Days 4 & 5

Yesterday was a much needed day of rest. Granted, I had one of those on Friday, too, but yesterday I really couldn't handle much. I slept until after 10 (unheard of for me these days) and didn't get dressed all day. Not to totally overshare, but it's about that time of the month and I tend to lose all energy, and all ability to positively interact with human beings (bless the husband-elect for still wanting to marry me after these days!).

Naturally, I was not particularly enthused about getting hot and sweaty and going to yoga. I felt gross and bloated and wearing tight clothes had minimal appeal. But then I remembered back to my days as an athlete in high school when working out made the pain go away. And it turns out an excellent way to get rid of water weight is to sweat it all out!!

Once I was in the room, I was pretty happy about being there. I put myself more front towards the mirrors in hopes that I would focus on myself and not other people. At first, I wasn't a big fan of the big wall of mirrors, but they make it super helpful to see what I'm doing and make improvements. Especially balancing! Speaking of, I held standing bow and saw my foot above my head for like 7 whole seconds!! During the photography session on Saturday, I realized a major flaw of mine is my tendency to hyperextend my knee. It rears its ugly head most in standing bow and the first standing separate leg stretching. I need to focus on engaging my quads and protecting the knee so my leg doesn't bow backwards. Also, in reading more of Yoga Journal, hopefully if I fix my knee posture, it will fix my shoulder/back posture. Definitely something to think about.

Camel also felt REALLY good tonight. Opening the chest and lifting the heart can cause all kinds of emotions to bounce around, but more often than not I feel energized and happy after. Camel is definitely one of my favorite postures.




Tomorrow: Vinyasa.