BBM Connection

Workout: Studio
Author: Your Insatiable One

After a *long* hiatus from yoga, I finally felt settled enough in my new place to seek out a class. For a while now, I felt like I needed to yoga with someone else - be it a partner or an instructor - in order to actually know whether or not I was doing things correctly. Interestingly enough, I sorta stumbled upon a place by chance when I found a coupon in the local ad book for a free class. Free class and short drive/not too long walk = why not?

Luckily, it just so happened that tonight was an introductory/beginner’s class: the perfect class for a hapless, hopelessly out of shape person like Y.T. It covered a number of poses I was already familiar with - e.g. upward/downward dog, triangle pose, warrior I, warrior II, cobra pose, upward bow - plus some new ones and the customary relaxation/cool down period where I very nearly fell asleep BECAUSE THE WORK OUT VERY MUCH KICKED MY ASS. Still, I enjoyed it enough to go again. It always feels good to put the body through the paces like that. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that there’s plenty of eye candy. (=

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: Kristi

I did about 20 minutes of this workout yesterday. Things were going really well at first; I was really getting a flow going and when I was breathing I could feel it throughout my body. Then, about 20 minutes in, my stomach had a revolt from something I ate the day before or something. So I decided I couldn’t keep doing the yoga. I did stretch out a bit so I wouldn’t be in a lot of pain today, but it was rather disappointing.

Then later yesterday I hurt my back somehow and it still hurts today. So I probably won’t be doing yoga today and might go with my yoga for back care tomorrow.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to do a workout today. I had been feeling a little bit worn down anyway, and I seem to have come down with some sort of cold. But then, I just really felt like getting a workout in. I couldn’t really decide on which one, so it was somewhat of a surprise to me that I ended up doing an abs workout. I really didn’t think I’d be up for one after the pilates workout yesterday, but it went pretty well. In a way I think being a little bit sick helps… it makes my mind a little fuzzier and unfocused, which is better for relaxing than my usual state. So I felt like I was getting into the workout a little more than I usually do. Of course, it could just be that I’m delusional from being a bit sick… it’s probably pretty difficult to tell the difference. Anyway, we’ll see what happens tomorrow… I’ll probably try to get a good workout in, but it will probably depend on how I’m feeling.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

Well, I’m getting this workout in a bit later than I have been doing workouts lately. There are a few reasons for that, but mainly just because I’m still feeling a little bit ill, and I was busy doing various stuff most of the day. However, much of the stuff I was doing involved hunching over, so my back was somewhat achy from all that. Thus, I decided that what I really needed to do was some shoulderstand. Admittedly, backbends might have been better, but I just didn’t feel up to doing any of the workouts with backbends in them.
That decision is actually a little bit interesting, because I decided to just do this workout without the DVD. It definitely changes the workout a little bit. In some ways it’s better, because I have a fairly good idea of the timing, but I can take a little longer in some poses, or a bit shorter if I want to. Of course, it makes it harder in a way, because there really isn’t any distraction at all, especially late at night. So all of your attention is on your body, which can make it a bit harder to relax. At least for me.
Anyway, I think the workout went pretty well. The extra focusing was probably good overall, even if it doesn’t give the same feel as being relaxed. In the end, it will help, most likely. Two minute downward dog was a little tougher than it has been lately, perhaps partly because I think I worked a little harder in the shoulderstand prep exercises than the video normally cues to. I also think I held it for a bit longer than usual, but that might just be wishful thinking. Shoulderstand also went pretty well, I held that for a couple of minutes. I’m still uncertain if I’m doing it quite correctly, though, which is a bit frustrating. But I haven’t been hurting my neck, so that’s a good thing.
I’m not entirely sure where my near future progress lies. Right now I’m at a point where I can do almost any of my workouts from memory. This has some uses, I’m sure, but I don’t know that it has a lot. Perhaps sometime soon I’ll get the confidence to start making up my own workouts, where I integrate poses that I particularly feel like working on on a given day. Alternately, maybe I’ll get another video, take a class, or start trying to do some more advanced poses from books. Not really sure. For now I’ll just continue along, and see what happens.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

I’m afraid that this was one of the least inspired workouts I’ve had in quite a while. I really just felt like I was going through the motions for pretty much the entire thing. Not that I was doing it badly, or having a hard time of it, but… it just didn’t feel right. However, it does feel like it straightened out my back a little, which is good. Too much bending over the last couple of days. Hopefully that’ll be over after tomorrow. I was originally thinking about doing total body today, but decided that I just didn’t feel like getting that vigorous or long of a workout in this late. Slightly earlier than last night, but still late nonetheless. I’m hoping to be back to my normal schedule in another day or two, and hopefully my normal level of health as well. Perhaps that contributed to my lack of inspiration, I’m not really sure. Anyway, I’ll probably try to get a decent workout in tomorrow, and hopefully earlier in the day, at least a few hours earlier.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Balanceball
Author: chaos

Well, I still haven’t gotten in the hard workout that I’ve been anticipating. I blame this primarily on the fact that I’ve been somewhat off schedule lately, and a little bit on the fact that I’ve been sick. However, I am feeling considerably better today, so it’s quite likely that I’ll be back to full health tomorrow, or Tuesday at the latest. I’m also anticipating getting back into a more normal schedule (at least for yoga) within the next day or two, and probably getting back to doing two workouts a day most days.
Today’s workout felt pretty good… I really felt like I was in touch with the breathing and the movements. Abs workouts are usually fairly decent for that, at least once they’re known pretty well. The motions are usually relatively simple, and the breathing patterns are closely tied to the motions, so it’s easy to focus on the breathing and the motions simultaneously. I also felt like I was getting a good focus on my abdominal area during the workout as well, really concentrating my motions on working there. So overall, those are pretty much the key elements of a good abs workout. Tomorrow the anticipated schedule is PY:Strength and abs yoga, so we’ll see if that actually happens or not.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Went with a combined PY:Strength and Abs Yoga workout today. They went pretty well, I think… I felt really good about my breathing work in particular. I still haven’t recovered that feeling of intuitive understanding, but I didn’t feel like I was straining, either. So it’s somewhat of a midpoint, I guess. The only real highlight of note in either workout was near the end of the abs workout, when I felt the effects of one of the exercises that I normally don’t really feel. Maybe it was because I was working more thoroughly throughout, or maybe just the combination of workouts. Whatever. In any case, hopefully this will get me back on schedule, and I’ll probably try to go for a total body workout tomorrow.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Well, this certainly wasn’t an overly inspired workout. It was rather interesting… bits of it almost achieved that (now seemingly mystical) level of understanding I hit a few weeks ago, but for the most part, it was solidly stuck in the physical realm. I had forgotten just how hard this workout can be, especially when you don’t do it for a few weeks and you’re not clicking with it. I struggled through with a reasonable amount of success… although getting into warrior III was pretty much a bust. However, I was noticing my hip alignment for a number of poses and transitions, but I took particular note of it while attempting warrior III. So while actually performing the pose didn’t happen, I do think I learned something from it. Specifically, I think that I’ve been doing it wrong all this time. Which isn’t something you particularly wish to learn, but better doing so than not. At least once you’ve learned it, you can work on correcting it. In that sense, today’s workout was pretty successful, because I think I gained a few insights into postures. Perhaps that’s how I’ll end up coming around to a more full understanding… just gaining a little bit at a time, and suddenly it’ll all click. *shrug* Who knows. Anyway, the backbends went particularly well, I really felt like I was working out some of the tension that I’ve acquired in the lower back over the last few days. I also regained that sense of opening that I achieved the first time I successfully did an upward bow, and never since. I seem to make changes to that pose every time I do it, though, so we’ll see if that lasts. I did feel like I had a brief flash of understanding doing forward bends, or perhaps that was my mind finally disengaging for a bit and letting my body take over. I’m not sure there’s a difference, really. Whatever. I feel like I’m pretty much back at full health now, so I’ll likely try to get an abs workout and something else in tomorrow.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Balanceball
Author: chaos

A pretty good workout. I felt like my precision of movement was better today than it has been. Better targeting of the correct areas, keeping the rest of the areas out of the movements. Breathing was pretty decent after the beginning, where I was forgetting to exhale through my mouth. I felt my abs working during a couple of exercises that I usually am not quite certain of the benefit of. No real complaints. I’m not sure if I’ll get in another workout tonight… I perhaps should, but I don’t know if I’m going to feel like it, really. I guess we’ll see in a few hours.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 2
Author: chaos

I experimented a little bit during this workout, just to test what I might be able to do if I stepped out of the ordinary practice. I did part of the workout with my eyes closed. That was particularly interesting, because then I could really feel my body making the movements. I don’t normally get that sort of feedback, at least not on a conscious level. I’m not even sure if it’s useful feedback to have on a conscious level, but it is something a bit different. Anyway, that pretty much fell apart when I got to the more complicated balances… I couldn’t manage to get into half-moon with my eyes closed. Which seems a bit strange, since my sensing of the balance should be better. Perhaps it’s more a matter of familiarity. At any rate, I then proceeded fairly normally until I got to warrior III, where I took my time to align myself more precisely. I didn’t get up into the poses for very long, but I think the positioning was more accurate. Something to keep working on. I’m thinking about doing a different pilates workout that I checked out from the library tomorrow, and perhaps pilates abs workout as well.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Pilates
Author: chaos

Oof. I definitely think my form is getting better. Which is a good and bad thing. I mean, overall, long term, it’s definitely a good thing. But it certainly doesn’t feel like it at the moment. My abs are definitely feeling a little bit used and abused right now. Which, again, is probably a good thing, overall. With luck that means they’ll build a little bit more, etc. But still.
Anyway, the workout was okay. I definitely felt like my form was better, particularly early in the workout. There was some noticeable deterioration by the end of the workout, though. One day I’ll be able to do the full (modified) version of this workout with good form. And one day, perhaps not too long after that, I’ll be able to do the real full version. However, it’s going to be a while still. Although, admittedly, I felt the same way about the abs workout when I started doing that, and after two months or so it wasn’t such a big deal anymore. So perhaps I’ll have a similar growth with this workout, as long as I start doing it more often. I’ll probably try to get it in every third day or so, if I’m following the schedule that I was before. If not, who knows?

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

I went to this workout again tonight because, frankly, none of the other workouts seemed quite right. I considered my options a number of times before finally deciding that this was the workout I really wanted to do, and damn my theoretical schedule. Which is good, in a way… at least it shows that my body does have a sense of what it wants, even if I don’t necessarily listen to it all the time.
Again, the workout was more in the grinding it out fashion that I’ve traditionally done… no sign of that light feeling at all. I experimented some more tonight with having my eyes closed, mostly during the beginning of the workout. My sense of alignment has gotten better… even though I still tend to shift my legs away from straight when going back into lunges, I also shift my upper body so that my body remains straight, even if I’m no longer aligned with the mat. My experimentation continued into the series that I call the eight pose sequence. I find that to be quite interesting to do with the eyes closed, because it gives me a better feeling for how the poses all share basically the same line. I think if done ideally, one really wouldn’t move out of that one plane after establishing the initial warrior II. Not that I can achieve that ideal, but it’s something to strive for, anyway.
I noted while I was doing the upward bows that I still have some deep need to try to do the poses to the most theoretically correct, even if I can’t actually achieve that. This realization came to me because I decided that instead of doing the second bow, I’d rest through it and do the third. It was probably the better choice… I was feeling a little tired, and could use a bit of a break. But there was a bit of a shock in realizing that it was okay if I didn’t do every pose. That I’m not competing against anyone, that I’m not being judged on my performance. Intellectually I realize that, certainly. But in the core of my psyche, I’m still performing for an invisible audience, one that cares about the appearance of doing things right more than the actuality. Which is really all backwards and screwed up and stuff. However, that’s something that I probably have to deal with off the mat more than on it. More on that later, perhaps.
Overall, the workout felt pretty good. I’ve been extending what I attempt to do with my left knee more and more, and it’s still holding up fine. I’m still cautious with it, and probably will continue to be for a few months still, but it’s definitely getting to the point where I can use it normally, in a yoga sense. That little piece is a mystery… I still have no idea what I originally did to it, and I don’t know how I’ve pretty much fixed it now. I guess just not straining it and giving it time lets it heal. Anyway. I’m really not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow… I might try out that pilates workout I got from the library. It’s pretty short, but really fast, and I’m not sure I can actually do a number of the moves, at least not at all like the woman in the video. Well, I’m sure I can’t do a number of them, and others it’s rather questionable. Maybe I’ll attempt the “training” session where you learn all the poses slowly… that seems like it shouldn’t be too intensive, even if the poses end up being held longer. It probably gives instruction for the breathing work, too, which is probably necessary since there was very little instruction in the pilates workout itself. But it’s hard to say for sure, since it’ll probably depend on some external events. Until then…

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

I was originally planning on getting a workout in a couple hours earlier, but just really didn’t feel like doing one at that particular time. So I decided to wait and see if I felt inclined to do a workout later, or even possibly just take the day off. As it so happened, about two hours later I was definitely feeling like doing a workout, so I went ahead with one. Again, my choice surprised me a bit, but that’s what struck me. It went pretty well… I actually started to really feel the flow of the breath during the beginning exercises, which is encouraging. I feel like I’m having more of these little insights in the past couple of weeks. Whether or not that’s actually true, I don’t know, but it subjectively feels like it. I didn’t feel particularly tired from the abs pilates workout yesterday, so I can only assume that my abs are getting stronger. Overall, fairly positive. I’ll probably get a couple of decent workouts in tomorrow, or so I intend to do as of now.

Workout: Power Yoga: The Complete Workout
Author: chaos

Well, I finally went ahead and did the complete workout for the first time tonight. This is the disc that’s comprised of the power yoga stamina, strength, and flexibility workouts. I’ve done two of the three workouts a number of times, but only once or twice have I even felt capable of doing the complete workout, and have never actually done it before. It went pretty well… it does work pretty well as one workout. Although I have to admit that I don’t like all the stretching at the end of the stamina workout when you’re going to continue into the others. Other than that, though, it does provide a fairly thorough workout. I wish that there were more warriors in this one, though, because it doesn’t really feel like my legs got much of a workout. My shoulders were starting to feel a little tired by the end, but not to the point of collapse or anything. My muscles were definitely nice and warm for the flexibility workout, which was great. I felt as though I was expanding into some of the poses a little more than I have before, probably because of the thorough warm up. Anyway. Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow… I might even take the day off, although I somewhat doubt it. No specific plans for tomorrow right now, so I’ll just take it as it comes, I guess.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Another relatively light day, with just an abs workout. I haven’t been feeling as compelled to get two workouts in lately… possibly because it’s been warm out, possibly because I’m just in a bit of a routine rut. On the other hand, I still do feel the need to get a workout in every day, so that’s a positive sign, I think. I just worry about yoga becoming another short episode of my life, something I do for a few years and then give up. Of course, I really see yoga as more of a lifetime fitness activity than a hobby, so that could be the important distinction. Anyway. I’ll most likely attempt the pilates disc that I checked out from the library tomorrow, and maybe another abs workout as well.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

Another single workout day. I suppose I could do an abs workout or something, but I don’t really feel like it. A bit of my inspiration is definitely lacking at the moment. But at least I don’t have a bunch of nagging injuries to go with it, like at the end of last September. Still, it’s making it harder to really feel like I’m progressing with my practice. Although I’m also aware that my opinion on that has waffled a few times in the past two weeks or so.
Anyway, today’s workout was good in the sense that I felt like I was really connecting into a lot of the poses. I tried something new with the two minute downward dog, which was to really focus on my breathing instead of the fact that my shoulders are calling for a lunch break. I think it helped somewhat, and I’ll probably start trying to use that technique more throughout my workouts. I felt like I set up really well for shoulderstand. Something about the setup just felt right today. No idea if it was right or not, but it felt like it. *shrug* One of these days I’ll manage to take a class or two. But at the end of the workout, I just didn’t feel I had been challenged or inspired or anything. I did consider another workout, but I don’t know if that’s the answer. Perhaps sometimes, but not tonight, I don’t think. Whatever. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. Possibly the pilates disc, because I have to return it sometime Wednesday. But maybe I’ll just end up doing that Wednesday afternoon before returning it. Wait and see, I guess.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Well, I’ve been feeling pretty unmotivated for the last week or so. I actually took the day off yesterday, and nearly did today. But for a change of pace, my workout partner actually pushed doing yoga. This was the session that she decided upon, so that’s what we did.
It went pretty well… sometimes I think that I have more focus when I’m not in the mood to do a workout, but do one anyway. Actually, I don’t think that’s always the case, but sometimes it works out that way. At any rate, I remembered my thought of working on my breathing from last session, so I tried doing that. It doesn’t work quite as well with this set of workouts because of their speed, but you can still get some focusing in. I think even the effort probably helps.
Another factor in my recent slump has been my eating habits, I think. I’ve been having a difficult time eating enough to properly nourish myself given that I’m working out that often. In the next week I’m going to try and step up my eating a little, see if I can get to a better level. I’m suspecting that if I can manage to do so, I’ll probably have a lot more energy. Anyway, I’ll probably get another workout in tomorrow, later in the evening sometime. Possibly just an abs workout, but definitely something to keep moving.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

A relatively light day, but a very good workout. Again, I tried to focus more on my breathing, and I think that was pretty effective. I still don’t think it’s as good as I’d like it to be, but slow improvements are something I’ll gladly accept. After the workout, I attempted to meditate for a little while. This is something I’ve been trying to get into for a while, but haven’t had much success with. That went okay… certainly not fantastic, but I did find focusing to be a little bit easier after a good yoga session. I’m not sure how often that will work out, timing wise, but it may make meditating a little easier in general if I’m already in a more relaxed state. Not sure. Probably another workout or two tomorrow evening.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

Just another fairly ordinary workout tonight. I don’t know if I’m getting better at focusing on my breathing, or it’s because this workout is a little slower, but I had a slightly easier time with that today than with the dual workout the other day. Let’s see… I also noticed that while my left knee has improved a great deal, and has nearly full range of motion without pain, it’s been stuck at the same level for a week or so now. I think I’ll try and really lay off it again for a week or two, and see if it will finish healing. I’m also trying to eat more, but that’s not going as well. Something I really need to just grit my teeth (metaphorically speaking… it’s hard to eat more while gritting your teeth) on and get down to. I also meditated again tonight… not quite as long as last night, but there were some outside distractions. Still, it didn’t go too badly. I might be improving slightly. Anyway. Probably a more difficult session tomorrow, quite possibly total body.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

Due to some unanticipated events, the proposed harder workout didn’t materialize today. Although it should tomorrow, finally. I keep going back to this workout because of the time of day more than anything else… it’s very quiet, and since it just involves lying on the floor for the most part, I don’t make much noise, either. The pilates one would probably be similar, except I don’t know it nearly as well, so I’d have to have the volume higher. I’m not even sure I know it well enough to do without seeing it, at least not yet. I do want to get back to it, though, and will hopefully stop slacking off in that regard soon. Anyway, once again anticipating total body for tomorrow.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Managed to get the long anticipated total body workout in today. I’m not sure if it’s because of the relatively light schedule I’ve had lately, or just the long absence from this particular workout, but I had a pretty good time with it. Even though I didn’t feel that same sense of being light, I didn’t feel quite as heavy as normal, either. I was focusing on my breathing again, which may have been part of it. I was also trying to keep my focus off of the bigger movements, and concentrating more on getting the subtle details of positions down. That’s probably better for me overall, since I think I have the major parts of the stances down, for the most part. The subtle details are what really make the pose.
So, anyway. Overall it went pretty well. I felt a lot better with warrior III than I have lately. I think I’ve managed to make the appropriate changes without any significant trouble. I managed to hit all three of the upward bows, and without feeling like I was straining to do so, either. I tried not to overextend into stretches, or to push my left knee. It’s a little harder in this workout, since there are a number of opportunities to push too hard into the knees, but I did decently. Anyway. I may have had some insights to offer earlier, but if I did, I lost them during the showering process. So I’ll just close this out, and probably try to get a good workout or two in tomorrow.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Balanceball
Author: chaos

It’s been quite a while since I did this workout, so I was definitely in the mood for it. I was watching a pilates video earlier that I checked out from the library, particularly the section on breathing. It’s definitely somewhat different than the breathing for yoga is, which makes it a little bit trickier just to keep track of. But I was attempting to use it today during the balanceball workout, since I realized that it was the exact same type of breathing, I just wasn’t familiar enough with it to really understand the mechanics before. At least not without a better explanation or closer study of the source material. Anyway, the point of all this is that I attempted to incorporate this breathing style into my workout today. It’s kind of hard, because it makes me focus a lot more on my breathing, and so I don’t focus as much on my movements. However, as I’ve been noting more often lately, I’ve grown familiar enough with the movements that I can afford not to be focusing on them as much. Overall, I think it helped somewhat, although it’s hard to be sure from just one session. Whatever. I’ll probably try to get something more vigorous in tomorrow.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

Today’s workout was somewhat interesting in that my shoulders seemed a little bit tired. This is somewhat odd, mainly because most of the workouts I’ve been doing lately really don’t use the shoulders much. Relatively speaking, of course. I don’t know that it affected my workout much, if at all, but it was somewhat unusual. I did have a short period in the middle where downward dog became a true resting pose, though. I have no idea if that’s related or not, but it is encouraging. I worked some more on my breathing, and that’s been going pretty well, too. After the strength workout, I went ahead with an abs yoga workout. Pretty routine fare, although integrating some of these other ideas I’ve been working with in terms of breathing gave some interesting results. Easier, in a way, and yet it feels like it’s being more effective. Not sure, just something to continue monitoring. No idea what will happen tomorrow, I guess I’ll just play it by ear.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: Kristi

Nothing really exciting to report about this workout. Other than the fact that I seemed to be unable to really push myself today. I did what I could do, but when it seemed difficult, I said “eh, I don’t really want to hurt myself” and moved on. Like, I did the upward bows, but only for about half the time. This all seems to fit in with my general pattern of laziness recently.

In the end, though, I felt pretty good. The relaxation was much needed at the end, and I think I’ll be more prepared for the next go …

In a side note, how am I supposed to keep myself from slipping on my yoga mat?

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Another somewhat interesting workout today. For a little bit, it felt like I had it… downward dog was easy and light, and I really felt like I hit the alignment for warrior II. And then… well, it didn’t completely fall apart or anything, but it didn’t really progress, either. Still, it gives me a better sense that I wasn’t totally hallucinating during that one workout. Gives me renewed vigor in striving for that nirvana, all that good stuff. A couple points of note… after realizing last time that the eight pose sequence should all be done in the same plane, I realized this time that I could expand that knowledge into other similar sequences. I also realized that if I did that, and my alignment was correct for the first pose in the sequence, then it should be correct for all the poses in the sequence. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that feeling of correctness for a pose again after realizing that, so I couldn’t really get any more data on that hypothesis. Still, I think it will prove out for me. Not much to say other than that… upward bow was okay, but I pretty much failed the last one. Set my arms up too close to my legs, I think, and my back felt completely compressed when I pressed up, so I quickly (but with control) released back down. I also had problems with warrior III again today… I knew what I wanted to do, but had trouble doing it. I did briefly get in the pose on each side, though, exhibiting what I felt was correct form. So, that was okay. Anyway, I’ve been slacking off again, but I think I’ll try and get a pilates abs workout in sometime tomorrow, kick these abs into shape.

Workout: Power Yoga: Flexibility
Author: chaos

It would seem that my hamstrings are permanently tight. Now, I know that this isn’t really the case, and that in time, they’ll probably actually loosen up and I’ll be flexible and stuff like that. But man… the process seems to take absolutely forever. I’m sure that I hurt my cause by trying to push too much. I’ve gotten a lot better about it, but I’m sure I still do it, and much too often. *sigh* C’est la vie. I was originally planning on doing an abs workout tonight as well, but at some point I realized that I really didn’t want to. And, since no one is making me, I decided not to do one. I do still want to get that pilates abs workout in, and since tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler, maybe I’ll actually manage to do that. I’ll see then, I suppose.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

I think it was a good workout today. I’m somewhat ambivalent about it mentally, but it went well physically. I think that I’m just somewhat mentally fatigued. I woke up rather unfortunately early today, and that probably has some effect on my mental state. Anyway. Things went well, crane pose was really good, I continue working on pendulum pose even though I still can’t do it really, and simple arm balance was okay. After I was done with the strength workout, I didn’t really feel fulfilled, so I decided to do an abs yoga workout as well. I’m a bit disappointed, because I still haven’t done the pilates abs workout. Maybe this weekend I’ll finally get to it. Anyway, that’s all for tonight, most likely something tomorrow, although I have no idea what.

Workout: Power Yoga: Stamina, Power Yoga: Strength
Author: chaos

I ended up taking yesterday off, not because I didn’t want to do a workout, but because by the time I could, I was pretty much completely exhausted. I did think about doing a workout anyway, but realized that it would be pretty dumb to force myself through a workout at the time. So I did the sensible thing for a change, and went to bed.
Came back today with a stamina and strength workout. Not much to say about it… it was fairly standard, for the most part. I do feel like I’ve been improving my downward dog slightly as of late, getting a better extension of the spine. But that’s really only when I’m thinking about it, and I’d like to get to the point where it’s more automatic. I just don’t have a distinct sense for what feels right, I guess. Anyway, almost certainly something with abs tomorrow, and maybe something else as well.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

A simple abs workout today. I was trying to concentrate on my form a little bit more… I think I’ve gotten out of the habit lately. As always, I tried working with my breath as well. Overall, it went decently, and I may have improved my understanding a bit, but it’ll be hard to say for sure until I’ve done a few more workouts. Most likely something tomorrow, possibly total body.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: Kristi

I did the total body workout yesterday while I was in MN, and my mom joined me! I decided it might be good for her to try yoga. Of course, we had to skip the middle part because I didn’t want to kill her. I think she enjoyed it. I was a bit chagrined to see how much more flexible she is than me. She’s been doing some pilates stuff too, but she’s always been more flexible than I am. But hey! I have more balance than she does. She kept falling over …

In other news, word is I get to buy another yoga dvd! Woot!

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Another fairly regular workout today. Actually, it might even have been a bit substandard… I was really struggling with the warrior poses near the end of that section. Just the front leg… whatever I was doing today was obviously taxing it a lot more than what I normally do. Very reminiscent of my early practices with this workout, which, overall, I’d probably rather not be reminded of. At least not by having similar practices. Oh well. The unquestionable highlight of today’s practice was that the first time I jumped back into pushup pose, I managed to do the “float” that Rodney does. Unfortunately, I wasn’t precisely sure how I did it, and wasn’t able to fully replicate it, although I did have one jump that was fairly close. Still, that instant of understanding is always cool, even if it’s over something fairly minor. Anyway. The lack of inspiration in my practice lately has been a little bit frustrating, but I’m just hoping to work through this lull and get back into a groove at some point. Until then, I imagine there will be some more uninspired posting to go with my uninspired workouts.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Balanceball
Author: chaos

A decent workout today in all aspects except one… I had a very difficult time keeping muscles that I wasn’t using relaxed, especially in the face. I’m not quite sure why, although I suspect it was because I was focusing so much on the breathing aspects. It probably doesn’t help that I haven’t been doing this workout all that much recently, so the familiarity isn’t quite as strong as it was before. Still, it shouldn’t be that difficult to maintain a relaxed face, but it certainly was today. On the good side, though, I really felt like I was targeting my abs well. I was trying to use the exhalation in conjunction with the movements to get the optimal gain for my effort. Whether I was entirely successful is another topic. Either way, it felt pretty good, and hopefully I can start having positive workout experiences again, instead of pretty much staying at neutral.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: Kristi

Today’s workout went well, in general. I did all of the poses for at least most of the time. Triangle pose and extended side angle pose didn’t seem as painful as usual. The upward bows happened, but were still painful. Camel’s pose happened and I stayed in it for the whole time. All in all pretty good. I guess Chaos is right, it’s nice to do the workouts somewhat regularly.

Some things I noticed today: I feel like I slip in and out of having some sort of mind/body connection. At some points, I really feel and understand the instructions like “breathe into your back” and “lengthen the hips”. Other times, I go through the motions and just hope for the best physically speaking. It’s nice when I get the connection because it makes me far more relaxed, and balance comes even more easily.

Also today, my flexibility had improved, as evidenced by my ability to actually do a standing forward bend and touch my hands to the ground. I know, that probably sounds pathetically inflexible, which I have never denied being.

Finally today, after my workout I noticed that my abs felt tired. I attribute this to being more careful about paying attention to my core muscles and using my abs to support my back in a lot of the positions.

Overall, a good yoga day. Still trying to decide what yoga dvd to buy next. I’m definitely leaning towards the abs.

Workout: Yoga for Strength: session 1
Author: chaos

I had a fairly decent workout today. In part, I was inspired by Kristi’s good workout of earlier, and in part by reading over some of my old entries last night. It continues to amaze me how much I forget things that I’ve thought before. Which is the primary purpose of this weblog (and sometimes I forget that)… to record these thoughts so that I can read them and remind myself later. At any rate, my reading last night and some outside reading I was doing earlier today really brought to mind some ideas that I’ve had before, acted on for a little while, and then forgotten. The most important of these, put simply, is mindfulness. To be involved in the workout, focused within the moment. It’s a very difficult thing for me to do, both in the workout and in general. However, today I gained a new piece of understanding of the linking of the breath to mind and body. For a while now, I’ve done pretty well with syncing up my breathing to my actions. Inhale, raise arms. Exhale, namaste. So on and so forth. But until today, I don’t think I’ve really actually linked the two things. So before they were two separate actions done simultaneously. Today, I was working on making them one action. The breath became part of the movement. I think this really helped in two ways… first, the action felt like it was more complete when linked with the breath. Second, and perhaps more importantly, concentrating on that really kept me in the workout. While it wasn’t perfect, I was much less distracted during tonight’s workout than most of my workouts lately. Which is more than I can say for this entry, at least at the end here. Anyway, I’ll try to get a good and mindful abs workout in tomorrow, and possibly something else as well.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Went into the workout today with two primary ideas in mind. One, to continue to work on actually linking the breath to the movements of the body. Two, to work on correcting a few of the postures. After talking with Kristi last night and studying some of the poses on yoga journal as well as watching the total body video closely, I realized that I wasn’t placing my hands in the correct position for a few of the poses, particularly push up pose and upward dog. My downward dog may also be off, but I’m less certain about that one.
At any rate, I went into the workout with those ideas in mind, and was reasonably successful. Particularly in the beginning I was doing well with linking breath and movement, although later I started catching myself breathing in sync, but not with movements. I definitely did a lot better with correct arm placement on the poses that I mentioned, which isn’t particularly surprising, since I was very aware of them today. The challenge will be maintaining that in upcoming workouts until it becomes natural. I also discovered that “floating” the way Rodney does is much easier to do when one starts with the hands in the correct position. I’m certainly not perfect yet, but I definitely have the idea down. I didn’t really do the entirety of the workout today… I skipped the half moon and warrior III sequences, passed on the middle upward bow, and didn’t do a number of the stretching poses. I just tried to listen to my body, and rest or modify when necessary. I spent some extra time in mountain pose and standing forward bend instead, and a bit of extra time in seated forward bend. Eventually, my hamstrings will be flexible. After the workout, I actually fell asleep in relaxation pose for around 40 minutes or so. While that’s not really the ideal, it’s still somewhat of an accomplishment, since I’m normally nowhere near that relaxed. Overall, I feel pretty good about today’s workout. I feel like I’m making progress again in my practice, and will hopefully continue to do so in the upcoming weeks.

Workout: Power Yoga: Total Body
Author: chaos

Did Total Body again today. That wasn’t really my original plan, but these things happen sometimes. Pretty similar to yesterday, except I just skipped the entire second session instead of starting it and resting through the rest of it. I did the entire section of backbends, and then did parts of the stretching/relaxation segment. I’m already getting better about placing my hands well for push up pose and upward dog. I also worked more on integration of breath and movement, although I lost focus somewhat near the end. But I think that’s just something I need to keep working on. Anyway, not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, but I’ll probably try and get an abs workout in earlier in the day.