Day 2 - Helpful Talking

Perhaps I started out too strong yesterday :P Today was still good, I just didn't feel as great as I did yesterday.

I drank more water today, but still not quite enough. Perhaps tomorrow I will implement a trick used by bartenders far and wide to get customers to drink more - the straw. Tomorrow is my off day, but with class at 10am on Saturday, I need to make sure I'm hydrated in advance!

For those who have never been to a hot hatha/Bikram style class before, one thing that really separated the class from other yoga classes for me was the amount of talking the instructor (in this case, Vicki) did throughout the class. It does two things that I appreciate: it keeps me out of my own head, and gives me constant advice to make me better. Although, there are times (like tonight during Eagle) where I'm just thinking "shut up! shut up! shut up!", not because I want to do the posture in silence, but because I just want it to be over :) In Eagle you have to twist and balance, both at the same time and I'm not good at either of those things. Wait for the day I successfully do this - you might hear some joyful screaming, you will definitely see dancing. Well, after the soreness wears off.

Half Moon went really well for me tonight. It was an example of how the continual instruction helps! Small adjustments made throughout made a big difference, so that by the end I was stretching as far as I could and feeling a good stretch rather than feeling pain from collapsing too far on one side without supporting myself.

I know I mentioned Rabbit yesterday, but it made me laugh tonight because as I was coming out of Rabbit, I noticed my upper abs were really sore and I wondered when that happened. Right at that moment, Vicki asked if I had felt something and I was caught off-guard and just said, "Ok, I guess." Maybe my face said I was feeling something, maybe Vicki can read minds. Vicki often mentions pulling in your stomach to protect your lower back, and since my lower back often needs protecting I tried to do that more and more this evening, and I'm definitely feeling it now! I hope to feel it more and more as the weeks go on!

Stay tuned for day 3! If all goes to plan, there will be some pictures of yours truly!