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Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Workout felt okay, a little tight, as to be expected. No shoulder pain or fatigue, so I think that’s gone for now. Some amount on pain in the left knee on a few poses… I think I must have done something to it in the past few days. I imagine that’ll pass fairly quickly though, since it didn’t feel like anything particularly unusual. Not much to say other than that… still trying to motivate myself into getting back to the regular practice. Now would be a good time, in preparation for potential holiday excess of food eating. So, I guess we’ll see if I get in another workout in the next few days.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Did another Stamina workout today. My goal at the moment isn’t really to make any particular progressions in the practice, but simply to get back into the habit of practicing on a consistent basis. As such, I felt fairly good about today’s practice… not overly challenging, but pretty solid. My left knee still has some pain in the joint… I kind of wish I knew that the story with that was. I’m sure it’ll go away, it’s just a matter of when. But anyway, I feel fairly good about the workout as a whole, so hopefully this will continue to inspire me.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

The workout yesterday went pretty well overall, perhaps surprisingly so since I haven’t done that workout for a few months now. Had the usual trouble with pendulum pose, although I even had a bit more luck with that than normal. Perhaps all this rest has had some advantages.
My left knee is still bothering me, though. Not noticable most of the time, but it’s a bit painful when doing a few poses where the knee is bent in most of the way, such as tree pose or one-legged forward bend. I know I’ve had such pain in the past, but I don’t remember what I did (if anything) to get rid of it. Probably just waited for it to heal on its own. Additionally, my back is somewhat stiff today. Not sure if it’s from yoga yesterday, sleeping, or slouching in my chair all last night, although I suspect it’s probably option number 3.
Anyway, just getting a quick note in. I’m going to try and get another workout in today, maybe YfS s1 if I’m up to it, since that should help my back.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Had a fairly invigorating Stamina session earlier. My hamstrings weren’t overly tight, which is a first since I started trying to get back into the practice a few weeks ago. That certainly helped. My left knee is still sore, but I think it seemed a little less so, so perhaps it’s slowly healing. I was keeping my breath more in tune with the workout, which is probably the main reason it didn’t feel draining. It’s obvious the breath is important, but the extent to which it can change the workout is fairly impressive.
Anyway, I think I’m picking up the habit again. Now it’s just a matter of trying to either keep it going next week or, worst case, pick it up again immediately after.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Just finished up a Strength session. I’m not entirely sure if it’s just because I haven’t done it in so long, or if it was because it followed less than 24 hours after the last workout, but it was definitely quite a workout. It felt pretty good overall, a little fatiguing by the end. Well, quite fatiguing by the end. I’m not sure how many more lunge -> pushup -> upward dog -> downward dog sequences I could have done before my arms just gave up. I suppose sheer stubbornness would have held for a little while longer.
Anyway, it went pretty well overall, especially considering how long it’s been since the last time I did this workout. Hit crane pose really well, that was probably the highlight. Had trouble with pendulum, as usual. Was a little shaky on one of the side arm balances, which is a little odd.
I did try something new later in the workout, and started keeping my eyes closed and just feeling the movements instead of fixing them to a visual outside reference. It worked fairly well, though I think I need a bit of work to do it really well. Still, I think it has the potential for improving my mental connection to my body, so I’ll probably experiment with it some more in the future. For now, I’m going to go take a shower and crash.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Kept going with another Stamina session today. I was pretty tempted to go with the flexibility, but decided not to take the chance on overexerting while I’m still just getting back into it. I was also still a bit tight from the other day, and thought that might have more of a negative effect on the Flexibility workout.
Pretty standard workout, overall. Proud warrior felt pretty good, I think I’m getting the form for that down pretty well. I’m still not entirely satisfied with my side stretch pose, but it’s something that I’ll have to make subtle adjustments with, I think. Anyway, just getting in a quick note, hopefully I’ll manage to get in at least two workouts in the next week, and maybe more.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

Did a Flexibility workout yesterday. It was the first time I’ve done that workout in a long time, quite possibly since the end of September. I think it went reasonably well, although I could definitely feel the overall lack of practice was affecting my ability to really extend into some of the poses. However, I think the practice was probably good for me in terms of motivation, since it allowed me to see that while I haven’t lost that much in terms of flexibility, I’ve definitely lost some mobility there. With any luck that will inspire me to continue making inroads on what I’ve lost, and then continue from there.
Watched the Total Yoga video with Tracey Rich and Ganga White yesterday, as well. It was fairly interesting… quite different than the sort of thing that I’ve been doing. Well, not necessarily all that different, but the focus seems different. More focused on the breathing and the slow movements, while still definitely being a workout. I might give it a try in the next couple of days, although I’m not sure I’m flexible enough to really take full advantage of the workout. Then again, it is some stuff that I haven’t done before, and it might be a good idea to start expanding my practice some, and have a few new poses to incorporate. So I’ll probably try and give it a run at some point this week.
Going to try and get a workout in today, if I have time, which I should. Probably PY:Stamina, although YfS:s2 is tempting as well. If I don’t get one in today, I definitely plan on doing so tomorrow, but both would be even better.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

I managed to get in the Stamina workout yesterday, as anticipated. It was a little bit more difficult than I’ve come to expect, probably due to it coming a day after the somewhat tiring PY:Flexibility workout. Other than that, it went well… nothing of particular note. I think I’m getting a little bit better at relaxing, but it’s hard to say for sure… I have on and off days in that area. I think exalted warrior and proud warrior are also improving slightly… nuances in the pose, mostly. At any rate, I intend to take the day off today, and rest up a little. I’ll probably try and get a workout in sometime tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to try the Total Yoga I discussed yesterday, or else I might go for a YfS:s2 workout.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

I definitely felt a little fatigue in the shoulders as I went through the workout, and it felt like I was just a little tired in general. I’m sure it’s the result of the workouts a few days ago, but it’s still somewhat disappointing, as I was hoping that my recovery time would be somewhat faster. That could be a dietary issue, which I’ll have to look into more closely. In theory, I should be able to do these workouts daily, and although I am still just getting back into the rhythm of the workouts, it doesn’t seem like I should have been all that tired.
At any rate, the workout went reasonably well. I felt like I was wobbling a bit on my side arm balances (my shoulders were already quite tired by the time I hit those), and crane pose was a bit weak today, more due to tired arms than anything else. I felt a bit better about my breathing, it’s been pretty good lately. Not perfect, but definitely getting better.
I’m definitely planning on trying out the Total Yoga tomorrow, see how that is. It’s a longer workout, but doesn’t look like it’s nearly as intense, particularly in terms of strength. There is some, but not a lot, so it might end up being a good break from my normal routine. I think pretty soon I might try and get another DVD, see if I can incorporate a slightly more sedate workout into rotation, which might help extend the number of days I can work out in a row. I’m considering perhaps one with more of a meditative focus, but I have a couple of books that I’d like to read first. Actually, a workout with an abdominals focus might be the best, because I’ve been very lazy about doing crunches and the like, and I think that area needs some work before I can really progress on some of the more difficult poses. On the other hand, it seems like I could just do that on my own, and get a video that works on more advanced poses. Anyway, something I’ll probably be thinking about in the next couple of weeks.

Workout: Total Yoga
Author: chaos

Tried out the Total Yoga video today. It was fairly interesting… it’s at a much slower pace than the stuff that I usually do, and requires more flexibility for a number of the poses. The thing that I like best about the video is that for a number of the positions, it suggests variations for stronger or more flexible students, letting you customize things a bit more while still being in the context of the video. Even if I owned it, though, I’m not sure how often I’d do it since it’s such a slow pace, and it’s pretty long, a little over an hour total. Still, it was definitely nice to try something a little different, get a bit more of a taste for different things that can be done with and in the practice. The one thing that I really hope to take from it is the breathing… it’s very explicit about both how and when to breathe, which I think is pretty useful.
Anyway, given that it was a new workout, doing the workout required extending myself in ways I don’t necessarily normally go, and I was still somewhat tender from yesterday and previous workouts, I’m going to guess that I’ll probably be taking tomorrow off. Possibly Sunday as well, but I’ll have to wait and see on that… overall, I’d rather not, but it might be necessary. I’ll try to at least do some external abdominal work on Sunday, even if I don’t manage to get any yoga in.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina
Author: chaos

Well, took a bit longer of a break than I was expecting, but I think that it worked out fairly well. Did a PY:Stamina session today, and didn’t experience any of the fatigue that I’d noticed the last few workouts. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really sore after the last workout, other than a slight bit in the upper back. However, my legs had been tight for a number of days, and the three day break seems to have helped that, which is nice.
Pretty standard workout tonight. I think my triangle pose is becoming fairly solid, or at least it seems like it is. I’m considering maybe trying to incorporate revolved triangle pose into my workouts somehow, as an added challenge. I’d definitely like to start challenging myself more in terms of flexibility. On the other hand, I’d also like to make sure that I’m doing the poses currently in my repertoire correctly. Really, I need to take a class one of these days, just to get a better sense if I’m pretty close to correct, or if I’m really way off. At any rate, I’m hoping to start getting in around five workouts a week, and maybe work my way up to daily workouts within the next few months. I think in order to do that I’ll need to strike the delicate balance between challenging myself and resting/recovery so that I don’t burn out and end up taking long periods of time off. Either way, I’m sure I’ll be noting my progress here.

Workout: Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Under advisement, went with a PY:Strength session today. I think it went pretty well. I might finally be gaining an understanding of downward dog, such that it’s starting to become the restorative/resting pose that it’s supposed to be. It’s a little early to say, of course, but that would be a very welcome development. Additionally, my flexibility is finally returning to the state that it was at near the end of September, which is also good news. The summary of all that being that I’m pretty close to recovering from my long absence, or stated another way, I only lost about three months in yoga progress.
Overall, I’d call today’s workout a success. Pendulum was pretty much as usual, and I tried modifying the simple arm balance a little, which pretty much didn’t work. But crane pose felt really good, and the side arm balances were steady. Downward dog didn’t feel like it was straining my shoulders as it often does… Perhaps I’m finally pulling the weight back onto my legs. I even felt like I was stretching more fully into upward dog today. At any rate, I feel pretty good about my practice in general right now, so hopefully this will help me really get going and start making progress again.