DodgerRoger

The Three Parts of Awkward Pose

2012-02-02T22:54:00.001-08:00

Jeff said something interesting in class today about awkward.

He said that the first part of awkward works the outer part of the thighs and you should feel it.

In the second part you work right through the center of your thighs down through your toe.

In the third part you are working the inner part, and you shouldn't just squeeze your knees together but you should seal it all the way up your inner thighs.

Abraham Maslow's Advice on Becoming Self-actualized and Living a Life of Meaning

2012-01-24T11:48:00.001-08:00

You need to do two things:

1. Become independent of the good opinion of other people.
2. Become detached from the outcome.

Studio

2012-01-23T22:29:00.001-08:00

One of the things I like about practicing yoga at the studio is that everyone is equal. You leave your old roles behind with your clothes in the change room. No one is above or better than any one else. Instead, we practice together, each of us working with our own bodies, our own issues. We practice together and share our energy. By the end we are all sweaty and we may look a little flushed and disheveled, but we RADIATE BEAUTY.

Wayne Dyer and Hafiz

2012-01-23T22:13:00.001-08:00

Wayne Dyer quoting the great poet Hafiz:

“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth - ‘you owe me.’

Just think of what a love like that can do...

It lights up the whole world.”

Yoga Posture vs. Ego Posture

2012-01-23T16:01:00.001-08:00

I love this.

I love how he talks about "the edge" and how one uses consciousness to neither fight nor flight...

My Mantra

2012-01-16T09:33:00.003-08:00

You could think of these as New Year's Resolutions or Things I'm Working On.

Do less

Slow down

Be present

Single task

Limit information intake

I've grabbed these from this website:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/handbook-for-life-52-tips-for-happiness-and-productivity/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

My Mantra

2012-01-16T09:33:00.001-08:00

You could think of these as New Year's Resolutions or Things I'm Working On.

Do less

Slow down

Be present

Single task

Limit information intake

I've grabbed these from this website:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/handbook-for-life-52-tips-for-happiness-and-productivity/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

Willpower

2012-01-11T09:19:00.001-08:00

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/the-willpower-trick/

The reason our resolutions end in such dismal fashion returns us to the single most important fact about human willpower — it’s incredibly feeble. Consider this experiment, led by Baba Shiv, a behavioral economist at Stanford University. He recruited several dozen undergraduates and divided them into two groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember, while the second group was given a seven-digit number. Then, they were told to walk down the hall, where they were presented with two different snack options: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit salad.

How Yoga can wreck your body

2012-01-09T05:46:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?...

“Is this yoga?” he asked as we sweated through a pose that seemed to demand superhuman endurance. “It is if you’re paying attention.”

Beautiful, Inspiring, Controversially Sexy Yoga Vid/Commercial

2012-01-09T05:42:00.001-08:00

My philosophy

2011-10-31T21:41:00.001-07:00

haha, I wrote this a couple of nights ago while I was taking a train
home at night, drunk:

1. Don't try to prove yourself to anyone,including yourself.

2. The only way you can grow is to leave your comfort zone.

3. Leaving your comfort zone is hard and unnatural because it's uncomfortable.

4. Life forces you to leave your comfort zone.

5. Deal with it. (actually you have no choice.)

6. Accept yourself for who you are right now while striving to
improve. This is being in the present moment.

I still believe this, even while sober.

Notes from Mary Jarvis Seminar

2011-10-20T10:22:00.001-07:00

Mary Jarvis came to the Pasadena studio and taught a master class saturday morning 9-11:30ish, posture clinic 12:30-6:30ish and a sunday morning 10-12:45ish that was like going to church. Here is what I remember she said (I didn't take notes).

You should not be "killing yourself" in class. She does not believe in No Pain, No Gain. You should not be suffering in class. Yoga is meant to heal the body not cause suffering.

You don't have to prove yourself to anyone in class.

Just do the postures.

Mary

taught class from the back of the room.

She also made all the teachers practice in the back. She believes teachers need to be humble and the students should get the best spots.

Pranayama Breathing

Your breath should sound like gas moving through a pipe, no darth vader, humming, gurgling, rattling mucus.

Don't breath with your throat, breath with your lungs.

You may feel slight pressure behind your sternum.

She emphasized sucking in your gut.

LIft.

Keep your shoulders relaxed.

Trace your eyes parallel to the lines on the ceiling.

Rhythmic.

Begin your inhale while your elbows are still together.

There is a backbend in your neck spine.

Backbend

Your neck nerves are in your hands.

You really have to lock the elbows and squeeze the shit out of your palms, that is the most important part. Make sure your elbows are in and not flaring out. Pull your elbows over your face.

You need to lock your knees to stretch the front of your hips.

in the transition to head to knee, reach out towards the mirror as you go down so that your butt doesn't stick out.

Head to Knee

She doesn't believe in the yoga cha cha.

Grab the heels after the backbend because you can.

She emphasized the upper body to lower body contact.

Push your knuckles into the floor to get deeper after you've pulled as much as you can.

I know that I have to lean forward more and suck in my gut even more.

Awkward

Make sure you don't see the arc of your inner heel in the mirror. It's almost better to have the toes turned in slightly.

Toes out will affect your other postures, like the bows.

She said second part awkward was the first time you are fully in the present moment.

Eagle

she emphasized alignment, shoulders and hips in one horizontal line, chin, forearms and knees in a vertical line.

she also suggested we sit down lower towards the end but evidently no one did.

You have lymph glands under your armpits. These ductless glands use muscle contraction to move the lymph, which in turn releases a lot of energy. This is why you may feel a little woozy after eagle.

She doesn't believe in party time.

Standing forehead to knee

Extend up and out of your hips while sucking in your belly before rounding down to grab your foot. She called this standing forehead to knee fuel/food.

She said people fall backwards because their ankle is weak. It is not strong enough to support the 90 degree angle on one foot.

Heel should be the closest thing to the mirror when kicking out.

She said awkward can help with this.

Push your butt forward and suck in your gut. Opposing actions.

She believes in straightening the arms but not in straightening the back in the second part.

I asked her why we straighten the arms. The answer I liked best was it was a center of gravity thing.

I think she also said it looks cool.

Standing Bow

You shouldn't be able to see the kicking leg shoulder in the set up.

Arm behind the ear.

Knees touch.

Extend up while sucking in your gut (standing bow food/fuel)

Kicking leg goes straight back into the kick like a doggy door, brushing against the standing leg. Kicking leg does not go out to the side.

She is very big on putting two shoulders in one line.

Contract the kicking side scapula.

She is very big on getting the body down low enough.

Many people have their arm too high.

Armpit on the same level as the crotch.

Stretch the knee skin of the kicking leg (instead of kick kick kick)

Imagine a string from your finger tips to your toes. You want to make the string taut by moving both at the same time.

She had many cool pictures.

A good backbend is when the space between the butt and the ribs is small.

Competitors should have a 15 second count.

Count down from 15 to 1, after 10 seconds you don't make any corrections.

Often times people fall out because their eyes move.

Falling out to the side is a sign of weak ankles.

Falling back means that you are afraid of going down far enough, you are afraid of falling out.

After class I asked about hamstrings and told her about how sometimes my hamstrings are screaming in standing bow, preventing me from going down. She gave me some interesting advice. She told me to puff out my chest, really bending my upper back. Erin and I tried deciphering this strange advice after class the other day. Erin says that making an effort to bend that upper part of the spine really gets you to move your weight forward off your heel. When you have your weight in your heel it really tweaks the hammies. Makes sense to me...

Balancing Stick

Second pose you are fully in the present moment.

One chance.

Set up like half moon.

Roll the hip down. It won't be level until it feels too low.

Triangle

She got Jeff's crotch down by pulling on his shorts.

Push lower elbow into knee, push lower shoulder forward, push upper shoulder back to get the spine twist.

Upper arm points above the ear not the shoulder.

Standing separate leg forehead to knee

She insisted on hands in prayer. No tripods.

Extend up before rounding down, sucking in the gut.

Tree and Toe

She talked about how important it was to be able to have the foot high enough before attempting toe stand, or you could blow out your knee.

She talked about how your posture may look pretty in the mirror but it looks bad from the side and duck butt and sucking in your belly.

Wind removing

The alignment of your shin affects your bow(s).

Cobra

Don't move your hands after the set up ever.

Lock your knees, ankles and toes together.

She said something else really deep and insightful but I don't remember what it is.

Locust

She said that carpal tunnel actually originates from the neck/upper spine, not the elbows.

Lift one leg up, now suck in your gut and move the weight into your sternum/clavical.

When you do both legs you should go as high as when you do one leg.

Full Locust

Don't adjust coming from locust. Even if you feel crooked, locust has you lined up straight.

Do the posture uncomfortable, because that is the proper alignment. When you move to get more comfortable you are moving your body out of alignment.

Another posture where you are fully in the present moment.

Bow

She showed us a variety of pictures so that we could appreciate the differences.

Symmetry is important, but the best one is Ball's who has his ribs off the ground.

She talked about how it's like you are just hanging from your feet.

Roll forward while lifting your bottom rib off the floor.

Your wind removing pose reveals your bow, if your heel goes in then you will probably have wide knees in bow.

Keep your knees and ankles the same width.

We did the pose while looking in the mirror.

Fixed firm

is a posture that can't be rushed.

try to touch your shoulders to your tailbone.

Originally, this posture was done with a flat spine.

Half tortoise

Get your ankles flat and your toes and heels touching.

When coming out try to see your face in the mirror as quickly as possible.

Camel

Hands high on your back so that your fingers are in the bruised part of your lower back where there's a bundle of nerves. I believe she used the word starburst.

Never skip camel.

It is the crescendo of the whole series.

When M

ary

was recovering from a horrific car accident there was a period where the only time she wasn't in pain was when she was in camel. Going into camel - pain. Coming out of camel - pain. In camel - no pain.

Rabbit

Don't use your towel to grab your heels.

Kaspar's rabbit (in the red white and blue shorts) was the best rabbit bikram's ever seen (other than his own). Kaspar pinched a nerve in his neck warming up for this performance... amazing.

The goal is to stretch your spine.

Look at your knees instead of your belly. Don't over roll onto your neck/back of the head.

You really gotta suck in your gut.

Lift your shoulders.

Creating volume - there's width as well is length.

Stretching

Lay your stomach on your thighs.

The point is to stretch the back of your body, not to keep your back flat.

Flop onto your belly, then knees, then shins like a piece of seaweed.

Spine Twist

Suck in your gut and lift your chest, wrap the arm that's not grabbing the knee.

Push one elbow into your knee and the other elbow towards the mirror.

Breath of Fire

push big toes into the floor, suck in your gut, and push with your hands.

getting rid of excess CO2

The heat of the room infuses your body with oxygen, which contains prana and chi.

The only other way to get a comparable infusion is to go 12 feet below sea level.

When sucking in the gut go in and up.

Bikram - "The purpose of yoga is to prepare yourself so that you can sit in lotus and notice yourself."

Bikram - "Enlightenment is easy. Just see the best in everyone. Let's go eat."

Mary

says she is a practicing physical immortal.

Mary

kept telling us that life is good.

Mary

thinks that the first two years out of TT new teachers are lost and go thru a rough period where it is too much about them. They can be insecure and want to prove something. Many new teachers often have asshole-ish behavior at first. Long time students need to show compassion towards new teachers.

The teacher is the least important person in the room.

She kept emphasizing humility, compassion, and being a good person.

She talked a lot about backbending and breathing which are the two things I care about the most.

She believes in a 25 to 1 backbend to forward bend ratio.

You can live without one of your limbs but you can't live without your spine.

All important appointments are canceled when you have a problem with your spine.

Don't regret the past or fear the future. The present moment is unknown.

When you are fully in the present moment you don't feel pain.

The breath is like the wave that goes out to the shoreline (whoosh) and then back to the ocean in a rhythmic, slow smooth way. That space between the out flow and the in flow can lengthen without holding your breath. (She said it better).

She talked about the gap.

She can do an entire posture only using one or two breaths.

I asked how I could learn to breath like she does. She said you must breath thru the nose, make it slow and relaxed, and make declarative statements like "I am going to breath slow and relaxed", and stare at one spot in the mirror during the entire class. She also talked about the importance of being relaxed when you are breathing and doing the postures.

Being relaxed was a theme she kept mentioning. Tori was working on putting her stomach to her shoulders in stretching and you could see the tension in her shoulders.

Mary

shook her shoulders to loosen them.

It takes 45 minutes for your body to process 4 ounces of water. Drinking water in class is unnecessary and provides a distraction.

Water will not help you catch your breath, only slow steady breathing and oxygen will.

Water doesn't really help you cool off.

Water sits in your belly and makes your practice more difficult. In the standing series you gotta suck in your belly. In the floor you are on your belly and water can make things uncomfortable.

Most of the people that I talked to that went to both days were super inspired. I know I was. I think Mary's seminar has inspired me to take my practice in a different direction and really change some of my attitudes towards yoga.

Yoga Update (Mary Jarvis comes to Pasadena)

2011-10-16T12:41:00.001-07:00

I realize the type of person I like. I like people who are authentic. Frequently, authentic people are thought of as "characters" because they are unafraid and unashamed of being who they are.

Anyway, I met Mary Jarvis at dinner Friday night and I like her a lot. Even if she were not a practicing physical immortal and veritable fountain of yoga knowledge I would still like her. She's the kind of person it would be cool to hang around for a month or six and hear her tell all her stories. It was cool to talk about random things like baseball although the conversation eventually turned towards yoga. She said it took her many years before she really understood why she did yoga. I'm still trying to understand myself.

I was basically at the studio on saturday from 8:30am to 6:30am and it was filled with yoga goodness. Even before the seminar I felt like I was at a bit of a yoga crossroads. I sort of explored the limits of over-training the first half of the year and realized that I don't think the path of Anton or Kilian is the path for me. I listened to the ultra runner podcast with nutritionist Sunny Blend and she talks about how an ultra marathon is basically an eating contest. In the race you basically can only digest and process 200 calories per hour and if you fall behind you can't just eat 400 calories and catch up. I feel that way about my hydration during the summer. I basically fell into such a debt that no matter how much I hydrated and juiced I couldn't catch up.

I did the Blessed Herbs cleanse along with several people from the studio. I didn't have any emotional breakdowns or enlightenments, I think I came out of it less crazy than before, which I think is a good thing.

I was coming to grips with the fact that I was no longer a 7 day a week practicer (only 6 times a week, and that one day off makes a HUGE difference). Intellectually, I know that 6 days a week is healthier for me. In the past, I would go to the studio even if I was massively depleted. I started to get used to doing yoga while feeling lousy and it became normal. When my body basically said enough is enough and shut down I finally took enough time to for my body to return to normal. I don't think it's really necessary to define yourself as a "everyday practicer" or a "3 times a week" practicer". I'd rather live in the moment and not dwell so much on the past or future.

But we all have an ego and I had always thought of myself as a yogi with a daily practice. Letting go of what I think I SHOULD be and accepting myself for how I am now is something I'm working on.

So, it was like a bolt of lightening when Mary said at the very beginning that when you practice, you don't have to prove yourself to anyone. You don't have to prove yourself to the teacher. I have come to realize that when I practice, I actually do that a lot. I feel a bit of pressure to live up to a standard and I've been trying to let that go. Mary saying this just crystallized this and brought it to the forefront of my consciousness (in particular, I feel pressure to prove myself in Jeff's class. I feel like he gives so much in class that I don't want to let him down, but I end up blowing a gasket about 40% of the time and have to sit something out.).

Another theme that Mary talked about was the importance of humility and compassion. She made all the teachers practice in the back row. She talked constantly about how worthless it is to have a perfect posture if you are not a good person. It's obvious of course, but when someone that a lot of people respect says it, the words carry more weight. And you can tell she truly believes it.

She talked about how she practiced for a while without a mirror and really feeling the posture (I had experimented for a while with practicing without my glasses or contacts to "feel" the posture more (It made it harder to balance)).

Anyway, I think this seminar with Mary has transformed my practice. That's a long post for the future.

Up Next: Long-ass Notes from Mary Jarvis's Master Class(es)/Posture Clinic.

Bikram Yoga Video

2011-10-03T20:27:00.001-07:00

Blessed Herbs Cleanse

2011-08-25T23:27:00.001-07:00

On the pre-cleanse portion of the cleanse you are supposed to taper your diet and prepare you body for the 5 day "liquid" fast (more on that later).

You take this digestive stimulant which is supposed to help you crap 3-4 times a day.

Part of the pre-cleanse is trying to figure out how many capsules of the digestive stimulant you need to take.

Day 1: First day of the pre-cleanse (supposed to cut to 75% of daily intake)

I ate:

cold tofu with green onion and soy sauce and bonito flakes

miso soup

green smoothie (spinach, pineapple, banana)

green juice (cucumber, kale, apple)

cold soba (buckwheat) noodles

more miso soup

a chocolate zico coconut water

some almonds

not quite raw which would be ideal (raw juice would be the true ideal) but not to bad for a junk food junkie like myself.

took 2 digestive stimulant capsules.

Day 2: (50% of regular daily intake)

I had a banana in the morning before yoga.

Yoga was good.

I had:

cold tofu with green onion and soy sauce and bonito flakes.

green smoothie (spinach, pineapple, banana)

green juice (cucumber, kale, apple)

coconut water

I was surfing the web on my computer and found myself unconsciously eating almonds at 11am.

took 3 capsules as I only crapped twice today.

Day 3: (25% of daily intake)

I made a smoothie with blueberries, banana, kale, coconut water and apple.

I had a small salad from this korean fusion place called Cham which looked really good (too bad I couldn't eat)

When I got hungry I drank coconut water.

I drank about 6 or 7 coconut waters.

(It's kind of funny to me that I went from being too cheap to drink coconut water consistently to drinking 7 in a single day...)

I think 3 capsules is my number.

Got pretty hungry at the end there.

I hope I make it...

The Charlie Engle Story

2011-08-22T23:19:00.001-07:00

My buddy Brian turned me onto this. I'm interested in ultra-running so he sends me stuff.

He told me to read this first:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--12524-1-1X2X3-3,00.html

then this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/26nocera.html

then this:

http://charlieengle.com/

I found the whole thing very inspiring.

Three things I learned while taking Bikram classes in NYC

2011-08-22T22:55:00.001-07:00

I went to New York and Boston for a couple of weeks at the beginning of August. The break helped me return to full strength as I was having some dehydration problems this summer.

While in NYC I practiced four times:

1. Brooklyn Heights - this studio was recommended to me by Valerie. It was cool practicing in the studio where one of my yoga heros cut her teeth. My first class was taught by Vincent, who was good. It was so interesting to take a class from someone who has the distinctive New York flava. Later I found out Valerie used to practice with Vincent all the time.

2. Downtown - The Wall Street area is very confusing. It's just so disorienting. Even with the iPhone I experienced a bit of directional confusion. Valerie recommended I try to take a class from Courtney. I took a class with this really thin blond lady that was really good and wouldn't let me sit in tree even though I was gassed from standing separate leg forehead to knee. They recently installed new carpet and the fumes made me a little loopy. I thought the teacher looked kind of familiar and after class I asked her name and found out it was Courtney (Mace). I think she was the yoga champ a couple of years ago.

3. Brooklyn Heights again - and I had Courtney again. She corrected my triangle.

4. Flat Iron - I went with Andrea, one of my favorite teachers from Pasadena who moved to NY. We hung out the whole day. It was great. Other than a going away party, I've never hung out with Andrea socially and I had a lot of fun. I also picked up a valuable tip for locust in the class we took together. After class they gave me a chocolate zico for free. It was surprisingly good. I drink it regularly now (I'm drinking it right now in fact).

Anyway, here are the three things I learned:

1. I need to lock my knees in separate leg stretching. I know, I couldn't believe it. Such a basic move, but sometimes you need to revisit the basics. After getting corrected two days in a row I realized I had probably gotten lazy.

2. When doing triangle on the right side I need to be careful I don't push my hips too far forward. This causes the feet, knees and hips to be out of alignment and causes me to backbend slightly. One of my favorite Bikram phrases - "Too good is no good."

3. The teacher at the Flat Iron studio said something that clicked for me regarding locust. He said that when you go to the gym and start doing bicep curls you are working your upper back in addition to your biceps. (If you think about it, if you didn't engage your upper back for support you would just fall forward). He said when you do locust you can almost think about doing a bicep curl, but with your arms straight. For some reason this really helped me, because I've always had difficulty figuring out how to use my arms in locust.

When I was on vacation I ate and drank with no restriction. Part of this is philosophical, and part of it is that I knew I would be doing a cleanse shortly after returning home.

Setting Goals vs. Managing Expectations

2011-08-03T16:55:00.001-07:00

Two of my yoga teachers are always encouraging us to set goals. You know, stuff like "In 6 months I'll be vertical in locust" or "by the end of the year I'll have my forehead on my knee."

I don't think setting goals is really my style. I'm more of a balls to the walls, do everything I can to improve as quickly as possible type. Maybe I don't feel the need to set goals because I'm so obsessed with the yoga already that I don't lack motivation. I certainly need goals and deadlines to make real-world type things happen in a timely fashion, but for yoga it's something a little different.

Instead of worrying about setting goals, I think I need to worry about managing my expectations.

For example, I see myself as a yogi with a daily practice, but due to recent dehydration issues I've had to take time off. I'm currently practicing 4 times a week. I want to practice everyday (more than that really) but I was finally forced to practice what I preach and listen to my body. My body basically said enough is enough. I had gotten used to practicing while dehydrated and then I started using the energy of the yogis around me to keep me going until finally I was forced to shut it down when my hands started to feel numb even outside of class. I went from doing doubles, to just doing one class a day, to time off. Now, I'm trying to be smart about it and ease my way back in.

I feel like my locust hasn't really improved despite doing many wall walks after class. My forehead and knee are still strangers until the last 10 minutes of class.^1

My yoga now is not so much doing the asanas as it is trying to accept how things are right now. I need to practice accepting where I am at this point in my practice. Of course, it extends outside of the yoga room. I need to accept who I am right now and being cool with that rather than always worrying about what I'm SUPPOSED to be. It's funny cause I feel I've always yearned for this freedom, but it's always been available right in front of me. All I have to do is let go of the expectations I place on myself and also not worry about what other people may or may not think.

Not worrying about what other think and not caring about what others think is two separate things. Not caring what others think (if that is even possible) is a form of disconnection. When you disconnect or numb yourself from the bad stuff, then you also numb yourself from the good stuff as well. The key is NOT to not care what other people think.

The key is that you yourself accept who you are, since that is all you have any real control over.

***

1. The wall walks have definitely helped in other postures like standing bow. I was getting my forehead to my knee irregularly before I had to shut things down for a few days. All the yoga I've done this year has definitely brought about big changes, many pleasantly unexpected changes, but again, those pesky expectations...

Why I am no longer blogging every day about yoga

2011-06-23T00:38:00.001-07:00

There are a few reasons I started blogging about my yoga in the first place. Towards the end of last year we were lying in savasana in a Jeff class and he asked me what my plans were for next year (yoga-wise). I think we were talking about goals and new year resolutions or something. I said I would do 365 classes in the next year.
1. I have a terrible memory and knew I would lose count unless I wrote it down.
2. I have always enjoyed writing.
I happened to be on winter break at the time, so I started blogging about my classes. These are the main two reasons I started blogging. There was an aspect of sharing my experiences with others, but I can't say that was a strong motivation at the beginning.

There is something you need to know about me. If the goal is to do a 60 day challenge, I'm the type of guy that is going to do 61 minimum. So when I said I would do 365, I had no intention of merely doing 365. Instead, I was going to do as many as I could.

Now, this is a bit of a slippery slope. How many classes can one do? Well it depends. How far are you willing to go? Are you willing to change your diet? Are you willing to pay careful attention to your hydration? Are you willing to do class hung over? Are you willing do class knowing that you are going to feel like crap?

How much are you willing to suffer?

For me, I was willing to go pretty far.

***

Eventually blogging became a burden. Once the semester started found it difficult to do all this yoga AND blog AND work on my iPhone app. So the blogging suffered. The posts became shorter and crappier, etc.

Then I started to have this IDEA... I looked at my pace and saw that I had a shot at doing 500 classes in a year. I'm not really a goal setting type. I'm more of a do your best and whatever happens happens type. But there is something beautiful about 500. It's nice and round. So my blog secretly became about that. It had started out as something pure - just writing my thoughts and writing to improve my writing skills. It became this method of keeping score.

I've come to realize that this whole idea of doing 500 classes in a year is just a big ego trip. Well, maybe that's not EXACTLY true. Doing 500 in a year is just a goal. Like a 60 day challenge on steroids (and acid). But doing the 500 and writing about it in a public forum is a big ego trip. (Perhaps even setting the goal is an ego trip as well.)

***

They say that "yoga gives you what you need". I always think about this saying because it's so true. Yoga has helped me in many ways (diet, focus, compassion, humility, realizing that we are all crazy and worry about stupid things, allergies, breathing, awareness, mind body connection, non-duality, flexibility, strength, friendlier and more social, confidence, realize that I was a prisoner of my mind, realizing that my mind was not me, make me less of an asshole, etc.) but I can say that there is one thing in particular that it helps me with: Yoga helps me be present.

I realized that I lived in the future. I don't really worry so much about the past, but I'm CONSTANTLY thinking about the future. I always have. I didn't pay any attention to here and now, the present moment. When I'm doing yoga, I'm practicing being in the moment (I try to bring that presence with me when I leave the studio. The more yoga I do, the easier that becomes).

Anyways, believe you me, that is no way to live.

It's funny cause I've known this and talk about it all the time and even blog about it, but then I go ahead and create this future prison of 500.

It's time to let it go and be spontaneous and free.

Class 235

2011-06-22T22:59:00.001-07:00

(Wednesday 9am - Y Thuan)

I entered the class with a bit of trepidation. I had gotten crushed yesterday afternoon and somehow sensed that I was near my limit physically.

I retreat to my comfort spot by the Jason Winn pic.

Class went without any major problems. I would even say it went well.

After class Y Thuan and I chatted a bit about the tough classes we had the previous day. She asked if I was going to do a double and said that she was going to take a day off because her body needed it.

I was thinking my body needed a day off but I was committed to taking Jeff's 4:30.

After class I made a green smoothie and took a nap on the couch. When I woke I felt a slight tingling numbness in my arms. It was the same numbness I felt in class yesterday when I got rocked. I got up, made another smoothie and began hydrating for the 4:30 class.

The numbness wouldn't go away. It wasn't anything dangerous, but it was troubling, like a sign.

I sat there and pondered whether I should go to class or not. Actually, that is not true. I knew I should not go to class, I pondered going to class anyway. I tried meditating for a bit and then came to grips to the fact that I would not be doing the 4:30.

I went to the library and borrowed a few books, even though I am reading something like 4 books already. I came home, read one of them cover to cover and then had a realization. The realization has been coming for a long while now, but somehow I needed to be here and now in order to... fully realize it.

I realized that I should stop blogging everyday about my yoga.

Class 233 & 234 Bonkasaurus

2011-06-21T22:35:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 9am - Shannon)

It was good. It was hard. I sweat a lot.

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Valerie)

Yesterday I wrote:
"I found the breathing difficult. As in I couldn't really catch my breath. Maybe I pushed things a little to far. I don't think I cared, I just felt like pushing today."

HUBRIS.
I got crushed.
Missed most of the floor series cause my hands and feet were going numb.

Well played, Yoga Gods... well played...

Class 231 Hangover yoga 2 and 232 First Real day of summer

2011-06-20T22:09:00.001-07:00

It was a fun weekend. The yoga competition was fun and I ended up going to 3 different social gatherings, so I was busy eating and drinking. These next few days will be about detox.

(Monday 11am - Erin)

Erin was the one who finally said I was ready to bend my elbows and I've been obsessed with it since. I know that you really need to suck in the belly and round the spine. My spine doesn't round well yet. I'm planning to do more long hold yin style forward bends.

Practiced next to Val this morning and it was fun. I planned on stretching but ended up chatting about the competition. I still can' believe that Kaspar did Aum Handstand. And whatever that crazy thing he did after was.

Standing series wasn't too bad considering I was hungover, but the floor series was tough. The "real" yoga squeezed out some toxins...

I think I was inspired by the competition and I pushed a decent amount. I sweat like crazy.

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

Today was the first real day of summer. I mean, it wasn't hot hot, but it was hottish. It wasn't scorching, but it wasn't how it's been. It was hotter than that.

Second part of the double I felt pretty good and very motivated. The good thing about pigging out all weekend is that you have a lot of energy.

I found the breathing difficult. As in I couldn't really catch my breath. Maybe I pushed things a little to far. I don't think I cared, I just felt like pushing today.

I ran out of water and left the class to grab my 1.5L emergency bottle. I ended up drinking half of that on top of my usual bottle.

In the summer you need to drink more because you sweat more throughout the day, not just in class. My problem is that I'm so trained to sweat that I worry about long term dehydration. Hence the juicing. I don't think I will ever get tired of cucumber, celery, apple/asian pear. It is SO GOOD after you've had a tough class.

Did leg lifts and wall walks after class. Body is open and strong. Love practicing in the summer.

Class 230 - Hangover Yoga

2011-06-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

(sunday 8am - Val)

In true Bikram style I arrived at a birthday party last night 6 hours late. Luckily for me (or perhaps unluckily) it was the type of party that kinda goes on indefinitely...

I somehow managed to put on 5 pounds eating, drinking and partying.

Somewhat ironically, I find it a little easier to focus when I'm hung over. It's like the internal sensations and distractions out-distract the external distractions.

Or maybe it's that I went to the left and practiced with people I've practiced with a zillion and a half times before.

It was good.

My mind did wander a bit as I thought about today's finals.

Class 229 - Went to the competition.

2011-06-19T00:50:00.001-07:00

I'll writing about it later. Tired.

(Saturday 8am - Tom)

Left after standing to make it to the competition on time.

Got to the competition and hour late.

Had to wait another hour for the competition to actually begin.

Class 227 & 228 Endlessly distracted, a bit of redemption, and Ghoshcup

2011-06-18T00:18:00.001-07:00

(Friday 9am - Brook)

I didn't even really attempt to go to sleep until 2am.

I dragged myself out of bed to get the yoga in since there is no 11am on fridays.

I was tired, stiff and a bit cranky.

Set up in the back right corner.

Class started late because people kept trickling in late. Then a newbie walked in.

Of course the newbie set up directly in front of me.

I said nothing.

When I went to training I couldn't see shit so I didn't think it was a big deal.

I did observe that I was mildly annoyed, which made me annoyed with myself since these types of things shouldn't annoy me.

I have to say that when all you can see is a newbie directly in front of you it's very distracting.
I watched him grab the foot wrong in every set of standing bow and I let myself get distracted by it.

In triangle one of the girls that came late went to her purse and started digging around for something.

It seemed to take her forever to find what she was looking for (a hair clip).

I observed how distracted I was.

I made no effort to re-focus.

My willpower was zero and I just decided to observe.

Somehow my neck stiffened up (probably all the tension from being distracted and annoyed) and I didn't think it was safe to do rabbit.

Sit ups felt weird too.

I think I need sleep.

I've graded 2 final exams and only have one left, but I'll do that on monday.

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Took a short nap in my car.

Afternoon vs. Morning was night and day. I felt SO good. Nafisa is SO GOOD. I know not everyone likes her style. In fact, the first time you take her class, you might not like it. But once you get it... SO GOOD.

I'm excited about the competition tomorrow.

I wonder if Joseph is going to do the same routine again or if he has something even crazier lined up.

The level of the US men's competition rose like 2 levels from last year. I wonder if the International competition will have a similar jump in quality.
If you are going to do scorpion it's gotta be handstand scorpion or you won't have a chance.
I may tweet tomorrow @dodgerroger
I think the hashtag people are using is #ghoshcup

Here are the rules (it's insightful reading because they tell you what the judges are looking for):
http://ghoshcup.com/rulebook/adult-postures/

Class 225 & 226 - An Unexpected Double

2011-06-17T00:12:00.001-07:00

After getting wrecked yesterday and losing my water bottle I was a little weary of class.

Did I drink enough?
Did I put it all back?

I am worried about long-term dehydration.

Lately I've been moving away from the left side in the afternoon. If I'm up for it I prefer to practice near either strong people or long time regulars. Maybe this is in reaction to the flood of newbies at the studio since Val started this $39 for a month of yoga promotion. It seems like every class has 3 newbies. It's good for business and the more people that discover yoga the better. I mean, it can change your life. But every once in a while it's nice to take a class where everyone knows what they're doing and the class just flows. I'm glad Val has barred intro month people from taking 8am on the weekend, even if the main reason is those classes are super crowded already.

(Thursday 4:30pm - Erin)

I was in a good mood because I finished grading one of my finals and I found out the South Pasadena Farmer's market sells pesticide free cucumbers for $1. They are $2.49 at whole foods and $2.99 at Ralphs. I bought 10.

I think if people didn't know me well they would think I'm a health nut but I'm not. I am certainly getting healtier though. Today was I decided to indulge:
trader joes broccoli and cheddar quiche
spinach pineapple banana smoothie
Large fries from mcdonalds (I added salt)
A quarter of a small bag of salt and vinegar potato chips (felt a little weird after the fries)
water
juice (cucumber, apple, celery)
more water
2 coconut waters
water
mac and cheese (why does mac and cheese that comes in shapes like spirals or cars or pretty much anything other than the standard seem to actually taste better? my theory is you get less macaroni so the cheese powder to pasta ratio is higher, enhancing the flavor factor.)

I walked into the studio and the first thing I saw was my water bottle behind the desk! Yay!!

The class was small and there were no newbies and it was great. Erin wasn't used to having to teach people how to grab their foot and we were ahead of schedule. She did a demo.

For the first time in over a week I could pick up my towel without having sweat stream from it. It was great. I did homework (leg lifts, side crunches, wall walks) for the first time in a long while. Body felt strong and nice and open.

So many people asked me if I was staying for another that I ended up staying for another.

(Thursday 6:30pm - Erin)

The energy in the room was good. I feel like in the afternoon classes I really depend on the the energy of the people around me. I wonder if it's all in my head. I don't think there were any newbies in this class either. There were a lot of regulars there and some strong newbies. I like it when someone is brand new and they come every day. I like the yoga nerds. I love the yoga crazies. Most of the yoga crazies become teachers, but I think I'm still on a upward trend as far as my practice goes and I still have a long ways to go and many more breakthroughs to experience. If I taught that would only get in the way.

Erin said panini sandwich as opposed to grilled cheese sandwich. I don't think she ever says japanese ham sandwich but I'm not sure.

Erin also said I'm ready to bend my elbows in standing forehead to knee. I still have to consciously flex my kicking leg ankle and I still need my hands to hold my foot up, but I decided to try bending the elbows. I would say it went ok. They didn't bend very far. I don't have long arms first of all and second of all my forward bends are terrible. I need to do more Yin and maybe I should step up the ab work.

Anyway, it was as pleasant a back to back double as I've had in recent memory. An energizing double.

I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.

Class 223 & 224 Got crushed and even worse...

2011-06-15T22:34:00.001-07:00

I lost my precious water bottle. I had that water bottle from my very first Bikram class.
It had a sport top that allowed me to drink while lying on my back.

(Wednesday 9am - Y Thuan)

It was hard.
I don't remember morning classes being this hard.
Morning classes are supposed to be easier, I thought.

I think all the yoga I've been doing has been catching up to me.

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

Got crushed.
I had to sit out a set of camel. I NEVER sit out camel... well, not never I guess.

I deviated from my routine and went straight outside after final savasana and forgot my water bottle.

Bummer.

reminds me of a lame joke I saw on twitter today:
"Why do buddhists have dirty corners?"
"Because they don't have attachments."

Class 221 & 222 It's all in the mind?

2011-06-14T22:54:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 9am - Ariel)

I think it's all in the mind.
I was tired but I was tired because I thought that I SHOULD be tired after doing so much yoga over the past week.

I sat out a set of wind-removing.

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Valerie)

I decided I was not tired so I was not tired.

I've been sweating like crazy this entire week and summer hasn't really come on yet...

Class 219 & 220 Good energy class

2011-06-13T23:12:00.001-07:00

(Monday 11am - Erin)

I think it was good.
It was not exactly a walk in the park.
I think my backbend is getting better.
I tried doing some wall walks after class but felt dizzy after 3. I heard weird sounds too.

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

I was kind of tired before class and didn't feel like I was properly hydrated.

Dear Karen, Courtney, Christine, Laurent, and Erika -

Thank you for sharing your energy.

Somehow, even though I was tired, I had a great class and hardly sat out a pose. I think I may have sat out tree. I don't remember.
It was cool. No one on our side of the room fell out of standing bow on one of the sets.
The energy of the group carried me through the class and when I had my weekly monday meeting with my iPhone app partner he said I sounded energized.

I hope I can sleep tonite.

Class 216, 217, & 218 - Random Triple

2011-06-12T23:52:00.001-07:00

Woke up at 7 without the alarm and I was still tired. But I knew if I tried to sleep in I'd be up at 8 and regretting not getting up and taking Tom's class.

Wasn't planning on a triple for sure, but the idea was lingering in the back of my mind. I brought an extra towel in case.

(Sunday 8am - Tom)

This class was fine. Love Tom.

(Sunday 10am - Tom)

Anna showed up so I moved to a hotter part of the room. My body had stiffened during the break and it was mildly unpleasant at times, particularly at the beginning.

Lower back is definitely feeling different. I can tilt my hips forward now a little bit. It's like a whole new world. 1st part awkward, eagle, standing bow (I think the locked up lower back was preventing the kick from accessing the back) and final stretching.

(Sunday 3pm - Jeff)

It was hot and humid and kind of hard but it was good. Imagine a typical Jeff class in a full room.
I was tired after.

I think I'm going to rest.

Spinach and Pineapple (post-vitamix)

2011-06-11T22:59:00.001-07:00

Class 214 & 215

2011-06-11T22:57:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Val)

Man, Nafisa's class yesterday was so energizing that I had difficulty sleeping last night. I decided to go to bed and read at 2am...

I had a decent amount of energy after class. I could've done a double. Shannon (the teacher) and Anna came for 10am class. Maybe I should've stayed...

(Saturday 5pm - Lisa Wu)

I don't know why, but in my brain she's Lisa Wu, not just "Lisa".

It was good. I sweat A LOT. Lisa was good about the fans and the doors. Practiced in the back row. Maybe I should do more classes back there.

You know, after Nafisa's class yesterday I weighed 128.8, which is too low. Normally I would use this as an excuse to wolf down some junk food. But last night I did NOT dine on junk. I was so proud of myself. When I went to trader joe's to get some coconut water and other foods I avoided the snack area.

My grocery bill is exploding. (Ok, it's not that bad, I'm just cheap). I make a juice for every class I take. I think I may drink one coconut water as well for each class. I'm worried about long term dehydration as I plan to do a lot of yoga this summer.

Jeff told me his friend would put Spinach and Pineapple in the Vitamix. A strange combination that actually works pretty well. When I get more pineapple I may throw some banana in there as well.

Class 213 Nafisa was on her game

2011-06-11T16:28:00.001-07:00

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Last day of classes and I was exhausted. I basically taught or helped students in office hours from 8:45 in the morning till 4.

I set up in the menopause spot #2 (second row) and it was a tough one. It's too bad because I thought Nafisa was really good tonite. The energy was good and it was coming from her. Good pacing, still funny. I find I like her classes more and more. Maybe they will be even better once I'm on break.

My lower back/sacrum area is definitely opening up a bit and moving. I did some yin before class including a longish hold saddle pose (fixed firms cousin). I actually felt like I was kicking into the back bend a bit in standing bow, which is one of the main things I'm working on.

Also I've been working on the forward tilt of the pelvis in a lot of my postures. I really try to feel like I'm sticking my butt back in awkward, eagle and stretching. I think I didn't have that much mobility in my hips before to get the good tilt, but I think things are improving.

Class 211 & 212

2011-06-09T23:50:00.001-07:00

(Thursday 2:30pm - Jeff)

Erin said Jeff held awkward for a minute.

I didn't really notice cause I was trying out a new trick to focusing on the breath. I just count my breath - inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3, exhale 4, etc.
When I get to 10 I'm supposed to start over.

It's actually pretty hard to do. I stopped once we got to the floor.

Did some wall walks.

(Thursday 4:30pm - Erin)

I didn't do the breathing trick.

It was nice doing a double and not feeling destroyed afterwards.

Class 210 - Tough one

2011-06-08T23:35:00.001-07:00

You know, I shouldn't tag a post "yoga", since these days EVERY post is yoga.

I should really create a "non-yoga" tag.

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

Long day at work.

Even the coolness of the front row in front of the Emil Spot spot, it was a tough one.

I may not have fully recovered from yesterday's double.

I wanted to double up today but the 4:30 floor series was all about survival.

Did you know I have a late night snacking problem and a not-so-mild junk food addiction? I'm trying to break this, but it might throw my equilibrium out of whack.
I like snacks.
I like snacking.
I like snacking on snacks.

It's 11:34 and I'm eating some cherries. At least it's not junk.

Class 208 (Great Class) and 209

2011-06-07T22:57:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 2:30pm - Erin)

Gave my last Stats lecture and I felt light and loose. Chatted a bit with Val before class. She is able to do more and more in terms of depth, but her L5 is bothering her (no space). She was so happy that she could hang forward from her new hip. She has pretty flexible hamstrings. In 5 years I couldn't be that loose.

Valerie showed up right before class and I moved my mat to practice next to her.

I had a GREAT class. Best since Noriko left. I just focus on a different level when I practice next to them. Of course, I realize I don't REALLY need them to focus. It's more that I don't always feel like having a power class. They put me in the mood to have a strong class.

Valerie likes to practice front right. I sweat too much up there.

I think I was completely focused for the standing series.

I did observe a dude that was huffing and puffing behind us hopping from foot to foot in between sets. If Valerie wasn't there I would have been delighted and distracted by this crazy character. He did most of the series too!

The real difference between front right and the rest of the room is when you hit the floor. There's not really any relief and the floor series is harder than the standing. On the left it's the opposite.

Upon reflection I ran out of gas.

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Valerie)

I was tired.
There was suffering.
I drank a lot of water.
I felt crampy in the neck area.
I basically relied on Karen and Lynn.
Sometimes you give energy, sometimes you borrow it.
Thanks guys!

Class 207 Sacrum is moving a bit methinks

2011-06-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

I think that my sacrum is "fixated". That is to say it is fused to the surrounding hip bones and doesn't move well.

When I went to see my chiropractor mike he had great difficulty cracking it. Given how much yoga I do he was surprised I think.

From wikipedia:

"In children, it consists of usually five unfused vertebrae which begin to fuse between ages 16–18 and are usually completely fused into a single bone by age 26."

I think my sacrum and it's surrounding bones are starting to move again. It feels weird and great.

Throughout my practice I've had the opportunity to experience various parts of my body open up. Due to my scoliosis I've have many parts of my back and hips and shoulder become immobilized and it has been a great adventure getting these joints to move again. I wish I could transport you into my body so you can feel how my body moves (or doesn't move).

For instance, my back went from feeling like one piece, to two pieces, to many pieces.

My mind/body connection is so much stronger, more precise, and more sensitive than before.

Before, the region from my belly button to my upper thigh was like a bermuda triangle - uncharted territory. If my mind/body connection was a map, that area is just blacked out. Now I can feel how things move and twist. It's great.

It would be cool to trade bodies with other people.

Then I could see how messed up Val's hip and back are.

I could feel how stable Jeff's knee is given his torn meniscus.

I would like to feel what it's like to be able to do a really sick backbend like Valerie, or to do standing forehead to knee, letting go of the hands, and putting them in prayer behind me like Noriko.

How come they don't have an app for that?

Class 206

2011-06-05T23:59:00.001-07:00

(Sunday 8am - Val)

Last night's going away party for Andrea was quite a bit of fun. There was good beer, good food, good conversation with good people, Cody (my dog) made a new friend, there were some funny moments, and as a bonus I got to meet a fellow Barcelona fanatic.

This morning I arrived at the studio to a pleasant surprise - Andrea was taking class and I got to practice next to her one more time. Being Val's class, it was fully, and Andrea ended up poking my side in half moon. Unfortunately, I don't have the requisite flexibility yet to poke her back.

I didn't exactly drink that much water before going to bed so... I guess I could qualify as slightly hung over. Still, class was great.

No double this weekend, but I feel decently rested (maybe because I took a 3 hour nap again) and got to work on my app a bit.

One of the ideas from the Yin yoga that might translate to Bikram is that as you are in a pose your body may open up and allow you to deeper, perhaps requiring an adjustment. I already do this instinctively in many poses, but now I'm more aware of feeling and exploiting the change in the body. The most obvious example of this is half moon. The think the body opens the most easy when you try to send your breath to the part you are trying to open, if that makes any sense.

Class 205

2011-06-04T13:40:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Tom)

I think the Yin session last night helped cause my body wasn't frozen this morning.

I love Tom's classes. It's like the perfect morning class.

Did some wall walks after class. I would like to start doing them seriously again.

Here is the priority of yoga related activity:
1. bikram
2. juicing
3. Yin
4. Wall walks
5. ab work

Someday I should start working on my headstand.

Heading to Cathy's tonight for Andrea's going away party.

Class 204

2011-06-04T00:14:00.001-07:00

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

From the moment I woke up I was off my game. Forgot to recharge the phone and then left it in the charger when I went to work. Everything was just a bit off. And I felt tired. Maybe it was psychological.

I went to yoga with low expectations but class went much better than I thought.

Just did about an hour of yin. Honestly I think my body needs yin yoga more than bikram right now... they are almost perfectly complimentary.

Class 202 & 203: Last Class with Andrea, 8 camels

2011-06-03T13:04:00.001-07:00

(Thursday 2:30pm - Jeff)

Y Thuan, Andrea and I practiced together on the left. It was Andrea's last class at the Pasadena Studio. Jeff talked about how 5 years ago, when Andrea was first hired, Val told him about this new teacher that had a super strong practice and reminded her of a female Jeff. Andrea is sweeter than Jeff, but somehow is just as hard (for me).

To celebrate (I assume) we ended up doing 4 or 5 camels. Then Jeff realized he was taking Andrea's 4:30 and started wondering if she would take her revenge...

(Thursday 4:30pm - Andrea)

Drank too much juice and had massive water belly during the "warm up" before party time. Breathing was especially difficult. Actually it was impossible. By "2" my lungs were already full! I don't think my stomach felt normal until we hit the floor.

Andrea also had us do 4 camels, so Y Thuan (who stayed for a double) and I ended up doing 8 camels total (or 9, not sure).

I was pretty depleted afterwards. Later that night, I went to put my shoes on to walk my dog and my hamstring seized up and started cramping. Pretty tired today still, so this afternoon should be interesting...

Sokie started a blog called Meno-peace. It's about how she is using Bikram to cope with her menopause:

http://sokie.posterous.com/

Class 201: 60 day challenge day 1

2011-06-02T00:36:00.001-07:00

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

Too much Jeff this week already...

I don't think I've taken a day off since the last challenge ended two months ago. Anna and I were talking yesterday about how we may be hitting the wall right when the challenge is starting. I don't know about her, but I was in the cool part of the room and I definitely struggled.

I pronounce myself healed from my ab->groin injury. I did wall walks today after asking Jeff a couple of questions.

1. Why do you tell some people to look at their knees in rabbit? because they are rolling too far onto their head.

2. I saw a modification in a video for Straddle (yin pose). Instead, there was someone whose back was rounded and he did Frog. I was wondering if the stretch in the back I feel in frog is what he feels in Straddle. He said I should do both. (I do both already, heheh...). He said everyone's body is different and will feel different.

3. Did you juice more than once a day when you were training? No, but he also drank the smoothie and lots of coconut water.

My back was pretty stiff after not having done any wall walks the past two weeks.

Class 200

2011-05-31T22:09:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 6:30pm - Jeff)

This week is going to be killer (starting from sunday): Jeff, Jeff, Erin, Jeff, Jeff, Andrea, Nafisa, Val

I got hit by the yoga truck for the second day in a row. It was a struggle. I did sort of play the observer in triangle, but I got sucked back into the drama after that.

Practiced next to Jamie and Mary Ann, which was cool.

Maybe I should drink juice BEFORE yoga. (I've been juicing every day. YUM!)

Class 199: Tough one

2011-05-30T22:32:00.001-07:00

(Monday 11am - Erin)

I tried to get there early to do some deep stretching, but ended up socializing instead. It seems to take very little (i.e. nothing at all) to get me talking about yin yoga.

From head to knee on I was in a bit of trouble. I sweat more than I have in ages.

My mind played the following game with myself:
You are out of water.
You have a water bottle cooling in the fridge.
You should go get it.

I really did think about getting it. At one point I remember thinking, I'll get it after rabbit.

Then I thought, class is only another 10 minutes.

I haven't done many doubles this month. So, maybe I didn't re-hydrate myself enough after yesterday's double.

After class I re-hydrate and I weigh myself before taking a shower and this month it has been 132 before every shower.

After today's class, I drank juice, drank 1.5 L of water and came in under 130 still, so it was a tough one.

Had an interesting conversation about reincarnation after class.

Class 197 & 198

2011-05-29T23:33:00.001-07:00

(Sunday 3pm - Jeff)

Set up on the left side by the door in between Jen and Phillip. I focused on the breath as I was still a bit wary of my abdominal injury and I was planning to do a double.

The injury is interesting. It started off high up my ab. I first I thought there was just some food stuck in my ascending colon, only to discover it was not a digestive issue, but rather some sort of muscle or connective tissue related problem. The interesting part is that the injury has moved lower and lower to the point where it is now down by my lower groin. It's almost better and it didn't really bother me in the 3pm practice.

The energy today was good. So the focus was good.

(Sunday 5pm - Jeff)

I drank half of my juice in between classes.

Today was probably the last time I'll practice next to Noriko for a while as she is moving to the Valley.

The second class was a little hotter (I set up on the right), and I was definitely tireder. I and I sweat more.

But the focus was still fantastic and I enjoyed our final practice together.

Class 196

2011-05-28T22:51:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Val)

I think my injury is getting better. It's also moving lower.

The main focus of the day was the Champions League Final. Visca Barca!!

Class 195

2011-05-28T22:50:00.001-07:00

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Had to leave early cause I went to see God of Carnage at the Ahmanson. It was pretty good. Very funny.

Class 194 - First visit to Teacher training

2011-05-26T21:59:00.001-07:00

(Thursday 5:00pm - Jenna)

Anna and I went to visit teacher training. We got there early and wandered into a lecture by some guy. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be an anatomy lecture or what, but he he was talking about how our emotions make us ill. He talked about how stress is an emotion. He talked about how we learn how to relax. He talked about how the heart is more than just a pump. He encouraged us to practice from the heart.

When we walked into the room, you could tell that the trainees were tired. They looked beat.

Class was held in a giant ballroom. There were large heaters that made a lot of noise blowing in the heat. Teachers and visitors set up in the back.

I saw myself in the mirror for about half a second when this giant guy 50 feet in front of me momentarily sat down.

I think the trainees have 23 days left. Some of them are clearly fried. Lots of people sitting out. Lots of people leaving the room. I think there are 450 trainees plus visitors, so in terms of a percentage very few people left the room. Maybe I noticed more since I was at the back relatively close to the door.

Jenna primarily stuck to the dialogue. The most memorable thing she said was "it is normal to be weird. It is weird to be normal." I think she said it a couple of times.

It's interesting practicing with 450+ people without being able to see yourself in the mirror. It's freeing. I realize that I do feel some sort of pressure when I practice at my own studio, since the teachers and most of the students know me. At TT, I'm anonymous. Without the mirror I need to rely on feel for the alignment. I didn't worry about depth as I was working around my injured lower ab. I focused on the breath.

The heat and humidity escalated throughout class. By the end I was feeling it.

It was good.

Class 193: Yup, injured

2011-05-25T22:22:00.001-07:00

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

I'm supposed to visit teacher training tomorrow, so this injury sucks. Plus I can't really do spine strengthening, which is also like the whole point of the series. Plus I can't do any leg lifts, side crunches or wall walks. It's like the gods are making me do Yin yoga to open up my connective tissue. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but standing separate leg forehead to knee seems to be getting better/easier. Yin yoga is predominantly hip openers and foreward bends (my weaknesses).

Class 192 Injured

2011-05-24T22:55:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Valerie)

I somehow injured an ab. I don't think it was the leg lifts. It may have been that I held a spine twist too long. I felt it in the morning and thought it was just indigestion or something. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Watched the Paul Grilley Yin Yoga DVD disc 1. Awesome. I'll write about it later.

Yin Yoga session

2011-05-24T00:28:00.001-07:00

Put on Aphex Twin's Ambient Works. Lit some candles, and did an hour long Yin yoga session. It was all very new age hippie.

Sleeping Swan
Half butterfly
Dragonfly
Square
Forward bend
Frog (it turn's out my Downward Facing Frog is an actual yin pose named Frog)
Saddle
Spine Twists (Lying Twists)
Pentacle (Shavasana)

http://www.yinyoga.com/ys2_2.0_yinyoga_asanas.php

I should do Dragons next time as the front of my hips need opening.

When lying in Pentacle it felt when I used my mom's Chi Machine. The thing shakes your feet for 5 minutes and when it stops you feel energy shooting throughout your body. I felt this after Jeff's class too.

Class 191: Western Medicine vs. Eastern Medicine

2011-05-23T22:16:00.001-07:00

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

It started off cool and the humidity escalated steadily. By the end there was a lot of sweat.
Mary Ann lent me all of the Paul Grilley Yin Yoga DVDs as well as a couple of Jill Miller DVDs (shoulders and hip openers - my two weaknesses!)
I'm so excited to watch them!

Here's an excerpt of an email I sent Val in response to something she said in class:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: roger
Date: Mon, May 23, 2011 at 10:10 PM
Subject: Western Medicine vs. Eastern Medicine
To: Val

Western Medicine tries to identify a root cause. You go with a variety of symptoms and they try to provide some sort of diagnosis to say THIS is the reason you feel crappy or whatever.

In contrast, Eastern Medicine views the problems are arising from some disharmony. Of course digestive issues can cause plenty of disharmony. Plus, you are what you eat...

Yoga is great because (as you frequently say) the yoga gives you what you need.

Yoga balances things out and helps bring harmony to your body, mind, and spirit.

You got the crazy mind, yoga calms it.

You feel lethargic and bleh, yoga energizes you.

You're flexible but floppy, yoga helps build your strength.

You're strong but stiff, yoga gets you to move your body.

For me, I live in the future. I worry about shit. So the greatest benefit for me is that yoga helps me to practice being in the moment.

Anyway, you talked about western medicine vs. eastern medicine in class today and it's something I've thought a bit about, especially since I was raised in the "church of science" where the only things that are true are those that can be scientifically proven. Now I'm closer to being a new age hippie than a hard scientist, in no small part thanks to you. I appreciate the wisdom you share with the class.

roger

Class 190: Yin yoga is my new obsession?

2011-05-22T21:11:00.001-07:00

(Sunday 8am - Tom)

I haven't had Tom in AGES. It was good to see him, but for some reason I had a tough time. My breathing was heavy, I sweat like crazy, and I got a little tired. Perhaps it was humidity.

Anyway, I got there about 20 minutes early and did song long hold hip openers.

After class, instead of doing homework I laid in what I call Downward Facing Frog for a few minutes. It's a hip opener.

So, yesterday's stretching class with Jeff was an eye opener for me.

I already knew from previous experience that my hips are super tight and that by doing long hold pigeons before class helped me have a better Bikram class.

It makes sense that due to growing up with scoliosis and all the sitting I do, I have a lot of tight connective tissue in my hips and lower spine. This tightness has always been a major hindrance to my practice.

I love the fact that the long holds in yin yoga open up these tight connective tissues.

I also love all the taoist theory that is part of this yin yoga. As an avid scholar of Taoism the theory resonates with me.

Finally, I think it's interesting that they are finding a relationship between connective tissue and the meridians along which your Chi flows. It seems that by stretching (or as Paul Grilley likes to say "stressing") the connective tissue you can promote chi flow.

Did I reorganize the spare bedroom by moving the futon to the very center of the room and making the room Yin Yoga friendly by re-arranging furnature, etc.? Yes, but I was planning to re-arrange things for a while.

Spending much of the afternoon reading these very interesting articles is the real sign of obsession:
http://www.paulgrilley.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=9&Itemid=11

Class 189 Yin Yoga

2011-05-21T23:26:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 12:30pm - Jeff)

I walked into the studio and there was music playing and christmas style lights around the perimeter of the yoga room. I knew this was going to be different...

The following was stolen without permission from Jeff's iPhone (they were his notes for the class):

stretching workshop

pigeon

separate leg stretch (3x)

double pigeon (2x)

forward stretch

hurdlers stretch

saddle/fixed firm

dragon (clasp foot)

seal

infant

partner shoulder pull

shoulder interlocked hands over head

cow face finger grab

bar

spine twist

pentacle

religiously practicing

a set of postures at the apprpropriate time could save your life and the same routine, if carried beyond the appropriate time could do you great harm.

precision

yin/yang toaist concept

hidden-exposed

dark-light

cold-hot

still-moving

down-up

earth-heaven

calm-excited

connective tissue-muscle

tissue

stretching joints like teeth

long period

muscles relaxed

fewer postures

supplemental

right/wrong

two ways to do wrong

Here's a good article in the ideas/philosophy of Yin Yoga:

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/580

Yin yoga is spreading:

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/21/health/he-yin-yoga21

Paul Grilley on the Theory of Yin Yoga

Hip Opening:

Anyways, I LOVED the class.

I absolutely need to start doing some yin practice. It hits the connective tissue more than the muscles. I have loads of connective tissue in my hips and lower back that I'm only semi-aware of.

It turns out I've been doing yin yoga for a while now, as my favorite pre-class stretch is (half) pigeon, which I held for several minutes!

Class 188

2011-05-21T18:15:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Val)

I had four newbies behind me so today's yoga was working on the focus. I was only mildly successful.

It's weird that this morning my back was so stiff. Even after one class I didn't feel like the upper spine completely opened up. Normally, I would do another but I had to return a wheatgrass flat and was going to do Jeff's stretching class in the afternoon. I skipped the "homework" as well.

Class 187

2011-05-21T11:37:00.001-07:00

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Nafisa says she has never come close to passing out in class. She has never had the room turn white or the room start to spin. She has never felt woozy. She has only sit out a posture once, and that was when Val made her sit out because she was having some back issues.

So when she says "I hope I pass out" she is saying she wants to experience that moment when things are on the verge of careening out of control and you have to turn to the breath to calm things down and keep things together.

I feel sorry for her, because even though it sucks to get totally rocked it is very... you learn a lot. You learn a lot about yourself, what you are capable of, and the power of the breath. You grow from the experience. So, this is an experience she has yet to have...

Class 186

2011-05-19T22:05:00.001-07:00

(Thursday 2:30pm - Jeff)

This dude came in to the studio and wanted to do class. But he didn't bring money. He had all this powder on him or something. Then he asked to use the bathroom and used it for 15 minutes washing himself in the sink? It was bizarre. Jeff was trying to get him out cause class was already 5 minutes late cause of him. When Jeff opened the door, Jeff saw the dude's butt. The bathroom line quickly dispersed, as people decided to hold it.

Class started cool and heat gradual.

Andrea, Sue, Erin Thu, Me, and Anna on the right side of the room. Vortex baby.

Jeff sent me this video (said it reminded him of me):

Looking forward to Saturday's Yin yoga class.

Class 185 My First Green Smoothie

2011-05-19T00:06:00.001-07:00

I made my first Green Smoothie this morning. Apple, Banana, Kale, and two cups of water in the Vitamix. It didn't taste too bad either.

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

I'm at the part of the semester where I feel a bit weary. Part of it is that I wrote and graded three tests last semester.

I skipped pre-class stretching and chatted with Joanne and Angie and decided to just focus on the breath today and I had a fantastic class. It wasn't hot but it was humid, so things opened up decently.

My wall walk is improving but I STILL need to work on bending the upper spine. My new thing is to really focus on pushing the chest to the ceiling while keeping my heels on the floor till I touch the wall. I can feel it bending a bit more this way. Then I lift my heels as I walk my hands down. I'm also trying to get my hands as far behind my head as possible, as opposed to in front of my face.

I took a break this evening and watch Peaceful Warrior. Anna lent it to me. It's good. I recommend.

Class 184

2011-05-17T23:50:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Valerie)

They put a podium in the yoga room.

While doing standing separate leg forehead to knee I could see my back heel lifting off the ground in the mirror on the side of the podium.

My breathing was not that good today. It's like I spent too much energy trying to stay focused that my breathing was occasionally audible even though it wasn't that hot.

I'm looking forward to Jeff's Yin Yoga class on saturday. I could use some restorative yoga.

Class 183

2011-05-16T22:52:00.001-07:00

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

Tired from work. I'm at the point in the semester when I've hit the wall and I'm all worn out. I need a vacation.

Class was not hot but I ended up sweating a lot. I think the humidity built throughout the class. Class was crowded.

My body feels fine. (I think the juicing is helping. My latest concoction is cucumber, apple, celery, wheatgrass.) My mind is not strong right now. If I'm not practicing next to a power house, I'm having difficulty focusing. I'm somehow easily distracted even if I'm in the front row. Maybe it's just a monday thing...

Class 182 One advantage of doing the same postures in the same order every class

2011-05-15T23:43:00.001-07:00

(Sunday 5pm - Jeff)

I was going to go to 10am in the hopes Tom was teaching, but I needed the rest. Rest is important.

Class was good.

I was thinking yesterday that one advantage of doing the same postures in the same order every class is that you become aware of how different your body is every day. I think it would be harder for me to develop that awareness without a sequence. The fact that there is only one sequence in the Bikram Beginning Series makes you even more aware.

This whole body awareness and sensitivity is totally cool. The fact that my diet, mood, yoga, stress level, and sleep affect each other so much. I suspect I might be the kind of person who gets stressed out very easily, so I try to manage my stress level. Or maybe that was the "old" me. Maybe the new me is better at being in the moment.

Class 181

2011-05-14T14:09:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Jeff)

Jeff was surprisingly energetic at 8am. I thought he wasn't a morning person. Class was hard. I didn't sleep well last night. I sweat even more than yesterday.

Afterwards I went to the farmers market and bought a ton of veggies and some apples for juicing. I bought a flat of wheat grass for $8. I don't know if I can drink that much wheatgrass juice.

Class 180

2011-05-14T00:06:00.001-07:00

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Practiced next to Noriko today. Sundar came in early too. HUMID. Sweat like crazy. Tough one for all of us I think.

Cucumber, celery, kale, green apple juice afterwards. So yum. It's like the body is hungry for hydration and minerals and nutrients.

Class 178 - Juicer Arrived

2011-05-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Valerie)

I was tired after teaching and having a highly populated office hours and grading a test. The energy was not great. Kind of dead actually.

There are a few different styles of juicers:

1. centrifugal - basically a disc spins at the bottom of a chute. The food gets pulverized and centrifugal force pushes the juice through a metal basket/sieve. These are the easiest to use but are the most wasteful in terms of yield. Some feel the heat generated kills the enzymes. I have one already. It's scary loud.

2. masticating - "masticate" <- a fancy word that means "to chew". I think the Champion models are this type.

3. twin gear - food is squeezed between two gears. highest juice to food ratio. low rpm so there's no heat generated. quiet. hella expensive.

I got a Green Star. It's a twin gear and it's fantastic. Makes the other one feel like a Yaris.

Class 177

2011-05-10T22:18:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 2:30pm - Erin)

Erin usually says "panini sandwich" in place of "japanese ham sandwich" but today she said "grilled cheese sandwich". Did she not think that the crowd today knew what a panini sandwich was? is the number of people who know what a panani sandwich is greater than the number of people who know what a japanese ham sandwich is?

I came home hoping that my new, awesome, crazy expensive juicer arrived, but it didn't. Should come tomorrow.

I did an extensive amount of research into juicing and juicers before making the decision to purchase. I post a summary of my findings in the future.

Class 176

2011-05-09T23:51:00.001-07:00

(monday 4:30pm - Val)

Anna, Bernadette, Sue, Henrietta, 95 degrees, humid, good energy, open body, nice.

Turns out Val's back problem is that she has very little space space between her L5 and sacrum (iirc). (she took an xray)

Highlight the sacrum:

http://www.chiroone.net/AskTheDoctor/index.html

If you know about Val's hip... of course.

Class 175

2011-05-08T18:29:00.001-07:00

(Sunday 3pm - Shannon)

Today's yoga was coping with some funky odors on my side of the room today.

After yesterday's class:

me - "when you do cobra do you try to move the weight into your toes, like now in locust you try to move your weight into your shoulders?"

Jeff - "I think about my hips and squeezing my butt."

Class 173 & 174

2011-05-08T01:22:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Erin)

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." - William Blake

"Too good is no good." - Bikram

(Saturday 5pm - Miranda)

Doing bikram yoga a couple of hours after a champagne brunch buffett with coffee... DE-TOX!

I sweat a ridiculous amount considering the room wasn't that hot. It was not unpleasant.

Class 172 Going on blogging vacation pls unsubscribe/un-RSS

2011-05-06T21:13:00.001-07:00

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Lakers down 3-0. Wow.

Class 171 Karen says the blog has been boring lately (it's true)

2011-05-05T18:27:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I've been busy. And tired. I've been working on the iPhone app pretty intensely which takes up all of my time and energy reserves.

I went back and re-read a few of the old entries and I'm surprised by how poor some of the writing is, as far as things making grammatical sense, spelling, etc. It's probably not best to blog at midnight...

So... for Karen, I would like to have an actual interesting post. I'm not sure what to say...

(Thursday 2:30pm - Jeff)

It was a small class, which I love. I should be taking Andrea's 4:30 since she's leaving soon, but it's been HOT in pasadena lately and 4:30 gets crowded and the practice has gone into a bit of a down phase lately. Maybe contraction phase would be a better term. Last week things felt really open and great and this week my spine is really sore and it's hard to open up the upper back and there's this spot in my left shoulder that wants to be opened/cracked but it's hard to hit it.

I can name everyone there. On the right side of the room: Erin, Yoshi, Lisa Wu. On the left: new girl returning after a year off, Andrea, Phillip, me, and Erika. I was in second row in front of Emil spot.

Take a Jeff class with a small number of people is the best. If my mom ever comes to visit I will take her to 2:30 thursday Jeff. She'd like it.

It's strange. Even though it's so warm out my body was not particularly open at the beginning. In half moon, I really didn't feel like the upper spine and left shoulder opened up as much as before. This is why I say things seem to be in a contraction phase.

The body definitely opened up as class went on. It's weird, because I didn't feel that the room was especially hot today but Jeff had the fans going and opened the doors and even 15 minutes after class, while the room was being aired out, the temperature was still 107. For me, it's the humidity that's the true killer.

Didn't do any homework.

It's hard to write when you aren't inspired... hmm... It seems like Karen is ready to take her practice to the next level. I noticed she's getting corrected more in class on small things. This is good as the little things make all the difference. I find that there are certain road blocks I encounter in different postures and it's actually other postures that address these blockages. For example, getting the shoulder under the chin in standing bow requires a spine twist. I work on this in Triangle and (of course) spine twist.

It is because every posture is inter-connected with the other postures in the series that I have specific things I work on in EVERY posture in the hopes of improving the overall practice:

Pranayama Breathing - I work on keeping my spine straight by putting the weight in my heels, pushing the hips towards the mirror (but not too much), sucking in the belly and lifting the chest to the ceiling.

Half Moon - same as in breathing.

Awkward - pt 1 I work on putting my weight in my heels. pt 2 I work on getting onto my toes more. pt 3 I work on keeping very still and maintaining a 1 inch gap from my heels to my butt. I work on keeping my face calm because things can be a bit intense at this point.

Eagle - keep the weight in the heel while lifting chest up

Forehead to knee - Lately I've had to work on locking BOTH knees. If I have that I work on lifting my chest. If I have that I work on flexing my ENTIRE kicking foot back (not just my toes)

Standing Bow - I need to work on locking the standing leg more. Getting weight more into the standing leg toe. Spine twist. Kicking like crazy to get a backbend. I guess standing bow has many things I'm working on.

Balancing stick - I work on rolling the kick leg hip down so my hips are level. I work on extending forward. I saw Jeff do a balancing stick once and he's REALLY stretching forward.

Separate Leg Stretching - actually I work on contracting my quads. Because my left hamstring is still super sore I've been working on contracting the quads to protect the hamstrings so that I don't injure them.

Triangle - Spine twist. I want to twist but very little is happening. Especially on the left side.

Standing Separate Leg Forehead to Knee - I work on sucking in my belly and putting my forehead on the knee. It's very inconsistent.

Tree - I worry about my left knee which is feeling better but still not 100%

Toe - I've got my hands on the floor now. I'm working on being careful and not injuring said left knee.

Savasana - I work on relaxing my shoulders away from my ears. Also it seems to take forever and a day to get comfortable. I feel uneven and twisted when I lie in savasana.

Hmm... by trying to make things more interesting I've actually made them LESS interesting.

Maybe Karen would be more interested in a general thought:

People ask me why I do so much yoga and if you reach a point where you see no improvement or even your body starts breaking down. I think for me, the benefits are largely not in the physical aspect. The real benefit for me manifests outside the classroom. Doing yoga helps me be in the moment. The more yoga I do the better I am at being in the present moment, even outside the studio. This is very freeing. I think I tend to worry about things I can't control. I think my mind can get a little crazy.

I feel like a lot of the lessons I learn in the yoga room naturally get applied outside the yoga room. I've learned to do the best I can with where I'm at. I've learned to accept the results without judgement. I've learned to let go of what I cannot control. I've learned how to step outside of myself and play the role of the observer. I've learned to share my positive energy with others. I don't really get angry any more. Of course, I am still working on these things. I've learned that life is basically a practice. One long giant practice and you are doing the best you can with what you have today and working to get better.

Very Interesting Breathing Article

2011-05-05T13:01:00.001-07:00

yoga_AnatomyofBreath.pdf Download this file

It's an article about the Anatomy of Breath as written from a yogi's perspective.

Class 170

2011-05-04T23:54:00.001-07:00

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Erin)

Set up front row, left side. Caryn on left, Carlos on right. Three newbies were behind me. I wasn't overly distracted I guess.

Today was a long day. Just busy. And I'm tired.

So, I did my yoga. It was fine. Unspectacular.

My back muscles are sore. Very sore. Sore to the point where I have to be real careful coming out of a backbend.

After class I did 15 leg lifts and 25 side crunches.

I started reading Light on Life again. Great book. So much wisdom.

"Pranayama is not performed by the power of will. The breath must be enticed or cajoled, like catching a horse in a fied, not by chasing after it, but by standing still with an apple in one's hand."

Class 169 - Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you

2011-05-03T22:33:00.001-07:00

Watched the big game with my buddy and saw beloved Barcelona advance to the Champion's League final by defeating eternal arch rivals Real Madrid. Consequently, today's yoga was a bit of a detox.

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

Set up first row on the left in front of the Emil spot. Karen was in second row, along with Noriko in the center.

It was hot out today and I sweated like crazy.

My spine is SUPER sore from all the backbending I've been doing.

I started to feel dizzy in the standing series and had to sit out a few postures. I was happy that I was able to hold it together and do a passable floor series. Maybe I should've juiced today!

Class 168

2011-05-02T23:42:00.001-07:00

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

Set up second row in Jason Winn spot. Erin on my right.

It was not especially good. I was somewhat distracted the whole time.

Val said my spine is changing and all the yoga/extra work is showing results.

Did 15 leg lifts 25 side crunches and 5 wall walks after class. My back muscles are sore.

Class 167

2011-05-01T23:17:00.001-07:00

Worked on the iPhone app all day and my eyes and head were numb from staring at the laptop.

(Sunday 5pm - Jeff)

Set up first row in front of the Emil spot. Noriko practices in the third row in the Emil/sarah spot. The class was small. Maybe 12 people? I like small classes. Especially small Jeff classes. They somehow seem more informal. Plus you get a million corrections. Let's see how many I can remember that were specifically directed towards me (I'm not counting the ones where he's looking right at me but gives a general correction.

Suck in belly, don't backbend in half moon.

weight in the heel in eagle

he says my forehead to knee is improving but there's still a little bit more lock in the kicking leg and a little bit more flex in the ankle.

in standing bow, I need to lock my standing leg more and move the weight into the toes, almost to the point where you can see light under my heel. Also, I move my shoulder towards, the mirror, and it moves back, I move it forward, and it moves back... also body down, chin up (obviously)

keep weight out of fingers in triangle

tilt my hands 10 degrees in full locust (a math nerd would've used radians)

move feet wider while keeping my knees at 6 inches in bow (my bow today was my best ever)

we did 4 camels

he asked if my rabbit improved. I can't tell. I was good for a while, then it was really bad, lately it's been ok.

I asked if doing a lot of backbends hurts your forward bends. He said no, it makes them better. Your spine is more flexible.

It was a great class. lotsa fun.

Class 164 & 165 & 166

2011-04-30T23:11:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Val)

For some reason I was SO HUNGRY yesterday and I ate all this food. Unfortunately, it had not all passed through my system before class.

Set up second row, right side. Ted on my right.

I did the class semi-conscious I think. I was definitely, awake, not sleepy, but I was not alert. I was not AWAKE awake.

My body was SO stiff. Since I planned to do a double all along I wasn't too bothered by it. If this was the only class of the day I probably would've pushed harder.

Val said she went to teacher training and took class from bikram. I guess it was hot and humid. She said that class was AMAZING and he is able to get her to be more focused and go deeper than she realizes. I was thinking that that is often how I feel when I take Jeff's class. Of course, she takes Jeff's class also, but he was her student originally and maybe the relationship/vibe is not the same. I will have to go down to TT and take a class or two. I bet when he teaches his future teachers the class is much different from when he's teaching regular folks.

After class, I did 15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches, and 10 wall walks.

(Saturday 10am - Jeff)

Chatted a bit with Noriko before class. I asked if the anger she felt when she was doing 9-14 classes a week was because she had deep seated anger that was coming up and being released or if she was angry because her body was breaking down and she couldn't do what she wanted to do pose-wise. She said a bit of both. Nafisa said she was angry when she was doing 260 everyday no breaks. No breaks is hard. I don't see myself trying that. I think if you need a day off you should take it.

Set up second row left side in front of Jason's memorial. Anna on my right. Shannon (the student) in front.

Jeff was all business but he didn't seem to be in a bad mood. He seemed neutral.

Unlike many other back to backs I've done, I didn't have a hard time at the beginning of class. In fact, I had one of those classes that was over quickly. Surrounded by two strong yogis focusing was a snap. I just worked on breath control and let the body open. It was nice.

Jeff has corrected me twice now on balancing stick. I need to roll the kicking leg hip down to keep it level. I need to move my foot to the right which kicking with my right leg.

After class, I did 5 wall walks, took a picture of my backbend, and went to the farmer's market.

(Saturday 5pm - Miranda)

Set up in the Jason Winn spot.

It was fine. Nothing special. I was slightly distracted.

This class went by quickly as well.

My Backbend

2011-04-30T20:53:00.001-07:00

12.10.09

2.18.10

5.25.10

6.29.10

9.7.10

4.30.11

Class 163: Everything Changes

2011-04-29T23:49:00.001-07:00

One of the most influential classes I took in college was this Asian Religions course. In it, we studied buddhism of course. I was already interested in buddhism because I was interested in J.D. Salinger. I read all his books, then, since he only really wrote 3, I read some commentary and found out he was interested in buddhism. Anyway, one of the key ideas is everything changes.

Not only is Andrea moving to New York, but Noriko is moving in June as well. It is too bad. Noriko is the only person I know who is crazier than I am, so I had hoped to ask her some questions. I think it's kind of rude to just wander up to someone and grill them while they are warming up or whatever, so I was trying to space them out. But now that she's leaving in a month...

So I asked her about the breathing before class. Does she think about the breath when she's practicing? Yes. She talked about finding the balance between working to your edge and using your breath to keep things calm. Breath control. Using the breath to go deeper. I'm not there yet. Still working on that.

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Set up second row, right side. Noriko on the left. The room was not hot, around 100. perfect for me.

Class was great. Good focus. Good breathing. Decent depth.

After class I asked Noriko about some of the stuff that maybe only she really has experience for a year or two she was averaging 9-14 classes a week. We talked about nutrition. She finds she need protein to stay strong. She doesn't eat read meat and doesn't eat a lot of meat but she's not vegetarian. Less-meat-arian like me I guess. She eats organic, and clean. It sounds like coffee is her only vice. She found nuts really helped her during those days she was practicing a lot. Good fats and protein. She talked about finding a balance for your body.

There was a period of time where she was doing too much yoga and the physical, emotional and mental effects of that. She said she was actually angry more often. I guess her body was at the limit and started to break down a bit. As a professional dancer she has a high tolerance for pain.

I told her about how when I start doing a lot of yoga I start losing feeling in my hands and feet. Both her and Nafisa said it was dehydration. Noriko talked about how you can go into sort of a long term dehydration. I sense she's speaking from experience. So I will need to be careful, given the ridiculous amount I sweat. Especially with summer around the corner.

Class 162

2011-04-29T08:34:00.001-07:00

(Thursday 2:30pm - Jeff)

Very few people in the class, which I like (especially in a Jeff class). Maybe 10 total. Interestingly, it seemed like the more experienced students set up on the left side and the newer students set up on the right.

We had trident going on the left with Andrea, Phillip. I was in the second row in front of the closet, they were in front.

For all those times where it seems like nothing is going well and everything sort of hurts and there is lots of suffering I should remember these good days, where I seem to be improving and the energy is positive and the good vibes seem contagious.

Jeff was in a good mood. He talked about how full locust has been The Nemesis Posture lately for him. Before, when he first started it was balancing stick, where he'd black out/triple exposure. Then he polled the rest of the class:

several people said all the postures

phillip said all except fixed firm

andrea said 3rd part locust

girl in emil spot said 2nd part awkward

Helen? said camel

I said standing separate leg forehead to knee

Actually, I don't have a posture that I just try to get thru, but I have never been able to get my forehead on my knee both sets consistently.

My emphasis changes often. Right now I guess it's standing bow (again).

Jeff gave me a correction on spine twist. On right side I have to get my right butt cheek on the floor. I'm not sitting on my foot, but I think I don't have the cheek planted firmly on the floor because I want my spine straight. Next step is plant it AND get the spine straight.

15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches, and 10 wall walks were done after class.

Class 161

2011-04-27T23:20:00.001-07:00

Today was the biggest soccer match of the year for my favorite team - Barcelona. I was going to not look at the score, watch the match right after work, and then go to 6:30 Jeff.

Except I couldn't resist and ended up following the score on my iPhone. When I found out Barca won, I was elated, and decided to go to 4:30 and watch the game afterwards.

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Bernadette)

Second row, center. Jeff on my left. Sundar on his left. We are like a gang - Black yoga shorts gang.

Class was good. I was in a good mood already and I rarely get to practice next to Jeff. The energy was good.

I didn't feel like it was hot but I sweat like crazy and my hands and feet started to go a little numb during the floor series. I had to sit out a couple sets. Bernadette was generous with the fans and air towards the end.

I think Bernadette has gotten so good! I think her style suits 4:30. She's very high energy and positive.

did some ab work. did maybe 3 wall walks and I felt a little light headed so I stopped.

I ended up chatting with Erin about breathing, teaching, and standing bow. I am lucky to learn from so many good teachers.

Class 160

2011-04-26T23:18:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 2:30pm - Erin)

Set up front row in front of emil spot. Heidi and Erin (the student) were in the second row. The class was small. Val took class.

It was very good. I like the small classes.

Erin said my backbend is getting better. I can feel it. Second set there is more of a bend. I think the wall walks are starting to pay off.

I really felt the upper spine stretching in rabbit. Felt so good. Sometimes I linger even after the "change". I know the teachers always say it's easy to get the stretch in the upper spine, but not for me!

After class I did 15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches, and about 12 wall walks. Jeff took a look at a couple and said there was more of a bend. He gave me a couple of pointers as well. I think my form is not good enough yet to do them fast.

The Answer to my Question

2011-04-25T23:25:00.003-07:00

So one question that has plagued me since I started is: Why am I so yoga crazy?

My first day doing yoga was my last day at the gym.

After the first class I went to the library and borrowed both of Bikram's books and read them cover to cover.

From day one I pretty much had at least a 6 day a week practice.

I did at least 90 days in a row at the beginning and then I stopped counting.

I asked every teacher a zillion questions.

I've got a bit of a curious mind and am at least mildly obsessive, but I pretty much knew from day one that yoga was the obsession to end all obsessions.

It's technical, it's spiritual, it's physical, it's can never be mastered, it's deep, it's transformative, it's meditative, it's educational (you learn a lot about yourself and life in general) and you can improve through hard work.

Your only competition is yourself. Because it's the same 26 posture and 2 breathing exercises in the same order with roughly the same dialogue, you can really learn to master the postures. I've always wanted to master something.

So, yeah, the question is WHY? Why am I so obsessed? Still? It's been 3 years.

Then I read something that might give a partial answer.

I was reading this free Kindle book I downloaded called "The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga". In it, the author writes:

"Take your present into your own hand. Consciously shape out of it your future. Direct your forces along lines of study and endeavour that have the strongest attraction for you. Such attraction is the indication of need. It is the hand pointing out your Life-purpose."

Basically, my junk body with its stiff asian scoliosis-inflicted spine, crazy tight hips and hamstrings from years of sports without stretching, and shoulders destroyed from an incline bench press incident and a kick serve (tennis) NEEDS the yoga. My hyper-active, screw loose mind NEEDS the yoga.

Class 159

2011-04-25T23:25:00.001-07:00

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

I got the spot next to where Nafisa usually practices but then she didn't show up. Turns out she practiced at 11am and she's not used to practicing in the morning and being so stiff. Ahh... I miss the am/pm doubles already.

There is a picture of Jason Winn doing standing bow in between the bathroom and closet doors. This is my favorite spot to practice. I like feeling like Jason is watching over me while I practice. I never met him, but he was Jeff's teacher. Karen was on the left.

Jeff put lines on the carpet for us to line up on. I don't like it. I don't like standing on one spot on my towel because it just becomes a swamp and starts squishing out the sides, getting the carpet wet. I prefer to distribute the sweat evenly across my towel. Sometimes I rebel and move off the line. Today was one of those times.

Val has a minimalist dialogue. She's never rushing to get the words out. Somehow she dictates the energy of the room. That is her gift.

Did 15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches each side, and 15+ wall walks.

Class 157 & 158 spring break is over... sigh... getting my Tent in order

2011-04-24T23:08:00.001-07:00

(Sunday 10am - Krystal)

Instead of going to church to hear my mother-in-law sing in the choir on Easter Sunday I went to yoga (I'm not religious). She made me feel guilty by giving me a bag of oranges and avocados.

Set up second row left side. It was not that hot and I could've set up somewhere else. I must confess that I was looking for an easy time.

The part of my back near the lower part of my ribs is sore. Probably from standing bow. Maybe I should've taken some arnica or something.

I did ab work after class but no wall walks. I feel guilty doing extra stuff when the teacher is looking to leave after class. Then again, it is a convenient excuse, isn't it? Just like how I have all these excuses for setting up in the cooler part of the room.

(Sunday 5pm - Shannon)

Small class. Loved it.

We had a trident going on the left side. America, Shannon and I. I thought the energy was real good.

My standing bow was meh. I was hoping for better.

I should do extra rabbits after class. Two sets is not enough.

Shannon said something VERY interesting in class today. She said your body is not built like a brick house, it's more like a tent. It's held together by tension, and when the tension is out of balance or the frame is misaligned, the integrity of the tent suffers. I never thought of it that way. I LIKE IT :)

did 15 leg lifts after class.

Class 155 & 156 Standing Bow...

2011-04-24T00:10:00.001-07:00

(Saturday 8am - Erin)

Fell asleep at 10:30 last night, strangely early. Maybe I needed it as I've felt a little tired lately.

Set up front row left side. Kristy on my left.

At the beginning of class my body was SO STIFF. It's funny to me that when you open your body up a lot on one day, oftentimes the next day is extra stiff. I worked through it.

Hardly drank water. Digestive tract still doesn't feel great in the morning.

After class Erin demonstrated the spine twist in standing bow for Kristy a couple of times. It was interesting to see up close. It seems that engaging the spine twist keeps the chin/head lifted, allowing the upper spine to bend a bit as well.

I think I will experiment with the following order of emphasis for standing bow:

1. kick

2. twist

3. level the hips

4. drop the body

before I twisted last, resulting in a no-twist.

(Saturday 5pm - Miranda)

Set up second row, left side.

Sundar ran 16 miles on the trail in Vibram Five Fingers and then came to yoga. Stud.

I tested out the new standing bow. I like it. Except I fell out a couple of times. Which is probably good.

Class was enjoyable. One of those that seems like it's dragging at the beginning and then BAM! suddenly it's over.

It wasn't too crowded and everyone was experienced and Miranda is pretty chill, so it was great. Maybe I will try to make this class more regularly.

Class 153 & 154 took class with Ythuan

2011-04-22T23:10:00.001-07:00

(Friday 9am - Brook)

Set up second row in front of the Emil spot. Ythuan arrived about 5 minutes before class with some serious bed head. Then again she is the yogi most likely to take class with bed head, haha. That just speaks to her dedication. She was on my right side, and Cindy was to her right. Cindy had a water bottle and another bottle filled with coffee. ?

Class was good. I like Brook. She's got an interesting energy. More encouraging than pushing but still with some intensity. I think she's good at controlling her voice and tempo.

My half moon is getting better. Studying the vid helped. Actually, I only had to watch it once.

I still felt a little weird in the morning. Only took small sips of water. I may become one of those yogis who can't drink too much water without getting nauseous in class. I hope not. I like drinking water and I feel the need to rehydrate given the ridiculous amount I sweat.

Ythuan's backbend has progressed from looking straight up at the ceiling to pretty deep now (she can see the floor, which I am not close to doing).

After class she taught me her modification of hands to feet pose for people afflicted with ASS (Asian Spine Syndrome) and can't get their knees together while the chest is touching the knees.

(Friday 4:30pm - Nafisa)

Set up second row, left side. Sundar on my right, but he was far away. I had a lot of space. It was nice.

Friday night yoga with Nafisa is a new fav. I just chill. I relax into the yoga and it's quite enjoyable.

Nafisa is regaining her energy now that tax season is over (she does taxes part time). This means that she's funnier, but will probably be a little harder to.

She said there were 480 people in training. And that Bikram was in a good mood. And that Bikram has an air conditioner up on the podium with him (supposedly it gets really hot up there - high elevation).

I'm loving camel btw.

AFter class I did 15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches, and about 10-15 wall walks. The wall walks are getting better.

How to grow

2011-04-22T00:45:00.001-07:00

Fall down
Get up
Fall down
Get up
Fall down
Get up Fall down Get up
Fall down
Get up
Fall down
Get up
Stay up

Life is the Teacher (listen)

2011-04-22T00:37:00.001-07:00

The things I want to say
Are too abstract for language communication
Truth can not be explained
Beauty cannot be described
The only true knowing is experience

Unbounding

2011-04-22T00:30:00.001-07:00

I don't care
I don't care what you think
I've said it before
But now I believe it
To be free from the my self created prison That is my path

Poetry's Purpose

2011-04-22T00:26:00.001-07:00

An idea is a fabrication of the mind
Knowing is to point at the essence Poetry is the suggestion that leads to the knowing

Flight

2011-04-22T00:15:00.001-07:00

How many of us are afraid to live
How many afraid to fly
We are afraid to live life fully
We are afraid to die

Connection

2011-04-22T00:11:00.001-07:00

Words are such flawed creatures
Each of us have our own meanings
True communication- a lucky roll of the dice We talk without knowing what we are talking about
Poetry is necessary to suggest the indescribable

Appreciation

2011-04-22T00:03:00.001-07:00

Grace is elegance in motion
Aesthetics is elegance in design
Style is the inevitable pattern revealed in a thousand choices
Decoration is a lack of taste

Prefontaine

2011-04-21T15:03:00.001-07:00

Are you familiar with the story of Prefontaine?

Steve Prefontaine was a legendary runner. He went to the University of Oregon. Most racers race with some sort of strategy. You know, you save some energy by drafting off of the people in front of you. You let the people in front wear themselves out and then you strike near the end when they are tired. Prefontaine prefered to race from the front. He wanted to turn every race into an "all-guts" race. He wanted to turn every race into a true test of endurance and willpower, not cunning and tactics. I like that. Or at least I like the idea of it.

"I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it."

"a lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."

"the best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die"

"somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."

"to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

While I admire him, I can't help but wonder if all this pushing is tinged with foolishness. With great willpower you can do a great many things, including pushing yourself past awareness and past your limits and lead yourself to injury. I still admire the great willpower, because people are capable of so much more than they believe. I also believe one can change what your limits are. However, I find as your will gets stronger there is a danger that you ego grows stronger as well.

Some people think a healthy ego is a good thing. It is true that you can accomplish a lot of things with a healthy ego. But I'm not interested in accomplishing great things.

I'm interested in skillful living. It seems to me that a big ego would get in the way of this.

Class 152 Disharmony

2011-04-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

(Thursday 9am - Ariel (pronounced R E L as in the letters))

I've only had her class a few times, and I never really noticed, but Ariel talks fast. It is so strange to me that there are certain instructors that talk fast but the resulting effect is totally different:

Ariel - talks fast, but you don't really notice

Nafisa - talks fast, and affects different people in different ways (some think drill sergeant)

Ythuan - talks kinda fast, but with energy, kind of pushing you forward

Ziggy - talks fast, but like a song or rap with a definite rhythm

Set up same spot the last few morning classes (third row, right side). I smarter superstitious person would move elsewhere and try to change the mojo. A pig-headed stupid person would continue to set up in the same place over and over trying to wear out the bad feng shui and turn the badness into glorious goodness.

Anyway, I could tell from the start that things were not right. Stomach felt weird. I felt a little nauseous even at the very beginning of the class.

I turned to the breath and focused on technique over depth.

Nausea ebbed and flowed. I didn't drink water.

Sat out some of the standing series.

Started to lose some feeling in my hands and feet. Left the room to grab a coconut water I brought for in between the 9am/11am double I planned. Missed most of the floor. Sat out most of the floor. Did camel and rabbit and spine twisting.

I'm not sure what the deal is. Maybe I am not putting back the amounts I am losing. Maybe my limit is 5 doubles right now. Maybe it's psychological. Maybe I'm just going through something. Maybe I am sick. Maybe blueberries are harder to digest than I thought. Maybe I need a break. Maybe I am a fool.

Despite the crappy class I went to do a few wall walks but the first one sent the room spinning and I shut it down.

Class 150 & 151: Bonking with grace (somewhat)

2011-04-21T07:59:00.001-07:00

(Wednesday 9am - YThuan)

I didn't eat breakfast after yesterday's fiasco. I didn't drink hardly any water during class either. I still felt a little weird.

Set up third row, right side. Erin (the teacher) in front row. Wendy was in second row. She fell and scraped her knee and had to skip camel.

Class began with good focus and energy, but I was sweating a pretty decent amount. I think it was humid.

I took some breaks in some standing postures.

When we got to the floor, my hands and feet started to go a bit numb. I sat out more postures.

I have pushed through it in the past but it seems dangerous. Better to do the smart thing. I'm vaguely proud of myself.

I've been reading this book called The Wise Man's Fear. It's the sequel to The Name of the Wind. It's fantasy. Good stuff. In it they talk about somethings that are actually pretty profound. In the book they have this concept called the Lethani. It's like the Tao. It's like the Way. By it's very nature it can't be explained. One is always trying to understand it, but it is unknowable. The main character is training and basically reaches the point of physical failure and almost passes out. He apologizes and his teacher says "You came far before falling. You did not complain. You showed your mind is stronger than your body. That is good. When the mind controls the body, that is of the Lethani. But knowing your limit is also of the Lethani. It is better to stop when you must than run until you fall." Then the main character says without thinking "Unless falling is what the Lethani requires."

Knowing your limit is of the Lethani.

Another interesting quote from the book:

"It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he'll look for his own answers."

‎"That way, when he finds the answers, they'll be precious to him. The harder the question, the harder we hunt. The harder we hunt, the more we learn. An impossible question..."

For me, the impossible question is "Why am I so yoga crazy?" I'm still hunting for the answer.

(Wednesday 4:30pm - Andrea)

My beloved Barcelona lost to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey Final. The original plan was to go to 6:30 and sing Sundar happy birthday in triangle, but I had to work out the sorrow of my team losing immediately, so I went to 4:30 instead.

Set up second row, left side. Karen on the right. Karen in front. Surrounded by Karens.

This class was great. Breathing was good, focus was good, Andrea was good. Everything good. Nice energizing class.

I was afraid to drink water during class today. I was afraid of feeling nauseous. Maybe I am becoming like Anna (who barely drinks water in class cause too much water brings nausea) or Mike, who doesn't drink water at all but drinks 4L before coming to class.

Did 15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches, and maybe 10 wall walks after class.

Class 149 A Valuable Lesson Learned

2011-04-19T21:33:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 4:30pm - Jeff)

I've decided to limit myself to 3 Jeff classes a week. This way I won't get too worn out. Besides, he has successfully brainwashed me. I hear his corrections like echos in my head.

"Suck in the belly"

"Lift your chest to the ceiling"

"Squeeze the palms"

etc.

We were joking at the party that you can tell who Jeff has brainwashed by the way we enter standing forehead to knee. If you pick up the leg first, the round down to grab your feet no matter what the instructor is saying, then you've been brainwashed.

Set up second row in front of the closet. Karen on my right. Mike on my left. Shannon and Carlos were in front. They probably held hands during savasana.

Anyways, the energy was good. My digestive tract was feeling lousy in the morning class, but things seemed ok in this one. In fact, I was having a great class. Body was open. Breath was good. Focused mind. Minimal movement and distraction. I barely noticed what was going on around me.

Then I made a fatal mistake.

I drank some water before separate leg stretching. This was terrible. Immediately my insides went into a minor state of revolt.

Well, the lesson has been learned very well, thank you. If you are feeling nauseous, especially because of your stomach - DON'T DRINK ANYTHING.

After class I asked Jeff about the shoulders in cobra. I asked if it was a one step process or two step. I asked if you should bend the entire back first and then roll the shoulders down and forward or do it all at once. He said there are a couple of differing philosophies. Emmy says to roll the shoulders forward. Mary Jarvis says to roll them backwards. Jeff says he pulls them straight down. But he did say it was a one step process overall.

I did maybe 10 wall walks after class.

Class 148: Survival Yoga & the Weakness of the Strong

2011-04-19T13:07:00.001-07:00

(Tuesday 9am - Shannon)

The original plan was to call HQ and see if Emmy was teaching 10:30. Then I got to think last night that this is my vacation. I have a problem in that I am an obsessive planner and try to squeeze too much "productive" activity into a small space of time. I hate that feeling. Others, like my bro, get off on accomplishing a bunch of tasks and crossing items off the to-do list. Not me. I want to live like a leaf in the wind.

I decided to wake whenever I woke. But the planning side got a hold of me at 7:30. I tried to sleep in more but concluded it was a waste of time. I decided to go to Shannon's class. First of all, taking Emmy's class would kill my entire morning. It would make the entire day a yoga day if I decided to do a double (yes, the plan). Secondly, I find that I like Shannon's class. I like the positive energy. She is a new fav I think. I even told her after class that I thought her teaching has improved a lot. Now I worry it sounded patronizing. Oh well, I can't worry about how other's perceive things. It was an honest compliment.

I had a blueberry/banana/coconut water smoothie before class and my stomach felt weird. I'm not sure if it was the smoothie or the late night ramen snack I had before class, but I felt nauseous before class even started. During class things didn't improve.

I moved the trash can next to my mat in case I had to hurl.

I made two trips to the bathroom during class, but they were not... productive.

The yoga was... an experience. I felt bad because I had to sit out at one point in the standing series and the girl in front of me was a first-timer. The moment she saw me sit down she sat down. I knew it would happen, but I had to sit, so nothing could be done.

I started to wonder if maybe it was more mental than physical. After all, I had the trash can next to me, maybe I should just push through it barf if I really needed to. Then I thought by doing so it would be a lack of awareness, or even worse, ignoring messages my body was sending. So I sat out some of the postures.

After class I went to Euro Pane for the first time and got a ham and cheese sandwich. Yes, meat. And cheese. Then I ordered a cafe au lait. Yes, dairy. Dairy is probably one of the worst things for me to eat. It gums up the system a bit (particularly the breathing apparatus). I know it is stupid to consume these items when my digestion is off kilter. I CAN help it, but I chose to do the stupid thing and suffer the consequences. This is an example of what I call the Weakness of the Strong. Sometimes, when you are "strong" you do foolish things. For example, I've suffered in yoga class many times before (including today) and I know I can handle it. It's painful and unpleasant, but doable. So, with that knowledge, I'll go and do something stupid like consume dairy with an upset stomach, because I know I can deal with the consequences. I will probably die or get crushed in Jeff's class this evening, learn my lesson, not do something stupid for a while, and then do something stupid again. It should be called the Stupidity of the Strong, or the Weakness of the Stupid.

I have a good reason for doing stupid things: It makes life more interesting.

Class 146 & 147: La Canada class 5

2011-04-18T22:10:00.001-07:00

(Monday 10:30am - Elisa)

Elisa was one of the first people I met on my first day. She had just finished taking a class (or maybe she had been teaching?). She was all sweaty and had the "yoga glow". I thought to myself, wow this is pretty powerful stuff! She was one of my first teachers and then she moved away.

Set up third row to the left of the door. Shannon took the class as well.

Elisa was surprised that I couldn't squeeze my palms tight in half moon the first set. It's the tight shoulders.

Standing series was kind of tough. I did not do a great job with the breath. Maybe I tried to hard to impress Elisa. See? Do you see how far I've come in three years? She doesn't even remember I'm sure.

I need to focus more on myself and not care what the teachers think. Of course, I value the corrections, but the point of the yoga is NOT to impress your teachers. I think once you have a reputation you feel like you need to live up to that reputation. I don't like that.

We did the standing series pretty quickly and were on the floor at the 50 minute mark. This left lots of time for the floor series, which I kind of like better anyways.

By the end of class my body had opened up nicely.

Afterwards I chatted with Elisa a bit on various topics. I got her opinion on the things that have been on my mind lately - soreness in hamstrings, injury, breathing, pushing vs. focusing on the breath, the Details article, etc.

It's funny to me that the students at La Canada have access to a shower, but not many of them use it. I've used it every day I practiced there. I may go there tomorrow to take a class just so I can shower there afterwards.

(Monday 4:30pm - Val)

I forgot to mention that Val gave all the challengers a cool t-shirt for completing our 60 day challenge. She didn't get one of those cheap Ts, we got some nice fitted t shirts. I will actually wear it. It's soft.

I set up front row, left side. I was in a cool spot on a cool day for some reason. It doesn't matter. As long as it's over 90 I'll be sweating like crazy. The room was humid so a good sweat was had. Nafisa was behind me. I like practicing near Nafisa. She is stone faced the whole 90 minutes. I still laugh at the jokes.

I seem to be incapable of not pushing hard. I would prefer more control over my breath. It's a practice, I get it. Of course I would prefer the ability to push hard AND have total control over my breath. That is the main thing I'll work on for the next little bit. I remember when I was breathing well the trick for me was finding the stillness.

Jeff put a piece of tape in the front row. It's for people to stand in a line so he can see everyone. I don't like it.

Did 15 leg lifts, 25 side crunches, and maybe 15? wall walks.

Teacher training has started. I wonder if Emmy will be teaching her 10:30 tuesday...

I think Val's classes are essential for me because they are fun.

Brandy Winfield on Bikram Yoga

2011-04-18T09:03:00.001-07:00

I like what she says.

<p>Brandy Lyn Winfield from roy on Vimeo.</p>