I started one by that Jillian chick from the Greatest Loser show, but the video wasn't working.  The next in line was one by Denise Austen.  Although I am not a big fan of her, I decided to try it. 

It was a 30 minute class that was fairly basic.  It went much more quickly than if I were trying to do it at home without a class.  It wasn't great, but it was something which was more than I was getting. 

So that is my plan.  From now on, I will try to do videos at home if I cannot get to the gym (which at this rate, who knows when I can drive my van again.)

Here's the youtube video that I watched. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daoU86HqYPg

Give Me Strength, Flexibility, and a Little Zen

Another day at home without a vehicle. 

This is getting quite old to say the least. 

I love being home.  I love the days we have no activities, but I need to go places!  I need to go grocery shopping, to the bank, to the gym!

I NEED YOGA!

Here shortly, I plan to do some poses here at home.  As I have written before, it is never the same.  I often feel bored and distracted at home.  The time passes quite slowly. 

I shall do it!  I shall!

I'll do some salutations (rex style), some chair, tree, and warrior poses.  There's a pose that I do not know the name of that I shall do.  I shall stretch, stretch, and stretch some more. 

And my achy, tight, sore, inflexible body will thank me for it!

Some Much Needed Yoga!

Vehicle restrictions have made trips to the gym impossible this week.  I had high hopes of doing yoga at home, but it just didn't happen.  Tuesday morning was my last time to make it to Yoga class. 

Finally, today, my dear friend Mary drove me to one of my favorite classes.  The male instructor is probably in his sixties.  He wears his long hair in a ponytail and his clothes definitely make me think "hippie."  His classes are tough, but not too tough.  (sheepish grin) I sort of tricked my friend into the class by not telling her it was "advanced."  But seriously, I did his advanced class for my second class ever and was able to keep up. 

That's the great thing about yoga is that you can do as much as you can do.  If something is difficult, then change the pose. 

My body felt so incredibly tight today as though I had lost all flexibility in the short five days since my last class. 

Oh I do hope to some day be doing yoga every single day.  I do hope to get motivated enough to do it at home on the days that I cannot make it to the gym because often it is just too hard to get to the gym. 

I have done it at home a few times.  It's never the same. 

But yoga makes me feel good!  I feel both physically and mentally better when I am doing it!  The time spent in that class is so beneficial.  It helps my anxiety, it helps my mood. 

Now, back to the whole stuck at home without a car thing.  I'm hoping to go Tuesday evening after my husband returns from work if he gets home in time.  That's the question:  will he?

Yoga and Anxiety

I have been attracted to the thought of Yoga for quite awhile.  In fact, I tried a class probably ten years ago that was a pilates-yoga combination class at my then-current gym.  I wasn't impressed at the time.  It was probably too large a venue for a newbie like me.  I didn't try again. 

Then anxiety arrived in my life.  Initially, I seemed to manage it.  It went away.  Then my son died.  Anxiety returned in full force.  It became overwhelming.  I turned to prescription anxiety meds for help.  It helped me through those rough first holidays last year.  What I found, though, was that prescription medicine made me feel like a zombie.  I seriously had no emotion.  I didn't cry for months.  And I am a crier.  I went through my first Christmas without my son and I didn't cry.  Sure, I didn't want to be a basket case, but I wanted to feel my real emotions. 

So shortly after the holidays, I said bye bye to the prescription medicines. 

Exercise has always helped with my anxiety.  So I was trying to keep up with that as well.  As I started to feel a slight upturn in anxiety again, I decided to find a yoga class.  I belong to the YMCA which offers yoga classes.  So I had to find schedules that worked with me.  I did so.

Now it is over two months since I started and I can say that my anxiety has seemed under control.  I feel like I leave yoga class relaxed.  I can breathe easier, literally. 

I hated the idea of being tied to medications to function day to day.  I'm so glad I ditched them and found a more natural way to handle my stress.