Unexpected 30 Day Challenge – Part 2

Wow 19 classes down, 11 to go. I’m really loving this challenge and feel very much in the ‘yoga zone’ at the moment. The support I'm getting from my fellow yogis and yoginis and the teachers is awesome it makes me look forward to going everyday. I’m actually surprised how good I’m feeling. I had a rough couple of days Classes 11 to 12 in terms of aches and pains that lingered all day and then got tonsillitis just before class 13 :/ I was a bit worried I might be over doing it... So I backed off and really concentrated on listening to my body with pleasing results.

Summary

The main improvements during class have been; a much more consistent practice, tolerating the heat way better and less distracted by my ‘monkey mind’.  My balancing series has improved; in particular balancing stick and standing head to knee, although toe stand is stubbornly still toe topple. My back is getting better and I’m regaining most of my previous range of movement.  Tantalisingly close to seeing my toes in floor bow :)

Outside of class I feel like I’m gliding around, my joints just seem to move much more easily. My skin is improving and my stomach is looking more toned. I’m starting to like what I see in the mirror a bit more and ,as a knock on effect, consciously trying to really ‘look after’ my body by eating lots of fresh healthy food.

Class by Class..

Class 11 Mon 13th May) Good standing bow, awkward and floor bow. All the other poses pretty standard. But physiologically I’m starting to feel much better during class. Don’t know if it because the weather has got colder again but I’m definitely not feeling as wiped out by the heat during class and seem to start sweating later.

Class 12 – Tues 14^th May) An OK class nothing stellar. My lower back and hamstrings were really sore afterwards though so was worried that I was pushing to hard during class. Decided to be a bit gentler over the next few classes

Class 13 – Wed 15^th May) Woke up with tonsillitis (urgh) so wasn’t sure how well I would cope with the advanced class.  But as it turned out was surprisingly ok. The heat actually helped my throat alot and I was pretty much pain free while I was in the room. Two good things from this class ...1) the lotus series was a lot less painful than it normally is (hips finally opening more but still a long way to go). 2) Have regained nearly all of my depth in the full back bending series (cobra, camel, pigeon etc) despite my lower back still being very sore. Basically this means I am being forced to do the postures properly and open through the mid and upper back instead of just crunching into my lower spine. Pain (or avoidance of it) is a very effective teacher as the instant I start collapsing into my lower spine it hurts like hell! My balancing posture early in the class were all over the place but got better at the class progressed

Class 14 – Thurs 16^th May) Had to drag myself out of bed but it was a solid class. I’m getting very close to being able to see my feet during floor bow. I have been trying really hard to improve my alignment in this pose recently so it’s great to be seeing some benefits. Previously I was getting my feet very high but my knees were going far too wide.  The trick to solving this has been to start with knees very close together in the set up and kick back and up as far as I can keeping my chin on the floor. I only start to raise my head and chest when I can’t lift my legs any further.  At the moment feels as if it is my shoulders that are getting in the way and are preventing my head / neck from curving back as they should.  Next step is to make a point of doing some deep shoulder openers when I warm up before class in the hope that this might make a difference.

Class 15 – Fri 17^th May) Good class felt lower back felt strong and my balance is starting to come back... wonder if the two are related.  Strong locust pose and balancing stick and as it was an evening class was able to stretch quite deeply into my hamstrings which was nice.

Class 16 – Sat 18^th May) Another good class. Very focused practice. Really happy with the way my body has adapted to the heat. I’m now consistently in the middle of the class rather than hugging the wall at the cooler end!

Class 17 – Sun 19^th May) Man, was I glad of my improved heat tolerance today. Jam packed class, and the air circulators weren’t working so we had the auxiliary heaters on at either end of the class. Lots of sighing, wobbling and some chatting through out the class which I tend to try and view as entertaining rather than distracting. Main problem for me from a practice point of view was the lack of oxygen in the room and I was so glad when our teacher started cracking the door open during the floor series. Plus point was able to do some really deep stretching into my legs and my back felt very open

Class 18  - Mon 20^th May) Great class, strong solid and focused. Definitely noticing an improvement in my shoulders since I have been working on them. It is helping in floor bow but it still really hard to keep them back in stretching pose.

Class 19 – Tues 21^st May) Slowly edging my way even further up the hot end of the room.  As a result very hot class but it was manageable.  My standing head to knee is steadier and I am getting my head to my knee at the end much more regularly. I don’t dread this posture quite so much any more.  Seems that while I have been putting lots of effort into keeping my shoulders back in stretching pose I’ve been neglecting my what’s going on lower down my spine. Need to work on flattening out my lower back a lot.

Anyway another loooong post so that’s all for now folks. Happy Bending!