Outside practice

I did Yoga Flow with Andee tonight and we did a lot of breath work in the beginning. First she made us do breathing in and out of the opposite nostrils which just made me realize how stuffy my nose was! Next we worked on pushing the belly button into the spine when exhaling and doing it very quickly. My lower back started to hurt, but Andee explained that this was because the organs were being compressed into my back and an adjustment would be to try to hold onto the lower back while doing this. She also talked a lot about the bhandas ( locks) and how important it is to keep them aligned while doing certain postures.

I had a really great (maybe even enlightening) moment tonight while in tree posture. It only lasted a few seconds but I was concentrating really hard on keeping my balance and staring at a tile on the ceiling and for a second I felt like I was floating I had no thoughts in my head and everything felt really light and airy. I felt like there was no floor underneath of me and it felt like a moment of bliss. It was a really great feeling and I definitley felt differently after practice tonight. When I came back my roomates said that I had a glow about me that I normally dont have! It was pretty nice.

Outside Practice

I went to the Yoga Technique class I really like going to these because it allows me to correct the posture because they are held for a longer period of time. Lately when I have been practicing I am waking up a little sore the next day. I would really like to start practicing everyday, but I have a crazy schedule so it is hard for me to find time to get to the studio everyday. I noticed that there are a lot mixed ages in this class also. I feel like a lot of the older men and women are there for therapeutic reasons and that a lot of them have an illness or arthritis and are trying this as a method for treatment. I mean I could be totally wrong but that is what I am starting to observe.

Iyerngar

In class we did a form of yoga called Iyengar Yoga. I noticed that the postures were held a little longer than normal because this kind of yoga focuses mainly on correct body alignment rather than just getting into a posture just to say you did it. I noticed that I paid more attention to how my body felt in each posture moreso than any other kind of yoga practiced. One posture in particular was the warrior pose. It made me feel more aware of my leg mucles and in a away I felt that it sort of awakened muscles that had not been used in quite some time! I also noticed that we did a lot of hip opening excersices and that really made me feel really limber afterwards.

I have started to notice that if I do not practice yoga a few times a week that my body feels like it isn't connected (it's a weird feeling that is hard to describe!) I start feeling stiff and like things aren't moving as fluently as I would like them to.

Outside Practices

I went to outisde practice two times last week at Laurie's studio. I felt great after going two days in a row and I havent been able to make it there at all this weekend because of work and being sick. On Wednesday I went to Yoga Flow with Sharon. We did a posture that she said would work our lymph nodes and chelp clear them out and get rid of the end of summer colds that everyone has. At the end of the class she rubbed some kind of lemongrass oil on our shoulders and feet during shavasana. It smelled really good and the smell also helped enhance my senses when getting out of the corpse pose. When I left that day class I felt really awake and when we stepped outside it had just rained and there was a rainbow in the sky which was so pretty!!

The next class I did on Wednesday was Advanced Vinyasa with Laurie. I couldnt make any other class that day and thought that I would give this class a try, afterall I am always up for a challenge. Needless to say an hour and a half later I was soaked with sweat, slipping all over my mat and felt like I had done the most intense workout of my life except I wasnt sore, which was very surprising! Everyone in that class seemed very fit and were able to do the very difficult postures. I was surprised that I was able to some of the more challenging ones but not the extent that some people could. When the class was over I felt that I had awakened muscles that hadn't been put to use in a very long time and it made me feel really refreshed and more aware of my body. I truely felt different after taking this class, it wasn't a bad feeling it was more of a feeling that I accomplished something that I was really nervous about doing because it was an advanced class. I realized that I have potential to do anything I put my mind to and in a way it was enlightening.