Response to NYT Article – How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body

Response to NYT Article – How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body

A beautiful article

http://www.ashtangayogatherapy.com/responsibility.of.yogi

I want to get better!

This statement has been in my head for a couple of weeks now. These past few months have made me realize a couple of things and one of them is that Yoga really is a part of me. I love it and no matter how much blocks and challenges I face, I find myself going back to it all the time.
Having realized this, I told myself that I want to start getting better at it again. I now feel the urge I once did to try to do more that's why I've been pushing myself harder. I'm also really thankful that Frank(our new teacher in BYA), Ginger and Rina take the time to work with me after class so that we can all work on our backbends and other postures.
I am still quite sad that I am unable to have a solid ashtanga practice because of my injured wrist. I did try to go back a couple of weeks ago but I made my wrist worse so I'm taking Ginger's advice and I'm concentrating on Bikram now and when I'm better I will build up my ashtanga practice from there.
This week I started doing 30 backbends after class and it sure is painful!!!! It hurts so bad that I can hardly bend my back after even just to do forward bends. I have also been working on my standing head to knee and bow. I honestly thought that sometimes my knees and thighs would fall off already from the pain I feel there from trying to lock my knees or kick my feet up. My body is in pain but I know that I need this to get better.
I'm actually trying to make it my little pet project to convince people in BYA to try to work just a little bit harder and intensify their workouts because all our energies affect our practice and I think that since the studio has hit is first year anniversary then we should all be getting stronger. I respect each individuals' practice but if they ever need someone to motivate them to do a little bit more, I'd be happy to help since it is our collective energies that make or break us in class anyway =)

BYA turns 1!

Here are some photos of us in the photobooth that night. Thank you to Ginger Diaz for bringing Bikram Yoga to Alabang. It has definitely helped me mentally, physically and spiritually. More power and more birthdays to come to my BYA family!

Advance classes in Bikram

I know that I have been delinquent in posting the past month and it's because I really got busy with work and the kids. Anyway, I started taking advanced classes in Bikram last month and the first time I tried it I must say that every muscle in my body was hurting the next day! My body was so sore that even if my spine was hurting a bit from the deep back bends I couldn't feel it that much since the pain from my muscles beside it were overpowering the pain in my spine and preventing me from bending my back anyways.

So how was the class? It was hard! I must say that I was disappointed in myself that I didn't do that well with the arm balances because that used to be one of my strengths when I was practicing ashtanga. I must say that I absolutely hate the finger stands. In a nutshell, I felt heavy or maybe I'm just weaker now =( 

I did better in my next advanced class but I still have such a long way to go. Most of my postures need refinement and I really need to strengthen my arms and core more. The posture that I am most afraid of is the handstand. I don't know why I fear it more than backbends when in fact I should fear the other one more because of my injury. I love headstands but handstands seem to have an adverse effect on me, I don't really know why because I used to do a lot of this when I was in high school. Hhmmm....

I have also decided to start practicing ashtanga again even if it's on my own to develop my arm and core strength again. I started this last tuesday and since my left wrist is a bit sore, I wasn't able to do the whole series. My practice got surprisingly better at some points tho because I guess Bikram has helped me soften up and gain flexibility because of the heat that we undergo in every class. I am excited to see how the combination of ashtanga and bikram will change my practice =)

FLOW: SurfYogaSamba Goes Raw

I am inviting all of you who may be interested to go to my friend's surf yoga samba and raw food weekend retareat in La Union this Aug. 27-29. 

 

What happened after the 30 day challenge?

After our 30day challenge party, we drank some tequila and I was actually still able to go to Bikram the next day and it was one of the best practices I've ever had. I don't know why, maybe it's because I felt no pressure so I was able to nail my postures because I was just having fun while practicing.

I actually entertained the thought of doing the 60 day challenge and I consulted Ginger. She told me that since we were going to start doing advance classes on August as well, maybe I should hold off on doing the 60 days because advance can really take its toll on you. I was half convinced to not go through with it. What sealed the deal for me was that I was so busy with family and work duties that I had to miss a couple of days already and I didn't want to do doubles on top of advanced.

I did try doing a double last week because I missed it. I think that I want to commit to doing at least one double a week just to make my body get used to doing longer workouts--I'm also doing this in preparation for the advanced classes. My back is getting better and I've started doing full postures except for camel because I want my back to be 100% back to normal when I try that posture again.

If there's something that I have been neglecting to do after the 30 day challenge, it's drinking a lot of water. I've been so busy and I haven't been bringing my thermos with me that's why I don't get to drink as much as I used to. I end up getting so thirsty in class! I will start drinking more again--I have to so I guess it's back to bringing water with me everywhere I go once again.