Boofin' across America

9:00AM Class 3

I woke up this morning feeling energized, excited, and sore. Yeah, Bikram’s torture chamber will do that to you. Molly taught this morning. Her classes are always fun. As we moved through the poses I was noticing that the stiffness I usually feel on the second day wasn’t as apparent as usual. Is that because I’m more fit? Or is it because I worked through the stiffness yesterday?

I went to the floor a few times. Just a little yoga drama. Not much. Saving that for the second class today.

In the middle of the class today Molly did a call out for people who were doing challenges. I’m not the only one. Terri is 40 days into a 60 day challenge, Zoe is in the middle of one, and a few other people are testing their discipline as well. We’re all in good company.

4:30PM Class 4

Tom taught this class. There’s always good energy when he teaches, and he’s pretty strict. Good corrections always. There was a bit of yoga drama in this class. Quite expected considering it was my fourth class in two days. Aside from the drama I can see improvements and gains already.

1st set of Ardha Chandrasana with Pada-Hastasana, or Half Moon Pose With Hands To Feet Pose, I could feel the muscles around my ribs. They were very tender, yet I was going deeper into the pose. My shoulders usually give out in this pose. It’s half way through the left side of half moon when I want to come up to give my shoulders a little break. Second set this doesn’t happen so often. I can go deeper into the posture. This is the power of yoga. Big gains are made in small steps. Many times it’s hardly noticeable.

When we went into the second part of Utkatasana or Awkward Pose I found a bit of drama. This posture strengthens the thighs, and it is very intense when it’s done correctly. Most of the time I can go into this part of awkward and hold a very good pose. Sometimes though my legs will fail and I fall to my knees. This first set in this class was a good example. Second set wasn’t so bad. No drama.

More drama later in the class most of it during triangle pose. But there were some cool things going on during this class as well. I almost wrapped my foot around my calf during one set of Garurasana (Eagle Pose). I feel like I’m getting closer to kicking out in Dandayamana – JanuShirasana or Standing Head to Knee pose. Then during the floor series I went all the way into Ustrasana, or Camel Pose. This is a very difficult pose, and I haven’t put my hands down to my heels in a long time.

At the end of the class I really felt like it was a very strong class overall.

Class count:

Day 2 Classes 4

Day 1

I’ve been fairly pleased with my Bikram workouts over the past year. My 90 day challenge at the beginning of 2009 was a huge achievement for me, and I managed to practice fairly consistently for the rest of the year. This year I’ve begun twice to just “go every day.” A promise which has been kicked to the curb by a couple of nasty winter colds, and by paying more attention to my work over at Roll35.com.

The last cold brought me into my Doctor’s office where I had to get up on a scale. The 216 pounds recorded didn’t make me very happy. It confirmed what the little buddha belly on my stomach had been telling me for a couple of months now. Time to kick it up a notch!

Today was my first day back at Bikram since the Friday before the Superbowl where Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints dismantled Peyton Manning’s vaunted offense. Yeah, Nasty cold and work. After class this morning my friend Courtney, who has done an amazing number of classes since last February when she began, challenged me about not coming. “You’re on the wall. People look around, and they want to see who you are, and you’re not here.” Ok, maybe I paraphrased it a little bit, but the gist of it was “you need to get your butt in here Mr.” I think Courtney would have made an excellent Chief Petty Officer.

So now my name is on the board, and I’ve publicly stated that I’m doing a 60 day challenge. In fact it’s going to be a bit more intense because I’m going to attempt to do doubles six days out of the week. Except on days when I go skiing. Skiing is an acceptable replacement for 1 class out of the day, but not both classes.

Day 1 Class 1 9:00AM

Delana was teaching class. Yesterday’s 21,000 vertical feet was screaming through every single muscle in my body. The hot studio felt so good. Going through the first few postures wasn’t bad. The muscles were responding well after the long break. They’re going to go to failure on several occaisions over the next week, the next month, the next sixty days. After Garurasana or Eagle Pose I dropped down on my knees to have a sip of water at the water break. Everything is stiff, and the stretching is good. I think I skipped out on Triangle pose, and I did really well on Salabhasana or half locust pose.
It was good to finish this class, and I’m glad that I decided that today would be a double.

Day 1 Class 2 6:30PM

Molly was teaching this class. Much more difficult class while at the same time being an easier class. I dropped down to the mat more, but I also went deeper into a few postures. Now it wasn’t just the skiing that my muscles were screaming about, it was the torment that I was putting them through a 2nd time. Tough, they’ll get used to the punishment. Actually the punishment is very good, and I’m already feeling better. One thing I have learned when doing these challenges is that the most difficult part is getting into the studio. It is very easy to have an excuse about why not to go. This is the secret that makes challenges work. Every class is a good class no matter what you are able to do during that class. If all you can do is Pranayama breathing at the beginning and Khapalbhati breathing at the end it was a good class. Listen to your body and it will guide you to improvement. The secret is to determine what is talking, your body, or your mind. The mind is a tricky rascal. It will do everything possible to convince you that you don’t need to do this or that posture today. Or that there’s no reason to push today. The mind just needs to Shut the F*ck UP! Sorry, that was the mind.
Getting through this class was excellent, and I’m now ready for a night of good sound sleep.

Update tomorrow after my next classes.

Today’s count:

Day 1 Classes 2