In Yoga as in Life

Wednesday’s Yoga (8/18/10)

The yoga streak continues with a round of Gentle Hatha Yoga #1.  Hatha #2 still isn’t playing on my computer!  I always find it ironic when technical difficulties get in the way of my yoga.  Don’t I deal with technical difficulties all day at work?  Don’t I deserve a break when it’s time to do yoga?  Doesn’t it go against the spirit of yoga to be annoyed by computer snafus?  Sometimes I just turn off the computer and go freestyle, which can be very refreshing.  But most of the time I think I prefer the structure of a class.

I’ve done this class at least a dozen times, and it never fails me.  The pace, the instructions, the soothing voice—I feel like I could do this class four times a week and not get tired of it because I feel so good afterward.  In the interest of not falling into a rut, I try to mix up my work-outs, but I return again and again to Gentle Hatha Yoga #1.

I noticed that my focus during class seems to have returned, continuing the trend from Tuesday night.  I’m glad that even though I feel stressed about work, I think my stress is fading faster after I’ve left work for the day, and I haven’t been worrying obsessively quite as much as I was earlier this week.  I’m still very nervous about the future, but in yoga as in life, I’m trying to take it one day, one move, one breath at a time.  And I know that these things have a way of working themselves out, so there’s no sense of making myself miserable trying to solve every problem at once.  One thing at a time!

A Lovely Way

Tuesday’s Yoga (8/17/10)

My attempt to save my sanity continues with another evening session of yoga, this time with the poetically named Lunar Flow class from yogadownload.com.  Lunar Flow was my second choice on Tuesday night.  I tried to do Gentle Hatha Yoga #2, but the class won’t play on my computer when I attempt to start it.  Has anyone else had a problem with this class?  Yes?

Lunar Flow turned out to be a lovely way to do yoga.  I’ve done this class before, and it is an easy, gentle class.  The flowing quality of the movements is very relaxing, and I found it much easier to let go of the day’s worries than I did on Monday night.  There are some downward-facing dogs and lots of “roll around on your back to massage your spine,” which I always feel silly doing, but I can’t really mock them because I felt so much better afterward.  In another yoga class I like, the instructor says that if you slow yourself down while doing these back circles, your mind will slow down too.  I think she’s right.

The transitions between movements in Lunar Flow are slow and gentle, which means there is a little less multi-tasking during the session.  In a lot of yoga classes, the goal is to synch up your breath and your movements, which means you’ve got to be paying attention to both.  But when I’m feeling frazzled, my attention is weak and it’s hard for me to focus.  I wonder if the less-demanding nature of Lunar Flow makes it a better class for those times when you need to stop multi-tasking and think about one goal only: breathe.  It’s worth considering one thing at a time when life is making your hair stand on end.

Worth a Try

Monday’s Yoga (8/16/10)

I am really stressed about my job right now.  At a time like this, yoga is more important than ever, so I’m doing it like my life depends on it.  During yoga, one is supposed to focus on the breath and the movements.  Yoga is a way of letting the brain rest while the body relaxes itself.  Unfortunately, my brain has other ideas about what to do during yoga.  For example, why stop worrying just because you’re doing yoga?  You can worry and stretch!  And don’t pay any attention to that breathing thing—that’s just a scam that should be ignored so you don’t forget what you are worrying about.

On Monday night, I clicked over to my favorite Dave Farmar work-out and attempted to downward-dog my way to calmness.  But I just couldn’t get into the feeling of yoga!  I had the attention span of a moth, and my breathing kept speeding up, so I never really found the calm yoga groove I was seeking.  It was frustrating, but I figure that crappy yoga is better than no yoga.  It was worth a try.

Permission Granted, Goal Reached

Sunday’s Run (8/15/10)

I don’t know if it was physical or emotional exhaustion, but this run was hard.  On Sunday morning, I headed to the gym which was, thankfully, empty.  I hopped on my usual treadmill, turned on my usual Food Network, and began my 30-minute run with a 5-minute walking warm-up.  The work week had ended on a very down note for me, and I tossed and turned all night with worry about the present and the future.  I can become downright obsessive with my worrying, and it is exhausting.  So before I started my work-out, I gave myself permission to take it easy, to take breaks if necessary, to even do a shorter work-out if 30 minutes felt like too much.

But I did it: I made it through a full 30 minutes of treadmill running with no breaks.  The pace was a 9:31 mile—not particularly speedy, but not too shabby either for my long run.  It was mildly therapeutic, the repetition of putting one foot in front of the other.  That’s how life is, right?  Bad things happen, but we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I did have an excellent distraction to keep me entertained during my run.  For the first time ever, I watched one of Rachael Ray’s 30-minute meal shows.  I have to say, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.  She was cooking an Indian-themed meal—I love Indian food!  On this show, she made an amazing-sounding lentil salad with potatoes and this green salad dressing of fresh spinach, cilantro, and mint.  Wow, it sounded so, so good!  And because it’s Rachael Ray and Food Network, the recipe was waiting for me at home, right here in fact.  Consider this a bookmark for a future dinner, one that I think will be earthy and spicy and refreshing.  It’s going to take a lot of lentils to get me through the next few weeks.  Wish me luck.

Such a Treat

Saturday’s Bike Ride (8/14/10)

I was on the bike by 8:30 AM on Saturday morning, pedaling my way to campus for a work meeting.  Getting out the door that early any day is hard; I made it easier by minimizing my grooming and throwing on work-out clothes.  Normally I like to look nice and dress up a little at work, but I think on Saturday, nobody cares what you wear.  The rules of dress on suspended on the weekend!

It had been a while since I’d had a nice, long bike ride.  I think my last long bike ride was motivated by shopping in July.  And this post, Just Riding Along, is the last written record I have of any bike-riding.  All of this is to say that I’ve missed the bike!  Being able to ride on Saturday morning turned out to be such a treat that it didn’t matter where I was going or how sweaty I got on the way there.  It was glorious!  I’d estimate it was about 25 minutes of biking to campus.  On the way back, I picked up my weekly groceries from the best little hippie food store in town, Brazos Natural Foods, then biked my way back home with meal provisions.  I love doing errands on a bike; it makes them so much more fun.  Except when it’s raining.  It’s not as much fun then.  But if we got rain, I would not complain.  Come on, clouds!  Come on over to College Station, Texas!

The Best Thing to do with Two Legs

Friday’s Long Walk (8/13/10)

Here’s a secret: I think I like walking more than running.  I know they seem like very similar activities, but they feel very different to me.  Running feels like hard work.  I have to push myself to run, especially these days when I’m trying to get back into good running shape.  I like the challenge; I embrace the challenge.  Then I write about the challenge on this blog.  But walking is different.  Walking is my therapy and my sanity.  I haven’t been walking much, at least not like I used to, and I’ve missed it.  I feel the effects of not walking as much—my stress level is a little higher than I’d like, my mood a little lower.

Last night, I had planned to go for a bike ride.  Then the sun disappeared, and I got nervous about riding around in the dark.  Instead, I decided to take a long walk, following a big loop that took me about an hour to complete.  I actually had no idea how long it would take to walk that loop, so it was a learning experience!  Oh man, I really needed that walk.  Underneath the big Texas sky, stars winked at me and a breeze ruffled my hair.  It was still hot outside, even with no sun, but that fresh air was refreshing.  And the moon!  When I started my walk, the moon was a slim white crescent, following me down the street.  When I returned, it had transformed into a fat yellow moon, still a crescent, but so much bigger!  It hung low on the horizon, hiding behind buildings and trees.  As I stood outside my apartment, I couldn’t even see it.  I went to bed, wondering where it had gone.

The best part of my long walk was that it tired me out enough so that I went to bed a few minutes before bedtime (a rarity for me!) and when I woke up, I felt more rested than I have in days.  That was a pleasant surprise.  I’ll have to go walking again next week.

Short and Speedy

Wednesday’s Run (8/11/10)

Tonight I resisted the siren’s song of dinner right after work.  Instead, I went to the gym and did a short but intense running work-out on the treadmill.  I was feeling frisky for something a little challenging; speedwork sounded perfect to me.  I did an interval work-out that went like this:

* 5 min. walking warm-up

* 5 min. running, 9:05 pace

* 1 min. running, 7:03 pace (begin the speedwork!)

* 2 min. running, recover at 9:05 pace (whew!)

* 2 min. running, 7:03 pace (oh goodness, don’t die!  Focus, lady, focus!)

* 2 min. running, recover at 9:05 pace (oh thank you, I can breathe again)

* 1 min. running, 7:03 pace (Last one!  You can do it!)

* 5 min. running, 9:05 pace (wow, I’m tired.  Pant pant pant)

* 1 min. slow jog to cool down (13:something pace—very slow)

* 5 min. walk to cool down (ooooohhhhh….)

The total time on my watch at the end was 27:something and I got a great mid-week work-out done.  I find these work-outs are the hardest to do because they are squeezed between so many other things—work, dinner, chores at home.  Not to mention my obligatory tv-watching.

Tonight it looked like we might get rain, but all we got was a spittle.  We need rain.  It is so unbelievably hot down here.  But at least the sunset was pretty.

Click on the photo above to see a larger version in Flickr!  I think it looks better that way.