Completion!!

Eric had this waiting on me after my Day 30 class!

Today's blog is accompanied by photos of some of my crazy adventures over the past few years.

Well, it has been 3 days since the final class of my Bikram 30 Day Challenge.  I wanted to sit on it a bit before blogging and I'm glad I did.  One thing I learned about this challenge is that my attitude changed from class to class, including the final class.  Some nights I would leave the studio feeling complete, at peace, elated, grateful, and thinking "This is the best thing I've done for myself in a long time".  Other nights, I would be in the class thinking "What the hell am I thinking?!  Why am I subjecting myself to the heat, the injuries, the 'torture chamber'?"..as Bikram Choudhury himself calls it.

Zip-lining

It became quite the love/hate relationship, this 30 day affair between myself and Bikram yoga.  And, unfortunately, I had a pulled hamstring for the final 4 or 5 days of the challenge and was unable to do a few of the poses properly.  I think that is why I left my final class in a kind of lackluster mood.  I didn't feel the pride and the sense of accomplishment that I had expected.  And that led me to think that Bikram wasn't in my heart as much as I had thought.


Until Tuesday evening.


I felt a sense of loss not going to class.  I missed it...even though my body is sore and aching and I have a pulled hamstring.  The same thing happened yesterday; I kept thinking of class and of the poses.  After a dinner with the family (that included some of my much neglected wine!) I came home (yes...slightly buzzed) and proceeded to "teach" Eric all 26 poses of Bikram!  I've stated in previous posts that my balance leaves a lot to be desired in class...well, as you can imagine gravity was NOT kind to me while drunk-yogaing.  (yes, I think I just made up that word...go with it).

Helicopter ride over NYC

So I've determined that, love it or hate it, it's in my heart now.  I want to continue going and continue to reap the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits.  I just wish it weren't so darn expensive.  $17 per class, $125 for 10 classes, or $1350 for annual unlimited!!  Wowza!  But I'm going to try to budget to do at least 2 classes per week.  Eric even insisted that I find a way to make it work because he can tell it's something I really like (sometimes!).  And I found out through a friend there is free yoga in the park on Sunday's...not Bikram...but with our summer heat it will be close enough!

In the end, after 30 days of 90 minute classes at between 105~110 degree heat, after a pulled neck muscle and a pulled hamstring, after the tough classes and the great classes, I am very glad that I got this wild hair up my (now tighter) butt and took and completed this challenge.  Having never taken a Bikram yoga class in my life, I think it's a pretty great feat to have jumped right in to 30 straight days.

Rappelling

I have to say thank you to my family, friends, coworkers, and Facebook peeps for putting up with me as I pretty much made my life about Bikram yoga for the past month.  I'm certain I was annoying and incessant about it.  And I'd like to thank Eric for dealing with a very dull and uneventful July; I was always either at class, too exhausted from class, or had to go to bed early to go to an early class.  Not to mention the stinky, sweaty clothes and towels that were always hanging from the shower door.  Thank you my love.

And thank you to my yogi's at Bikram Yoga North Scottsdale.  There were times when I really struggled, but everyone at the studio was so kind and inspired me so much.  I certainly picked a great studio in which to learn.

Trapeze

I can now add this 30 day challenge to my list of adventures that includes (but is not limited to) zip-lining, rappelling, trapeze school, helicopter ride, X-Scream, Insanity, and the Big Drop.  Keep watching for what's next!

 Breathe and all will be revealed, love and all will be healed. This is yoga. -Seane Corn

Day 21 = 9 Days Left!

Day 21 Blog accompanied by Photography Adventure Group's daily theme of Peace.

I'd like to start today's blog by sending my prayers out to the people affected by the tragic shooting in Colorado.  Sometimes my mind is baffled by the unexplainable actions of certain individuals.  That makes the daily photo theme of 'Peace' even more special. 


Now on to less important things like my 30 Day Bikram Yoga Challenge!  Okay, look, I am loving Bikram.  I love what it has done for my mind (more aware and thoughtful), and for my body (down to 133 today!).  I love how this challenge has pushed me beyond what I thought I could do.  I love the instructors (most days!).  I love the people I've met.  I love the sweat.  I LOVE THE SWEAT! 



BUT...I am tired.

I am so, very, tired.  My 40 year old body is not used to 90 minutes of hard core workouts every single day.  And getting home at 8:30 every night during the week leaves me with 9:00 dinners and no time to run errands or clean the house (you feel me ladies??).  And then the 5:30am class on Friday's...well...let's just say that by the time I get home at 6pm I'm too tired to do anything but sink into my comfy chair.  I've never been a morning person!

And then there are the new aches and pains.  The worst has been my hip flexors.  I have been in such pain in this area that at work I groan each time I get up or sit down.  My friend, Kelli, turned me on to the foam roller which has eased the pain some.  The other "sports injury" I have experienced is rug burn.  Or, more precisely, towel burn.  My chin and my knees are quite chaffed...and that's not really a sexy look! 




So, to sum up my bellyaching blog, I'm tired, I'm sore, I'm beat up, but I love Bikram!  I am completely looking forward to completing the challenge (NINE MORE DAYS!!), taking a few days off, and then going at my leisure...probably a few times a week.  I hope that I have found a workout in Bikram that I will maintain for a lifetime.

Now, my next challenge (which will NOT be for 30 straight days), is to try something that my friend, Heather, is teaching in Indianapolis called SUP Yoga.  I just need to find a place in Phoenix that is teaching it...so if anyone out there knows of a place...please let me know! 

In closing, please wish me luck on finishing my final 9 days.  I know I will do it (I'll get 'er done), but I want to finish with grace and dignity and with a complete feeling of success and accomplishment.  And I want to lose 7 more pounds!  LOL!

Namaste.

REAL Peace is always unshakable... 'Bliss is unchanged by gain or loss'

Yogi Bhajan