Nov 21 - 25: Patience!

I have gone to yoga class for the last 5 days, just have felt too lazy to blog about it afterwards.

I am learning a lot about patience, and the lessons keep coming in many different forms. For example:

On Saturday, I had one of my best ever Standing Bows. I thought "Omigod! I might hold it for the first time ever, and it will be on my birthday! How awesome is that?" And then I fell out. Must have patience when there are good things on the horizon!

On Sunday I had a crappy class, and just kept beating myself up over it, making the class worse and worse. Need patience through the rough times.

On Monday, I was having a really strong, fabulous class. Until Fixed Firm. Coming out of the second set, I pulled a muscle in my chest, I think my deltoid. I tried each of the rest of the postures, but the only one I could do was Rabbit. For the rest, getting my arms into position was too painful, and I had to lay out. I couldn't get my hands over my head for the sit-up, either. I was so mad! I was having an awesome class, and then I had to skip postures, and it wasn't due to laziness or fatigue, just muscle pain. I told Claire after class what had happened, and she said, "See, Jennifer, this class is about learning patience." And then I told her that it was fine, because after final savasana, I massaged the muscle until it felt about 90% better, and then did all of the postures that I missed, getting into the set-ups very carefully. She just laughed at me and said I am too much of a Type A. But again, patience!

So within 3 classes, I was presented with lessons in patience when things are going well, when they're not going well, and when things are outside of my control. I feel like I am a *much* more patient person now than I was when I first started practicing Bikram yoga, but I think the hardest kind of patience to learn is patience with yourself.

Nov 20, 9:15: Awesome class!

Today was an yoga amazing class. Wonderful. I've had lots of good, strong classes lately, but this was one of the awesome ones - where after it's over, you know you worked hard, you're proud of your hard work, you're dripping sweat, and just feel great. Nothing special or out of the ordinary happened, didn't reach any new milestones, just had an awesome class. I haven't had one like this in awhile.

One small thing that was different - I practiced on the other side of the room. For the first few months at this studio, I moved around a lot. When I was still working, I only had about 10 minutes between arriving at the studio and class starting, so I usually walked in and didn't have much choice as to where I put my mat. For the last month or so, I have been consistently practicing on the left side of the room, in abut 1 of 3 spots quite close to each other. I also end up with the same people practicing near me. Today I walked in, and the left side was full - I didn't stress about it, just took advantage of having first choice on the right side of the room. I had different people practicing around me than usual. Maybe it was their energy, maybe just a fresh perspective, maybe it had nothing to do with the side of the room at all - but I had a great class.

Tomorrow's my birthday, and I can think of nothing better than starting it with my regular Bikram yoga class!

Nov 17, Noon: Adductors!

Yesterday's yoga class was a good one. I didn't skip any postures, worked hard, had fun. I think the teacher was off a bit, losing his voice at one point, and correcting himself in the dialogue often, but it wasn't until the end of class that I realized he was off - as those things were happening, they just went in and straight out of my mind. I also felt like we held some of the standing series postures for not long enough, but we did a 1 minute Fixed Firm and a 1 minute Camel to make up for it. I stayed in both the whole time.

The best part of class yesterday was the chat I had with another teacher, Claire, after class. As I was putting on my shoes to leave, we started chatted, and I think it was about 20 minutes before I left. I really miss that from my old studio - yoga talk. In that studio, there was a waiting room area with benches right outside of the hot room, so after class, many of us would plop down for a few minutes to catch our breath before heading into the change room, and people would always end up chatting. In this studio, the hot room is upstairs, and the lobby is downstairs, so everyone just files out of the hot room into the changerooms, and there isn't as much interaction between students and with the teachers.

What Claire and I were talking about is various types of knee pain and the leg muscles. She has been having knee pain since she started practicing Advanced. I have had some pain in the tendon/ligament (I don't actually know which - need to look at an anatomy book) on the outside of my right knee. I know what it is from - I am often rolling my weight out on the outside of my foot on the one-legged postures. However, I have a hard time rolling it back to centre. I need to use the muscles on the inside of my thigh more (adductors? I get adductors and abductors mixed up). But, those muscles are weaker than my quads and the outside ones (abductors?), and I have a hard time just finding them when I need to use them. Claire suggested that I take some classes off, but I don't really think that will help. I might get some relief for that tendon, but I also won't be doing anything to build that muscle, either. When I am in the standing series and the couple other postures where this hurts, I really concentrate on the inside of my thighs, and try to work on strengthening them. The knee pain will only go away once I build that strength.

Claire also suggested that I do some exercises at home to build that muscle, then. I said, "Oh, like that evil machine at the gym where you squeeze that thing together with your thighs?" (I don't actually go to the gym, but I have been in one before. ;) ) She said yes - and that I could do the same thing at home with a yoga block or something similar. Brilliant! I don't have a yoga block, but I tried this last night with a rolled up yoga mat, and it totally works. I am excited to have this extra bit of knowledge and to use it, and to hopefully see improvement more quickly.

No yoga class for me today - I have an appointment this morning and one this evening, and they are both right in between when I would be able to get to class. Could've done the 6 am, but I figure after 13 days in a row, I can take one day off. I am thinking about doing another double on Monday, too.

Nov 16, 9:15: Tree Stand

I had a good yoga class again today. It's amazing what the heat does for our muscles. I often hear teachers say to people after their first class to come back the next day, even if they are sore, because the heat will make their sore muscles feel better. I'm sure most people don't believe it, and if they're sore, they wait a few days to come back.

Today I was feeling a bit sore in my lower back. I always do a bit of stretching before class, and I could feel some pain there, right away. I had to do all 4 parts of Half Moon quite gently, ease into each posture, because I was so tender. But after Half Moon, I didn't notice my lower back hurting throughout the rest of the class, even in Camel. The heat really does warm the muscles up well.

I was chatting with Lisa, who taught class, about Tree Stand afterwards. I think this is a posture that many people are able to just hang out in. One of the teachers from my old studio, Anastasia, would even sometimes say during this posture, "Don't hang out like a pinecone here. It's an active posture." But I have more or less always hung out here. I look into the mirror to make sure my hips and shoulders are in one line, I stretch up, I push my hips forward, I contract my glutes, and I roll my bent-leg hip down and out. But, I was able to do set all of those things up within the first 2 seconds of the posture, and it didn't take too much effort to maintain them.

I recently realized that I wasn't really locking my knee in Tree Stand. My leg was straight and I put a bit of thought into lifting the kneecap at the beginning of the posture, but then I would stop paying attention and my quad would relax. So now, I am spending all of this posture thinking about my standing-leg quads, and keeping them tight. And do you know what? Tree Stand is difficult for me now! My weight will start to roll to the outside of the foot, and it is hard to get it back when I am standing on one leg and my other leg is at such an angle. I even occasionally fall out of Tree Stand now, and that seems just silly to me. I still have work to do to build strength in my quads, though, so I just keep working on keeping my knee locked and thigh tight, and then I can get back to my hips, shoulders, etc.

This is one of the reasons I love this yoga - there is always more to learn, no matter how many times you've practiced any posture. No matter how much you improve in a posture, there is always a new aspect of it to open up.

Nov 14, 15, 10:00 am: A bad and a good class.

Yesterday's yoga class was awful. You know it's bad when you are putting on your shoes to leave the studio after class, and the teacher says to you "Jennifer, is everything okay?"

It's all about the mind. Yesterday was my 9th day in a row, and my body is starting to feel it. In Half Moon, my shoulders, arms, and upper back were sore, and my legs, and when I really started to push my hip out, I could feel my obliques were sore, too. My obliques are *never* sore, so I know I have been pushing myself lately. Having my whole body hurt in Half Moon is not a good way to start class. My toes going numb in Awkward, right afterwards, was too much. I was frustrated and angry, and could not get my focus or relaxation on track. I skipped one set of 4 different postures - awful.

Today was much better, though. In fact, it was a really strong class for me. I didn't miss any postures, and even though I was absolutely dripping, I wasn't really noticing the heat at all.

Ooh, and something quite wonderful has been happening for me in Standing Separate Leg Stretching pose. I have been able to touch my forehead to the floor for quite some time, and I can keep my knees locked, and my feet are fairly close to my mat. However, I only feel this posture in my hamstrings - until recently. In the last couple weeks, I am starting to feel the stretch in my hips/glutes. Heavenly! I don't always get that feeling, but I think I can achieve it by rolling forward more and kind of changing the angle of my pull/shoulders. This is a great feeling!

Looking forward to another great yoga class tomorrow.

Nov 13, 9:15: A few observations on yoga etiquette

Another class with Lisa today. I like her pacing and had a strong class today.

I had a few observations on yoga etiquette today, both good and bad. I try to be as respectful of others and the space as I can be, though I know I am not perfect. Also, I think in general that this studio is a bit lax re: etiquette as compared to my last one. For example, talking is allowed in the hot room before class (though not during or after), and latecomers are permitted, and will often walk across the room during postures. People will also walk across the room (not stand by the door) if they leave and then come back in during a posture. People also bring purses, extra clothes, etc. in with them to the room sometimes, and prop them up in front of the mirror, which is likely to block another person's view.

However, these were the few things I noticed during today's class. One bad, one good, one a question about me. Two young guys (early 20s, I think) came into class together, and were talking quite loudly (which is permitted, though usually people are quieter). The set their mats down in the middle of the room. Then, they got up and moved closer to the door, in the second row, behind where I was set up. One of them set up his mat *directly* behind mine. I consider this to be poor etiquette - since I was there first, he should set up his mat in a place where he can see himself. Instead, I ended up moving my mat when class started, as I didn't want to block him.

But, just seconds after this happened, I saw a lovely example of good etiquette. Our visiting teacher left to go to the bathrooom just before class started, and came back in as we were finishing our first breath in pranayama. I loved this - she opened the door, took one step in the room, then put her toes and heels together and joined in. When the first set was done, she scurried over to her mat. This is basic good etiquette in the yoga room - making sure not to provide distractions for the people around you. (The worst I have seen of this type is someone getting up and walking out of the room while we were in camel - as if that's not a lot distracting!)

Finally, an example of my own that I wasn't sure about. I lost the feeling in my toes again today during Awkward. I lost it during first set, Awkward 2. Now, when this happens, what I *really* want to do is sit down and wiggle each of my toes with my hands, but obviously that would be distracting for others, especially during the warmup. I don't feel comfortable going into Awkward 3 with no feeling in my toes, plus I am afraid that the feeling will worsen and affect the rest of my standing series, which would lead to more distractions for those around me if I fall out more, need to sit out, etc. So, I stood in place on my mat, arms still outstretched, and wiggled my toes on the floor. When everyone else was so low to the floor, I felt like I must have been a distraction, standing straight up; but, I wasn't sure what a better alternative would have been for me. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Those are my observations on yoga etiquette today. I think that the general sense we all need to follow is to be respectful of other in the room, and try not to provide distractions. However, I think there is also a lot of gray area within that rule.

Nov 12, Noon: Water!

Today's yoga class was brought to you by . . . not water. I left my filled water bottle at home on the kitchen counter.

This is not the first time I've completed a Bikram yoga class without water. I have left my water at home about five times over the last three months. Thinking about it today, though, I found another reason to see how far I've come. (I'm more than 250 classes and still no Standing Bow, so lately I am obsessed with finding other areas where I have made progress.)

When I first started practicing, I don't think I drank an obscene amount of water. I see people in the yoga room with two water bottles, one of them frozen. I started out with a plastic bottle that was probably 800 mL, and at the end of class, it was 1/2 - 3/4 full (but quickly emptied then).

As I became more interested in and committed to my practice, I started reading Bikram yoga forums and blogs online. Water is a subject that comes up often. I learned that Mary Jarvis' students aren't allowed to bring water into class at all. I read that water was just a distraction, our body just searching for something cold, our mind needing something to focus on other than the yoga, our breath.

I became committed to letting go of the distraction. I knew that's what the water was for me - a mini-escape from the heat, the yoga, meeting my own eyes in the mirror. I started out by promising myself I wouldn't drink water during the floor series except at Fixed Firm. (I quickly realized my stomach appreciated the lack of slooshing water in Camel.) Once I was able to make it through the floor series with only the one break, I endeavored to do the same in the standing series, with the exception of party time. I also allowed myself to take a sip before the first savasana. It didn't take very long to train myself into 3 breaks only. Before I knew it, I was only drinking at the first savasana, without even making that a goal.

The first time I left my water at home, I faced a dilemma. I was new to this studio, and I honestly hadn't noticed whether they sold water bottles in the lobby. (At my previous studio, they only sell metal water bottles, and there is a tall faucet of filtered water in the lobby.) I could go downstairs to check if there was water, or I could go through class without drinking at all, which is only one less sip than what I usually have, anyway. I chose to try water-less. Of course, it wasn't so bad at all! The only time that I found it difficult was about five minutes after class: I was parched then. Since then, whenever I forget my water bottle, I just roll my eyes at myself, and head into class.

Today was the same as that first day with no water. Parched after class, but just fine during it. I don't find that I actually get thirsty during class, but my mouth does feel dry after Pranayama.

If you haven't tried water-less before, or if you drink often during class, try cutting the water down or out. It definitely improves focus, and allows you to concentrate on why you are really there - the yoga. You can drink water any other time, for 22.5 hours each day!