BBM Connection

Workout: No workout
Author: chaos

Well, I’m probably going to delete this in a few weeks anyway, but for the moment, I’ll run with it. I suppose in the end I’ll feel better about having done it, whether or not I delete the whole thing. Besides, if I do keep it around, it gives me a whole new site to play with. Twice the mucking around! Twice the fun! That’s what I’m telling myself at the moment, anyway.
…And already I’m running out of steam. This thing is going to be so short-lived. Regardless. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, when I can hold my mind on a subject for long enough to call it that. Haven’t really gotten anywhere, but I guess I’m at least making some sort of effort.
I’ve also been doing a lot of yoga. Yoga for strength (beginner’s practice), with Rodney Yee. I’d like to think that I’m making progress. I’m more flexible now than when I started ~2 months ago. My strength has increased, and my sense of balance has improved. I’m doing a better job of listening to my body. Like right now, when it told me to stop slouching in my chair. If I take care of my body, maybe I can convince it to forgive me for the rest of the abuse I’ve heaped upon it until now.
As an aside, what comes first, discipline of the mind, or discipline of the body? Or should they come together? Or should neither come, and both the body and the mind be left in a state of undetermined flux? These are the types of questions that I could be pondering, except I can’t keep track of anything for that long.
I’m thinking about starting up running again. I shouldn’t have stopped in the first place, but I blame bad weather and the fact that I’m really lazy. However, my running partner should be returning soon, and I don’t want to be too dead the first day back out. If I go for a few sessions by myself in advance, then I can probably force myself into at least a semblance of still being able to run. We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned, and all that jazz.
I think that’s about all the random stuff I can think of for this entry. As I stated earlier, I’m expecting that I’ll probably delete the entire thing in a few weeks, but it’s possible that I’ll grow attached to it. On that note… “Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll probably kill you in the morning.”

Workout: No workout
Author: chaos

Apparently IE doesn’t like the default MT layout. How stupid is that? So if you’re viewing this with IE, no, it’s not actually supposed to have to scroll like that. I’ll probably fix it at some point, unless I decide I don’t care enough.
Taking the night off from yoga. Worked on it for the last four nights, so I think my body wants a break. I was thinking about going running today, but I didn’t really get up in time. Oh well. I could have gone before going to bed, but it was only around 50 then, and I wasn’t feeling that inspired. I’m not entirely certain how to incorporate other exercising in with the yoga training, or if I even really need to. I don’t think I have to worry about it too much right now, besides possibly getting some running in. Frankly, the yoga is still kicking my ass in the strength department, so I don’t really think I need to go out of my way to do other weightlifting type exercises right now. I’m doing some crunches and pushups in addition to the yoga, which I think will suffice until the yoga stops kicking my ass.
Unfortunately, the Godspeed You! Black Emperor show that we were going to go see tomorrow is sold out. Apparently I should have gotten off my lazy ass and purchased tickets in advance. Oh well. Perhaps I’ll do that for Yo La Tengo next week. Or perhaps I’ll just wait to see if it sells out, too. Motivation for leaving the apartment is certainly not my strong suit.
It seems to be raining outside. That will probably be detrimental to any thoughts of going running tomorrow. But that’s probably okay, since I probably won’t bother waking up in time tomorrow, either.
Anyway. It occurs to me that I don’t really know how to terminate entries. I always feel like I should end them like a conversation, which doesn’t really translate all that well in this format. Maybe I’ll get it down, maybe I won’t. Regardless, I’m done for now.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Well, just finished my shower after another invigorating yoga workout. Didn’t do particularly well today… my legs didn’t really want to stretch, it seemed like. They felt very tight during triangle pose, in particular. Half-moon pose went pretty well, and brave warrior was okay. Crane pose didn’t go too well, though, which was a little disappointing after nailing it last time. Even tree pose was shakier than normal, and that’s usually my best one. Oh well, that’s the way it has gone, for the most part, so it’s not really that surprising. Overall, I tend to get better, which is the important thing.
Today was a somewhat blah day in my head. Chaotic, no real concentration, feelings of frustration, a touch of depression. Nothing terribly serious, more just an indication of my general dissatisfaction lately. It’d be nice if I could figure out how to be a little less me for a while, at least. Perhaps I’m getting there, perhaps not. It’s felt like more not than so lately, which is where the frustration comes in.
No real plans for today… I suppose I should go running or something, but I’m not really inspired to do much of anything. Didn’t even particularly feel like doing yoga, but I’m committed to that, at least for now. We’ll see what happens in a week when we have to return the VCR to its owners. Hopefully I’ll manage to stick with it, since I think it’s beneficial for me on a number of levels.

Workout: No workout
Author: chaos

Yesterday was a very good day. Started out the day by waking up and lounging around for an hour or so. Then went out for a six mile hike with a few friends. After that, we all went and grabbed some dinner, then got some ice cream and headed back to make milkshakes. Then we played spades for a number of hours before calling it a night. A quite satisfying day of pleasant and easy companionship, overall. The only downside was that I didn’t do any yoga, but that was probably for the best.

And the reason it was probably for the best is because today has been time for muscles to protest yesterday’s hike. Started off a little sore, but not too bad. Went and ran some errands, the best one being managing to acquire a copy of the Yoga for Strength video that we’ve been borrowing. This means that I’ll have at least another month before having to even be inconvenienced in my practice, and by then I should have done it enough to be at the point where I can work just off of the audio cues. That’s the current plan, anyway.
Getting a little later in the day, soreness has started increasing in the past few hours. Hoping to get through my yoga workout tonight, but I’m not overly optimistic. I’ll do as much as I can, though, unless I just decide to wait and do the full workout tomorrow. It’s too easy to start skipping days that way, though, so I’ll probably go ahead with it tonight. Other than that, about to fix dinner and spend the evening with some music. Another satisfying day, even if movement is a bit painful.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

Well, successfully completed my yoga workout for today. Did surprisingly well… I think session one of the disc is well suited to stretching out the muscles, particularly the leg muscles. Since that’s really what I needed to do, it worked out well. I was also able to hold dog pose for two minutes, and my shoulders didn’t fall off, even if they felt like they wanted to. I’m guessing that’s probably a sign of improvement, since it’s the first time I’ve managed to hold it for the entirety of the two minutes. Supposedly as my strength increases, I’ll be able to hold it for up to five minutes, but that’s probably going to be a while, yet. Still, I’m continuing to progress, and will hopefully be ready to start on some new things around the beginning of the summer.
Other than that, not much going on. It was another beautiful day, around 75 degrees today. It’s not going to stay that nice, but it was a sweet taste of things to come. Maybe I’ll actually convince myself to go running at least once this week. If I can just overcome the initial inertia, I’ll probably be able to get going regularly again. Updates on that as events warrant. Cut some of our firewood a little more today… it really is much harder to do a diagonal cut through as opposed to just going straight through. Still, the hope is that it will burn more effectively that way. Anyway, probably going to find something light to snack on, drink a couple of glasses of water and call it a night. Perhaps I’ll even manage to get out of bed before noon tomorrow, though I wouldn’t want to place bets on it.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Another decent yoga workout. Nothing particularly outstanding in terms of poses, but I began acting upon a revelation that I had during my last practice. I’m finally coming to truly understand the idea of balance as a thing of structure, not a matter of strength. There’s nothing surprising about this… Rodney even says in the introduction to the second session that “Balancing should feel fluid. If you’re rigid, like a statue, you’re hardening your muscles, and relying on them to do the work. The weight should be taken by the skeleton, leaving the muscles free for movement.” So, intellectually, I’ve certainly known that the objective is, in a sense, to be relaxed while balancing. However, knowing that and practicing it are two entirely separate things. So yesterday, I finally realized during triangle pose that “hey, I don’t actually need to be working my muscles here, because I’m balanced!” It was quite the revelation, let me assure you. In any case, I relaxed my muscles, and I was correct… I was balanced, so I didn’t fall over. I took that lesson into today’s workout with a limited amount of success. For the poses that I’ve gotten to be pretty good at, it’s fairly easy. For the others, though, it’s still somewhat of a challenge, because the first instinct is to tense the muscles in order to achieve the pose. Now I have to try and counter that desire, and actually _relax_ the muscles in order to achieve the pose. An interesting development in my practice, certainly.

Then while showering after the workout, I began to ponder how I can start incorporating some of the lessons I’m learning into my everyday life. Because my current perception of the key idea behind yoga is that of balance of self. Not just while performing yoga poses, or meditation, but throughout the day. To be balanced mentally as well as physically, to move softly but surely, to be in touch and in balance with your surroundings. That, to me, is the true goal of this type of practice. For now, my understanding and ability to follow is limited, crammed into a few hours while performing poses and afterwards, before I lose track of these ideals and continue on in traditional fashion. Hopefully, as my practice progresses, I will grow in both mental and physical strength, and be able to take advantage of the many benefits that such balance can offer.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

It’s been a relatively busy day thus far, relatively being the key word, of course. Went for a walk shortly after waking up, did around two or three miles. After that, came home and decided to cut up some more of our firewood for better burning. On one of the thicker logs, cut off a slice and then realized that it was a fairly ideal size to be a yoga block, height-wise. After cutting the rest of the remaining piece of log in half (in the normal fashion), decided to try and actually make the small block-sized piece into two yoga blocks by cutting it through the middle. Now, if I had a good way to hold logs or blocks in place while cutting them, this wouldn’t have been too bad. Unfortunately, I don’t, which made cutting a piece that was this small a real challenge. Especially since I wished to keep the middle of the pieces as smooth as possible. So I cut through the piece in the most difficult way possible, straight through the middle on the (formerly inside) edge. I don’t recommend it, and will try to avoid doing it in the future. But eventually I managed to get through it, then peel off all the bark on the outside, and now have what will hopefully serve as two yoga blocks.

On that subject, another decent practice session last night. Continued focusing on balance without using the muscles as support, but simply as instruments to adjust balance. It seems easier to do that during the session one practice… not quite as intensive in the poses department, I guess. Hoping for a good session two workout tonight, and then a day off for rest. With my newly created blocks, I hope to be able to actually fully do pendulum pose tonight. If I can’t, I think it points to a definite weakness in technique for that particular pose, since the problem is that I can’t get my feet entirely off the ground, and that gives me an extra few inches. I still don’t think I have the balancing aspect down for it, but it’s been hard to adjust without even being able to complete the pose. So hopefully I’ll be able to make some progress there, and then be on my way to being able to fully complete the beginner’s strength workout. After that, on to the intermediate workout, I suppose.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Another session two practice. This section is all about standing and arm balances, and requires relatively little endurance. It does require some amount of strength and balance, though, which is why I started with this session as my primary two months ago. I figured those were both good areas to work on, and while the first session has definitely been beneficial since I started doing it a week or so ago, I don’t know that I would have gotten into yoga and become dedicated had I started there. Sometimes, it’s just about being drawn in to something.
Anyway, today’s practice. Some good, some not as good. I’m getting to be very happy with my triangle pose… not only does it look right, but it’s relatively effortless now, because I’m not working my muscles nearly as much as I used to. This also allows me to focus on getting the very subtle details right, the torque of the waist in particular, which in turn increases my flexibility. Had a similar realization about crane pose… one second, I was really straining, and the next, I understood that it wasn’t necessary. It’s very interesting, really. I have this feeling that in maybe another month, I’ll probably be able to hold crane for a reasonable length of time, not because my strength has drastically increased from when I started, and could only hold it for about two seconds, but because my understanding of balance has increased that much.
Well, that was the good. On the not good side, brave warrior was pretty much a flop. Part of the problem lies in my new understanding… I realize that the pose should be relatively effortless, and I can almost get there, but then I lose the very subtle positioning and fall out of the pose. I think that’s where the “leave the muscles free for movement” bit comes in… I should be using my muscles to make the minute adjustments necessary to keep my balance, and I’m failing to do so right now. Soon, hopefully. Additionally, pendulum pose was a disappointment. When I did a test run of my new blocks earlier in the evening, I found that I was able to get into the pose quite well… unfortunately, I then lost it within a few seconds. But I was still able to hold my feet off the ground. During my full practice, though, I was only able to get my feet off the ground for about a second, and then it was back to the usual. I’m still not entirely certain what the problem is… might be lack of abdominal strength.
Tomorrow is a day off, and a well deserved one, I think. The last four sessions have probably been the greatest breakthrough I’ve had since starting my practice. Combine that with the big walks of the last week, and my body is getting a little tired. So I’ll definitely be taking tomorrow off from yoga, and possibly Friday as well.

As a total aside, I dyed my hair again last night. Back to the somewhat dark red that I’ve grown rather fond of. I think I managed to tone it down a bit this time, last time I left the dye in a little too long, I think. Well, that’s all for now. Stay tuned for more adventures in yoga.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Another day, another yoga session. Both today’s and yesterday’s yoga sessions were fairly uninspired… just muddling through them, pretty much. I decided to try and get my legs a bit of extra warm-up time by starting today in session one, going through the first two sequences, and then jumping to the regularly scheduled session two. It seemed to have helped somewhat, but not a whole lot. My legs are still feeling some strain from being stretched, my left leg in particular. I’m starting to consider the possibility of taking a few days off, to see if my legs will recover. On the other hand, it’s possible that if I just keep going, I’ll get to the point where I’m not significantly stretching them with things like the standing leg stretch. That’s probably not going to happen terribly soon. Another possibility is to try and take a bit more care to stretch them at other times, when I’m not doing yoga. Will keep you posted on that.
Let’s see… not many highlights from the last few workouts. Crane pose went well, I think I’m about to the point where I can consider it one of my solid poses. Brave warrior was mixed… did okay on my right leg, pretty much a bust on my left. That pose is somewhat odd for me, since I’m better on my left side for almost all the other poses, but I’m pretty consistently better on my right for brave warrior. Not quite sure why. I don’t ever seem to be balanced properly for my left. It feels different even when I’m setting up, and I haven’t figured out how to correct it yet. Other than that… pendulum pose was a mixed bag as well, I got up into the pose, but then fell out both times well before I should have. However, I seem to be getting a better idea on the balance, and between that and increasing strength, I hope to have it down by the middle of next month or so. All of session one went reasonably, yesterday… I think my shoulder stand is continuing to improve, and will hopefully be pretty solid in another couple of weeks. Side stretch continues to be a bit of an exertion, but given that it’s supposed to be a stretch, maybe that’s part of the point. I still don’t think my line is quite right for it, but I’m working on it.
Not a whole lot else happening… been somewhat cool the last few days, but supposed to be in the 60s most of the week. Of course, it’s also supposed to rain for a good portion of the week, so it’s questionable how useful that is. But then again, it beats cold and rainy, so can’t complain too much. Well, that’s about it for now, probably be another update tomorrow on the session one workout.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

Another yoga workout today. Because of the shifting schedule, the last two workouts became a little more spread out than they normally would have been. Also because I didn’t really feel up to going through the workout at any point yesterday. Just felt a little out of balance, not synched up or something. I’m not quite sure. Theoretically, doing yoga may have helped with that, but it didn’t seem right, somehow. I’m considering taking a few days off… I think perhaps I need to just relax for a few days, and refocus my energies. My practices all week have been somewhat tainted by that lack of energy and focus, I think. On the one hand, a consistent practice schedule helps maintain the discipline necessary to have successful and rewarding practices, but on the other, yoga is partly teaching me how to listen to my body and be more responsive to it. Then again, I’m not good at it yet, so having a daily routine provides structure until I’m more able to correctly interpret signals. It’s a rather difficult balance, to be sure. However, I feel that if I don’t refocus and regain energy for the practices, I will ultimately be defeated and move away from the practice, with I believe would be a poor development, overall.
Today’s practice, nothing really of note. Brave warrior went a little better, but I couldn’t hit crane today, for some reason. Not actually quite sure why, but even pausing the video and attempting a second time resulted in nothing. Just one of those things, I guess. I’m still experiencing a bit of pain in some of the poses, particularly triangle to the left. That’s the other reason for thinking I should take a few days off… let my body recover a bit, hopefully heal the nagging pains that I currently have. The practice before this… can’t recall anything much outstanding. I think my bridge pose was a little better, that was about it. Shoulder stand might have been a bit better as well, but that one is tough to judge. You almost need to be next to a big mirror while doing yoga, if you want to be able to judge your poses. Unless you have someone else to help you, of course. That’s a luxury that I have, for the most part, which certainly has helped my practice.
Anyway, that’s about all for now. It’ll probably be a few days before I practice again, so I don’t know if I’ll get around to updating here or not in that time. Probably depends on whether or not anything exciting happens. I may try to provide links to pictures of some or all of the poses that I’ve been endlessly babbling about in the meantime. Until then…