Day 39 of Challenge (60/60), Class #41 – Slow Roasted Yogini

I had a crazy work day today and I am anticipating the ridiculous work day I will have tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day I will be in Charlottesville from 6:30am till late in the evening for work. I am planning to take a lunch break and go to the Bikram Yoga Studio located in Downtown Charlottesville. I will report back on that.

I planned on taking the 5pm tonight so  I could get all my work done and not be stressed out. Also today we made sticker charts for my daughter for her potty training and a chart for my son for completing certain tasks. I mean the power of stickers  I tell you. I am thinking I should make sticker charts for myself for other things in my life besides the Challenge… like, house chores, organizing… anything that you procrastinate on I am thinking the chart will work.

I was able to eat well today and stay hydrated. I was hopeful for a good class tonight since I am still on a high from last weekend with the Champions. I am hoping that it will last for a while. I also got an email from Garland about taking advanced and I emailed back saying I would be there. I am committed… it feels good but a little scary at the same time. When I walked into the studio I was happy to see Jackie. The last class I had with her I was sick and basically down for the whole class. I wanted to have a strong class with her today. This is the type A perfection side of me that comes out once in a while…. I am still trying to quiet that demon. It’s really tough some days.

When I ran into Morgan she mentioned she was thinking about going to Advanced this weekend as well. I was so excited to hear that. It really helps to have someone there with you that is where you are in your practice. She said she felt the same and was waiting for a new person to go so she would have someone in class with her too. Yay! I am excited now and not as nervous about going.

Lisa T. and Katherine were both in class tonight also and other fellow regulars.  At the beginning of class my Yoga big sis, Lisa T., gave me a birthday present – I was so surprised and so grateful to have such a thoughtful and sweet friend. The present was two books on the TAO. It was the most perfect and special gift. I am lucky to call her my friend and yoga sis!

There was great energy in class tonight for sure. Jackie was funny tonight making jokes about football – I say this lightly because  I don’t follow that sport and I have no clue but it sounded funny to me. Something about her 49ers winning and the Steelers losing… then Lisa said she was gonna leave…it was too funny and made for a light hearted feeling before class started.

The heat was pretty normal hot when we started class tonight but I swear I think it slowly creeped up in temperature and humidity tonight. By the time we went into the floor series I thought I was going to combust – it really felt like we were being slow roasted like how you slow roast veggies. It made for a tough class but I was able to get through without sitting out. There was this annoying fly buzzing around class tonight and it was really distracting for some reason. I had to tell myself, “FOCUS…FOCUS…FOCUS Girl!” Jackie even talked about the importance of learning to concentrate and not letting anything take away from your focus in class, not a teacher, not the heat, not even an annoying fly like tonight. I want to say that is one of the hardest things to accomplish in this yoga (pretty much doing anything it’s hard to remain focused) and I think it is something everyone struggles with.

I left the studio letting everyone know that I would be back to report on how the experience was at the C’ville studio. I was relieved to hear from Jackie who has gone to the studio before that it is very relaxed and not strict like I once heard in passing. Someone had mentioned there was no water allowed in the class before and I thought Holy Crap! But, that was just a rumour… whew!

By the way even with all this yogaing I am still working on the eating aspect and have been finding myself eating birthday cake everynight… I am happy to say there is only a couple more pieces left and maybe I will be able to get back on the eating right track. I think the yoga sometimes makes you crazy hungry and sometimes it makes you not really hungry and want to eat like a rabbit. There is no rhyme or reason so I am just gonna go with it and relax. (Relax=something I have finally learned how to do courtesy of Bikram Yoga, Just saying…)

Namaste Peeps!