"The secret lies in our own breath. Through breathing exercises, certain breathing techniques and some practice of meditation, we can rekindle positive vibrations within and around us."
~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation
"The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man."
~ Euripides
This morning I did a yoga class with Adriene. The focus of the session was abs and arms and it was suitably challenging.
I felt a satisfying burn in my abs within the first 10 minutes - and, to me, that's a successful class.
I felt a sense of accomplishment on completing this class. I felt relaxed yet invigorated, ready to take on my day. The day was quite busy and so I only managed to pen this post - 12 hours later.
It has been rather quiet on the blog for a while. I have been to gym this week but haven't tracked the workouts. I have been feeling a bit disenchanted with the gym lately and feel that my overall motivation has been waning.
I still make time for yoga though, and today's session was with Adriene. The class was focused on strengthening and lengthening. It was fabulous to feel a little burn in my muscles again. The class was a lovely combination of burning, shaking muscles and intense focus as well as relaxing and stretching the muscles.
I am pleased to have made time to find space on my mat.
Today I did this yoga class with Tim Senesi. It was an enjoyable class and has asanas of varying levels to cater for intermediate to advanced level yogis.
It is quite different to be guided in my practice by a male voice because I'm used to female voices leading my practice.
I'm always glad to have made the time to get onto my mat for a practice.
This session, the final one of this challenge, was specifically for the aches and pains collected in the body due to commuting to and from work.
This class had some good stretches for the back and hips. It's important to stretch and relax the muscles that are tensed up due to being in a seated position for long periods of time.
I have finally completed this challenge, after a few lengthy gaps in my practice. It took me longer than 4 weeks, but it's done.
Thanks again, Erin, you are a fabulous teacher.
I have learned to make peace with the fact that most things don't pan out as planned. Instead of becoming frustrated, it's important to learn to adapt to the challenges and work through the various obstacles in your path. This builds resilience and character.
Today's session was a prenatal class. Even if you aren't pregnant, there are lovely stretches in this class which will help to open the hips, lessen back pain and relax your muscles.
Find space and mental quietness on your mat. Breathe deeply and make time for yourself.
Today's session focused on using yoga and breathing to alleviate the pain of a headache.
I didn't actually have a headache when I did this, so I can't attest to its effectiveness, but the process of learning to relieve a headache felt really good.
I need to remember to try this when I have a headache.
This session was a flow-based practice with the aim of finding crow pose at the end. It was quite enjoyable and well worth doing, particularly as I'm so tight in my back, hamstrings and hips.
I have not been able to find crow pose properly and have been working on it for a very long time. It's a lack of ab strength and tight hips that are mainly to blame.
This is definitely a pose that I need to be patient with and keep being patient with myself.
Today's session was a pose breakdown. Pigeon, seated forward fold, and stepping forward from downward dog to warrior one were the poses focused on in this practice.
These are important stretching poses that I always enjoy because I know they work my hips and hamstrings. Practising the movement of stepping forward from downward dog helps your flow feel more smooth and comfortable; spending some time focusing on this has improved my practice.
All the practices this week focused on flexibility, and this session brought together the work done during the week. I definitely felt this practice loosen me up and I feel stretched and lengthened.
This is a great practice to start your day and put you in a reflective, quiet state of mind.
I felt epic during today's practice. This session was about building flexibility and strength and incorporated some of the work we did yesterday.
I felt better in pyramid and in the forward fold than I have done previously. I was able to push myself deeper into the posture and was able to cope better with the usually painful stretching sensation in my legs.
Today's practice involved a pose check on Warrior I, Triangle and Pyramid. I see that these poses are often done incorrectly both in my own practice, and when I sneak a peek at the mirror to take a look at the other people in the class.
I was able to make sure I really feel each pose in the right places and it gave me time to check that my alignment was correct.
Today's practice involved shoulder and upper body work. Because I have been stiff and tight in my shoulders, neck and back, this was a much-needed practice.
While I was in meditation at the end of the practice, I felt that I could relax and let go of the anxiety that has seemed to take hold over the last few weeks. The anxiety was probably mainly caused by work and the lack of regular exercise. I have been worried about how challenging it would be to get back to the gym and to get back to yoga. I have been worried about losing all the progress I have made in my bodybuilding journey over the last 6 months.
I need to push myself to get back into my routine and find my groove again.
The focus of today's practice is to open the hips. I always find these sessions challenging, but I definitely needed the practice. I felt all sorts of hip clicking and lower back clicking as I did this.
I am obviously still tired from the weekend's events, so I'm getting back into yoga slowly. It's these sessions that I may find more difficult than usual that remind me to be patient with myself.
Hamstring flexibility takes consistent practice and work, and so today was part 2 of the hamstring practice that started yesterday.
You definitely need to warm up a bit before you start this session as it's quite intense but rather fun. It's so easy to become impatient with yourself and your body's limitations, but listening to your body is definitely important to your practice as well as for body-mind connection. It's important to know when you can push yourself to feel the stretch, to know when you have reached your limit and when to ease up.
