Day 8 of the 30 day Bikram Yoga Challenge

We had a unique practice today because Omar made us face the back wall the whole time. This means that we had no mirrors to use to guide us in gauging our postures. Prior to me taking Bikram, I practiced Ashtanga and in Ashtanga we really were made to look at the drishti's warranted from each posture so I was used to not relying on the mirror before.

This was a different experience because each of the Bikram's gazing point is usually with your eye in the mirror and since it's been quite a while since I practiced not looking at myself, I did get a bit challenged when it came to concentrating especially when I could see the person in front of me falling. It was quite distracting and harder to be grounded. 

During the course of this 30 day challenge, I have noticed that I have starting perspiring more than my usual practices and I noticed my towel is more slippery now because it's drenched with my sweat. I asked Ginger and Omar if this was normal when we undergo the challenge and they said yes plus it's also because my body tries to cool itself by excreting more water out. 

I have noticed that I seem to have lost some weight so I stepped on the scale and I did lose about 2.5 pounds. I really wasn't trying to lose weight and I haven't modified my diet so I don't know what is actually taking place in my body but I'm happy that I have tightened up a bit more and that my back doesn't feel as flabby as it was before. I hope this keeps up--it would be an awesome effect to this grueling challenge =)

We had a potluck lunch after the morning practice and we at so much. The food and the company was great. It's wonderful to have a support system especially now that we're undergoing this challenge. It's also a good feeling to get to know people more. I feel like we're really becoming a community in the studio. Today, I'm thankful for BYA. I have regained my personal balance and confidence once again because of my teachers and friends in the studio =)

Here are some photos taken during our potluck

Day 7 of the 30 day Bikram Yoga Challenge

This day started as a challenge for me. I bumped my car on my way to the studio so I had to miss the morning class. This day did not start out well for me. However, I learned to let go because there was nothing that I could do and I am just thankful that I could take the 6pm class.
I can feel the fatigue that is starting in my body but I can also feel the improvement in my spine and the other parts of my body. My body seems to be more loose in areas that were once tight. I can feel my back starting to open up again but my shoulders are becoming a bit stiff and my thighs are starting to hurt. My abs hurt not because I do the sit ups (because I can only start doing those again next tues) but because I have been getting major cramps on my lower abs when I suck my stomach in during some postures. Gosh, having stomach cramps while curling in is not fun at all, it hurts like hell but I have to keep a straight face and try to practice with grace.
Tonight's class was good but I did have one drink of water. I had stomach cramps once again but overall I was calm and at peace in class even if I was sweating a lot!!!! I'm just happy and thankful that I am able to practice with a calm state of mind. Whenever my heart rate goes up I am able to calm myself again right away.
I am dreading tomorrow's class a bit because it's saturday and it's usually full on saturdays. Hence, it's harder also. I'm excited for our potluck in the studio tho because all of us can at least vent out our frustrations, motivate each other and get to know each other more.
Day 8 tomorrow!

Day 6 of the 30 day Bikram Challenge

I came back at 4pm for my day 6 and I reserved my mat. I prepared what I had to and I was a bit surprised that Ginger was the one practicing beside me. Omar was also going to practice at that time. Was I pressured much? Not really. The good thing about practicing with teachers is that they give off such good energy that I felt in the zone the whole time. It's true that when I practice the energy that people give off help or distract me from my practice. If I am practicing with people who don't stop complaining with their breaths then it becomes harder for me to practice. Since Ginger was the one beside me, I had a great practice because it seemed like our energies were there supporting and encouraging each other to stay in the postures and give more to each and every one. 

I did a double class yesterday but they were spaced apart and I found this to be more manageable than the back to back ones. I know that I do have to start getting used to long classes because I plan to take advanced classes on august so maybe i'll do 3 more back to back classes towards the end of my challenge. 

Today, I'm thankful for the energy that I shared with the class and that I was able to refrain from drinking water again.

Day 7 tomorrow!

Day 5 of the 30 day Bikram Yoga Challenge

On my way to class I bumped into Ginger and lo and behold she told me that she forgot to tell me that I should hold off on doing the sit-ups until my back is better. I gave her my "you've got to be kidding me" look and she said "i know, i know but i'm sorry you need to hold back". 

Today's practice was mental for me in the sense that I had to remind myself to hold back. Injuries are so frustrating and it really humbles you. I was fighting with myself the whole time not to be bitter about my modified practice and know that I will emerge stronger afterwards. Ok, that's what I tell myself but it was hard when I was going through it. 

For this practice, I'm thankful that I did not drink water for the whole 90 minutes and that I didn't fall in both sets of my modified standing head to knee.

Day 6 for me will be this afternoon.

Day 4 of the 30day Bikram Yoga Challenge

I was a bit harassed going to the studio because I encountered traffic and I thought that I wouldn't make it to class in time but thank goodness I did. Today, I've started truly feeling the aches and pains in my body such as my front hips and legs, my shoulders and my right back muscles. Why my right back muscles? I looked at myself while practicing the bow this morning and I realized that I was kicking my right leg more than the left that's why I guess its really much stiffer than the left.
Today's class was more manageable than my 2nd class yesterday but I had a harder time telling myself to not drink water until after class. Our teacher opened the doors and window so it wasn't the heat, maybe my water intake yesterday wasn't enough so today I made sure to drink even more and I have been taking a lot of the water with sea salt and lemon to help me. I'm not sure exactly how helpful it is, maybe I'll notice it when I later into the challenge.
I can't believe that I'm only on my 4th day. My body is starting to protest and stiffen but my willpower is still strong. I just can't imagine doing this everyday!
Anyway, I should be thinking positively so I'm thankful that today I was able to last the whole class without drinking water and that I was able to finish the class feeling alive and not like I was run over by a truck!
Day 5&6 tomorrow for me. I'll be taking two classes but one in the morning and one at night.

Day 2 & 3 of Bikram 30 day challenge

After my warm up yesterday, I decided to do my first double/back to back class today. When I came in the studio at 5:30am, I saw Omar and we talked a bit and he told me that he's making his first class easy but since I was doing a double he also said that the 8:30am class was going to be hard. He said that he wanted to get back at Ginger because she'd been giving him a hard time in her classes.

I set up my mat and had my first class. Omar was right and it was very manageable and I was so proud of myself because I didn't even drink water in class. I was able to nail standing bow(meaning: not falling at all). I came out of the class feeling pretty good.

I had some other people doing back to back classes with me and we even ate a bit of food before the next class(this is not for everyone--some people might vomit if they do this). The 8:30 class was full so I knew that it was going to be pretty humid. I set all negative thoughts aside and just went in the room to "BE" present in every moment and in every posture. 

When we were in the half moon pose, I knew that we were in for a looonnnngggg and hard class. Omar was true to his word and he really did keep us in the postures for quite a while. My spine hurts when I do the half moon to my left and since I have to stop myself from going down, I actually have a harder time in postures now because of my modifications. It's so hard to stop early when gravity is pulling your body down and the longer we stay in it the more difficult it becomes. 

I kept on reminding myself to just breathe--"long and slow", "long and slow" is what I kept repeating to myself the whole time. Because we had to stay in the postures for a longer period of time and since Omar only opened the door and window twice the whole standing series, everyone was struggling. People were sitting down left and right, they were breathing with their mouths open--all these really made practicing much more difficult. I could feel the energy of people going hay wire and I did everything that I could to keep my stillness. I did pretty well until the last two postures. I suddenly had the "creepy crawlers" feeling in my hands, arms and legs. I had to keep on shaking my hands to make the blood run through them to bring back some feeling into them. Why did this happen? I have no idea, maybe it was fatigue and thirst kicking in overdrive. 

I struggled with kapalabhati. I could hardly exhale with force and when the class ended, I drank my water as fast as I could before even hitting savasana. After resting for about 5 minutes, I attempted to stand up and dress up BUT I couldn't. I made it outside then my insides starting quivering that I had to sit down and make the feeling pass because I sure as hell couldn't drive in that state.

There were about 5-6 of us resting and venting out how hard the class was. In hindsight, do I regret doing my first double today? Not really. I know that I got tired and struggled but I know that this day will help me in moving forward and make other days seem easier. Sometimes, we really just need to get our butts kicked to get reminded of how far we can go if we wanted to. Today will be unforgettable for me and I know this experience will help shape my future practices.

Day 4 of the challenge tom!!!!

Day 1 of 30 Day Challenge

I have been neglecting blogging regarding my fitness because I hit a slump and almost didn't go thru with the 30 day challenge. I have told you about my back injury and it got a bit worse that I had to go to another doctor and he diagnosed me as having an inflammation in my spine. I kinda figured as much but what I didn't like was that he told me to stop doing any workout for two weeks. That's when I told my husband about it and he also agreed with the doctor and told me to rest.
Naturally, I got depressed and irritated. When I consulted Ginger she told me that she could modify my postures because she went through the same thing so I talked to my hubby and sulked a little bit until he allowed me to practice. So, 3 days have gone by with the start of July and I had to make up for my missed classes by doing double classes.
My first day went by okay. My ego struggled with me holding back with my postures but I just swallowed my pride. Better to be practicing with modified postures than non at all right? So, I took it easy on my first day. I have been drinking water constantly all throughout the day to help not drink during class and so far it worked. I also read that you expend more energy by digesting water when you drink so I have programmed my brain to conserve energy in class and I just try to take longer breaths. Surprisingly, the urge to drink has waned and I'm ok.
I'll be doing a double class for my day 2. I'll tell you how that one went tomorrow.