Day 16 of Challenge (60/60), Class #17 – Sunday Fun Day
I woke up this morning feeling pretty good and not super sore as I anticipated after doing a double class yesterday. It was another gorgeous fall day and I was a little hesitant to take yoga today because it was so pretty. I quickly changed that thought to which class will I go to. It was between the 12pm and 2pm for me. I got a surprise visit from a family member this morning which dictated I would go to the 2pm class. There was some great healing that happened from this meeting and I am grateful it happened. Something inside of me tells me it’s the yoga that is bringing all this peace into my life. If that sounds a little hoky to you well don’t knock it until you try it out.
On FaceBook this morning, RoseAnn, fellow yogini, mentioned I should take a picture of all 26 postures and then Kelly, super star yogini, also agreed and mentioned sometimes you progress in poses and you don’t even realize it. She also said sometimes the ones you really work on don’t progress as much as some of the others for some reason. I just thought what a great idea. I packed my regular Lumix camera instead of the phone camera to get better quality pictures.
When I walked into the studio today I saw Pavida and thought she would be teaching but she had just taught the 12pm class….it was Tighe that was teaching! I just thought that was so hilarious because she told me yesterday she was teaching one class and wasn’t going to tell me which one so I couldn’t avoid her. I guess the yoga gods said you need a Tighe class. It was actually perfect because after class I asked her to take pictures of me in the postures and she was so gracious with her time and also providing me corrections while in posture. I will post the poses in a seperate blog post with just the pictures and captions.
Today I had a few other challengers in class to help me through. Jim, Matt, and Laura all are doing the challenge and Laura was on her second class of the day. I was able to get a good spot in front of the mirror today but didn’t have any familiar faces around me. Something about that was nice even though I always love being near people I practice with regularly.
I felt good going into class but that quickly faded to my disappointment. I tried to remember to have no expectations and give myself a break. I was so close to sitting out a couple poses but I pushed through and got through all of them. Tighe mentioned in class today, “The heat is used as a tool not as a punishment.” I have to admit in the moment I thought ok that may be true but I think it is also a punishment. Maybe that is why Bikram says, “Welcome to my torture chamber.”
Tighe has this really sweet angelic voice but at the same time she is a drill sargent. Today we were in Balancing Stick pose and she didn’t start counting till everyone was in posture. It’s supposed to last 10 seconds and it’s a freaking hard pose to hold. I was thinking while in the pose, “People get in the damn pose already so she will start counting!!” I think we were in that pose for at least a minute. Well I was in that pose for a minute waiting for others to get into it. I am not sure how people handle that pose in Teacher Training. I have heard Bikram makes you hold the pose for 5 minutes or something crazy like that. I just felt fire in my legs and arms and was so happy to be done with that pose.
Tighe mentioned Advanced Class was for anyone to take if they felt ready. Yukari Miwa, the Women’s World Champion, is coming to teach a regular class on Nov 6th in Japanese and also hold an Advanced Clinic. She told everyone in class if they felt ready, they should come to the clinic. I have to admit as scary as that Advanced Class sounds, I am definitely curious what happens in there that’s different. Maybe one day I will venture in there.
I was so exhausted at the end of the class I wondered if I would be able to get through taking pictures of the poses. I truly left it all on the mat today. Surprisingly when Tighe was able to get back in the room, I had a renewed source of energy to get these pictures done. I was really anxious to see how I looked the poses. Tighe was so great and also really put effort into the lighting of the room and angles. She also went through the dialogue for me so I could get in the postures properly. She was very encouraging and thought this would be a great tool for so many to do. I am thinking everyone who practices regularly should have pictures taken and dated. It is like a visual diary. She did some amazing corrections for me and now I feel ready to get back into the hot room to put them to practice.
Well, I did it. I got through class 17 and I am one class ahead right now. I am hoping tomorrow I won’t feel as drained as I did today on the mat. I will try to remember no expectations. One bonus of all this yogaing…. I get to eat PIZZA and not feel guilty.
Namaste Peeps!
