Sunday: Day of Rest or Yoga fail!

Fine, I'll say it: I'm such a punk for skipping out on yoga today! I'm such a lazy f*ck sometimes...I was suuuper tired after work this morning. I thought for half-a second that I could make it to class, and seriously, all night I was planning on the 9am class, but my eyes were so dry...night shift is so awful to the body. So, I thought: there's another class at 4, so I'll rest and go later. I also still felt like I couldn't possibly stretch my muscles enough.

Later came and my alarm was a rude awakening at 3pm. I kind of effed around in my room for awhile and started looking for a yoga outfit to wear. But then it came to be 3:45 and I was like, Dang, its too late now to go (they lock the doors to class promptly at 4). So I plopped on the couch and watched Oscar red carpet coverage on E! with Colleen. Ten minutes later, of course, since my only plans for the day came and went, I went back to sleep till 7pm, after which now I am WIDE AWAKE! My body feels great and I don't feel anymore soreness. It was like a fairy came and sucked all the pain out of my body. So I had a salad, did some pushups, ate some pineapples and kettle corn, and am obsessed with the Oscars. Sunday yoga fail! The worst part is that I'm working Monday-Wed day shift, so I can't make any classes till Thursday:( Sigh...c'est la vie

Bikram classes 2,3,and 4!

I am so proud of myself! I have gone to 3 more Bikram classes since Sunday and I feel great! Maybe it's just from all the reading up on Bikram yoga that I've been doing, but I can already feel some changes.

My second official class was in the Hampden studio. I signed up for the month-long intro membership, and I am hopeful and ambitious! I want to go at least three times a week this month. Hopefully doable. I went to the 7pm class so I could successfully rest after my night shift and I must say, I felt really nauseous beforehand, like I always do when I know my body is going to experience a big undertaking. Is it weird that I get nausea before I workout? Anyway, I made sure to drink tons of water overnight at work and before class. I'm talking I peed so much that I considered using a nun's cap at work to see how much I was peeing (sorry, nurse joke). I was scared of getting dehydrated because in class Sunday I stopped sweating, and on my Punta Cana vacay when I stopped sweating, I developed a heat rash...

My teacher was Henri and he was very nice and friendly and he kept saying my name in class, so I felt like I had to put forth more effort that night. Class went well. I saw an old friend from UMBC, Kelly, for whom this was also her first class, so that was cool. I was relieved that the studio was full, but not quite as packed as Fairfax, so I felt less smothered in the 105 degrees. Haha, I even initially set my mat up right next to this chick who's eyes kept telling me to move over because there was so much space everywhere. I was anticipating a more packed class, but I liked my space. I did move over, I even got my own mirror! I was able to get through the class, did not feel as much nausea as on Sunday, and felt great when I got home. The only glitch was that my hair band snapped in the middle of the floor exercises. Whats more gross than sweating like crazy in 105 degrees? Doing it with your hair down! So gross. I had to apologize to Henri for the probable bed of hair laying in my spot after I left.

Thursday was class 3. I went at 11:30 and Lauren was my teacher. Now, one of my best friends is named Lauren, too, so I couldn't help but smile because this teacher is so bubbly and colorful like my friend. She was very friendly, and since I got there early and I was the only student there, we talked for a bit. Turns out she's been practicing since November 2010 and now she's in love with it. I immediately started setting super-high expectations for myself, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. She told me to put my name on the 30 day challenge board that the studio has, and I eagerly applied my class stickers.

Class was pretty awesome. It was a small class, probably b/c of the time of day; there were six students. I did all the poses without resting. I still struggled with back bends, but I could go much deeper into half moon pose in both directions than previously, and my side didn't hurt as much when I did them. Lauren corrected how I was doing my camel pose, and I thought that never would have happened in a big class. I sweated immensely today, omg, I was literally dripping the whole time! I must have drank a sufficient amount of water beforehand. But I couldn't help but admire the shine of my arms during Triangle pose...I felt great afterwards, and I met one of the other instructors at the studio. It turns out that Debbie was also an RN who worked nights in the past, and she was telling me that 9:30 AM would be a good class to take while I worked night shift. I'll have to try that this weekend. My only true grievance from today was when I realized class was scripted and the poses are all done the same way! Lauren said the same stuff as the Fairfax teacher! And I realized that Henri did the same thing last night. Like the jokes and the wording even. What?! Like when she goes "head back, go back, fall back, way back" and "fold your body tight like a Japanese ham sandwich". I thought that was weird, and I felt cheated because I thought the other teacher in Fairfax was being funny. Phooey.

Class 4 was rough. I decided to go to the 9:30 AM class on Friday because I made lunch plans with a friend. By the time I finish the 90 mins, have a quick refuel snack, and shower, it will already be like 12:30/1 by the time I'm ready. I'm slow, and I have a lot of hair to dry! I was kind of stressed because the night before, my beloved roomie broke the news to me that she's moving in with her boyfriend when our lease is up. I'm so happy for her, and I have to say, I knew it was coming. Congrats to Colleen! So I made plans with my friend to ask her if she wanted to be my new roomie.

Anyway, this class was a bit harder than the other classes for me. First off, my body hurt like a mo-fo, particularly my hamstrings. I felt like I couldn't get as deep into the stretches because my hamstrings were so tight. I felt like I was letting Lauren down when I had to take breaks. Also, my balance was way off today. On all the one-leg poses I kept losing my balance and I was getting frustrated. However, after all the glitches, I made myself exhale more forcefully and pushed my body into the compression poses even more to make up for it. I was way dizzy, but that was my sacrifice. Oh no, another thing...from hearing the same dialogue for 4 days, I stopped poses a little prematurely when I knew they were going to end. I felt guilty and like I half-asses today. However, at the end of class, Lauren said I was turning into a "regular", which made me proud, but all I could say was that "I'm a good starter". I notoriously start things and don't finish them.

Today is Saturday and I didn't go today. I know, I know, given my last statement, I should know better! But I have to work tonight and I didn't sleep well overnight at all. My new roomie said yes, by the way, so I'm not stressed if you think that's the reason. My body is just so tired and I feel like I can't stretch enough! It all just hurts! So I took the day off from Bikram, and seriously slept from 4 am-4pm. Not bad, right? So I'll be ready for class tomorrow morning at 9:30! Chugging water all the way.

My commitment to Bikram

I got home from VA on Sunday night feeling completely energized...like for the rest of the day. And night, because it was suddenly 2 am and I was wide awake. I was so interested to learn more about Bikram Yoga and this practice that has gotten Jen, one of my most motivated and neurotic friends, so hooked. And most importantly, how is this going to change my body? I've been feeling super lazy and tired in the past few months. I blame it on my day-night rotating work schedule and the winter blues that has tuned me into fat hibernation mode, so I am itching to find an energy cure. When I think about it, the class was a pretty low-intensity movement class, but the effects on the body were super high-intensity because of the heat. My heart was definitely pounding quickly every time I rolled over into savasana. And every compression pose definitely made my head spin. And lying awake at 2am, I am very awake, yet my muscles already feel so sore 14 hours after class.

I googled everything about Bikram Choudhury and his invention of Bikram Yoga. Apparently this is the messiah of workouts, that heals like no other, and brings one's metabolism and body systems to normal, even for diabetics and people with weak skeletal systems. In my years of study of biology and body systems, and in my nursing practice, I believe it. There is definitely some more research to be done on my part, but I can at least fundamentally see how this practice can help me, as an averagely fit, healthy individual. I am already reasonably flexible, with intact spine and knees, so why not? I have been dying to try some new workout and I still can't run outside consistently because its too cold and I've been increasingly needing my inhaler after runs. So why not? By now I'm very excited about this new practice, so I also google studios in the area and am excited to find Bikram Yoga of Hampden. They have an awesome introductory offer of unlimited classes for a month for $35. I paid $18 for my one class in Fairfax, and the typical price of 1 class is $15-$18 everywhere else, and if I'm going to start doing this regularly, uhm...duh, let's do this!

But I'll start on Wednesday because I work night shift Monday and Tuesday and I'm afraid class might make me so exhausted that I can't stay up for work :/

Bikram 30 day challenge: Day 1

My first Bikram yoga was by chance last Sunday when I went to visit my friend Jen. She has been going fairly regularly for a few months now, and when I saw her after a year a and half, girlfriend's body looks amazing! It made me come to terms with the fact that I haven't left my house since October, and I have become Papa John's #1 customer, and my body reflects that. I now have a gross little buddha belly that is not even firm, just fat, and I realize that I am a week away from pajama jeans because I have been wearing leggings all winter to avoid wearing my jeans that are a bit snug. Now that Bmore is feeling rather frequent 60 degree days, my body is saying, "get out of the house, stop sleeping, and get your body moving!"

Enter Bikram Yoga. As I said, my first class was on Sunday. Jen suggested we go to the 12 noon class, so we could squeeze an early breakfast in before 9. She was lucky that I had gotten the party mode out of my system on Friday night, and was too tired to do any of that on Saturday night. Hence, 9 am breakfast was not difficult on Sunday morning! We went to the beautiful Bikram studio in Fairfax, very posh and clean, yet serene. Every one here has the yoga body of my dreams and I feel over-dressed in my t-shirt and shorts. Lol, how dare I wear an actual shirt? I am not yet at the point where I'd be comfortable in a sports bra and booty yoga shorts, but, damn, I hope to one day be that confident!

Class was intense! The room was 105 degrees, and I felt like my body was going to burst into flame! I distinctly remember a point in class when I realized that I wasn't even sweating anymore; my face was just burning. I instantly regretted my Galentines drinking escapade on Friday night and cursed myself for not drinking buckets of water all day on Saturday, when I knew I was coming here today! I felt nauseous, hot, and every pose was making me more and more pissed off! I caught myself making faces in the mirror when I stopped in the middle of a pose and watched the hot girl in front of me with disdain.

What is funny about this class, is that the heat is so oppressive, that my mind did not wander. Typically, when I am in a quiet space (i.e. libraries, church, class, yoga) my mind goes everywhere. But here all I could concentrate on was how my body felt while executing each pose. Ironically, as my mind shuts up, the Bikram instructor just keeps going and going with her chatter. I hear how to properly perform the pose, what my body should be feeling if I am doing it correctly, how to correct my body to make the pose more intense, what I should be eventually aiming to do (one day your forehead will touch your feet), and what this pose is supposedly doing for my body (like massaging my pancreas or ascending colon). I appreciated that, and even in a room of 60+ people, I was completely focused on my moves and how to get my body to do what I say.

In the past, I have taken many dance, aerobics, group fitness, and yoga classes, even Hot Vinyasa. I have always been fairly flexible and able to control my body movements well. This first class wasn't as difficult for me pose-wise as it was to get through the heat! I was able to do most of the poses successfully. Especially since you get two chances at them. Back bends and the tip-toe Awkward poses were difficult for me, but the heat really made the other poses doable, as my muscles were more willing to extend. I realized early in the class that I shouldn't ever chug my water because it makes the next few poses even more nauseating (and gassy, good Lord). As uncomfortable as it was, I was not aware of the time in the least. 90 minutes passed so quickly that I was shocked when it was over (that's it?). Where were the planks, and downward dog, and headstands? I never asked anyone, but my guess is that it would make the yogi pass out in 2 seconds.

After class I was shocked at how great I felt! I was so proud to have finished the class! The lavender soaked cold towel the studio handed out at the final savasana felt like Heaven, and it did the trick to get rid of my exhausted red-face. In the car, I was surprised at how energetic I was, ignoring how drenched my clothes were even though I had changed my shirt before I left the studio. I wasn't ravenous, though I was craving some cold iceberg lettuce.