December 6, 2009 at 7:35 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH, Stopping to MEDITATE, The steps of LIFE)
Made it back to the shala today, first time in two weeks. It took a little effort to get out of bed–I was still very tired. But the sun was shinning and I just thought I couldn’t afford not to go in such a beautiful day (especially considering that the rest of my day would be spent at the office…).
I’m just in love with AYC. I had a very nice practice–amazingly enough, I did not feel stiff, but could bend comfortably and most of the other asanas also felt right. I’m still skipping Janu Sirsasana C because the toe hasn’t completely healed and I don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on it. Other than that, I just felt very relaxed and happy. I’m also getting better and extending the arms in full during UD (I couldn’t at the beginning, this is my 4th practice with UD). So overall I was excited by the vibe of the place and I came out really reenergized 
PS I’m really happy–officially I’ve lost 21 pounds. Yay !
PS 2 Dear Tova–same–it’s just so exciting to practice close to friends
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December 5, 2009 at 5:07 pm (Bumping into YOGA, The steps of LIFE)
In the last couple of weeks, I have had a series of really bad shocks rocking my boat. A lot of them came from work–tight deadlines, coauthors who haven’t been serious (or even professionally ethical) enough to meet their commitments, lots of meetings. There were many nights (nearly in a row) in which I went to bed after midnight (or much after midnight) because of work. On top of that, I had to take a trip home to resolve some clerical issues over Thanksgiving (there is no Thanksgiving there), and in the last few days my personal life has also been on an emotional roller coaster that would be too complicated to describe without boring anyone who may be reading this.
The bottom line, my dear yoga practice has pretty much disappeared in the last two weeks. Today I had the intention to go, but I could just stay in bed until late, finally catching up with sleep. I need it desperately to get grounded again. I’m looking at the snow falling outside my window and I realize I better go tomorrow…
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October 31, 2009 at 1:57 am (Running to HEALTH, The steps of LIFE)
This week has been hellish, I admit.
First, the toe. It’s in really bad shape; it hurts (though thanks to everyone’s advice–particularly Tova’s) is now much less swollen and bruised than it was. Nevertheless, I’m just limping around and cannot truly wear normal shoes and feel out of my usual pace at all levels. It’s made me a little afraid of physical activity, and this week I have done nothing so far. Tomorrow morning I plan to go through my chunk of the primary series without the vinyasas to start stretching again. I’m fearful of how stiff I’m going to find myself, but better to start breaking into that now that waiting further.
Second, work. Sigh, sigh, sigh. Or, as Tova would say, “le sigh”. This week was hectic, with late nights included. In a way, I was lucky I was not going to go to practice early anyway–that allowed me to stay late without worries. On top of that, I got an additional assignment to lead a team to yet another country (I already had one, which keeps me busy enough). Sure enough, my boss decided to volunteer me for the job without asking. On the one side, good for me–this is not a promotion, but it definitely looks good for my performance evaluation. At the same time, when I look at how crazy things are going to be the next 7-8 months I start shuddering.
Third… well, I won’t be as explicit here, but will just say that the area of personal/emotional relationships suddenly took a turn that has generated some stress, for sure. In the end, it’s not a major event–but at least it shook me a little, which I’m not appreciating right now.
Fourth, with all of the above combined, I’ve been eating like a maniac all week (sigh). Weight watchers is mad at me, telling me everyday I exceeded all my “points” allocation by far, far, far. I guess it’s the stress of #2, and #3, combined with the fact that my usual stress reducers (yoga and exercise) were definitely not part of my life this week. I have to find a way to do physical activity with the broken toe. Maybe on Sunday I will experiment in the swimming pool…
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October 25, 2009 at 3:20 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH, The steps of LIFE)
This morning I had a great practice. It was hard to wake up, since yesterday I ran for about an hour (I guess more than my usual 3 miles, although it’s hard when the first half of the trip is uphill) and then went to the swimming pool to do some laps. Anyhoo, I managed to get up early and start practice by about 8:15 am. I felt pretty strong throughout and fairly bendy (I had the best hasta padas to date). And D promoted me to Marichi C (very hard on one side) and my first back bends (which were also tough–I was able to raise my head from the floor thanks to D’s help; the nice thing was when he added: “One day you’ll love this, mark my words”… I believe him ).
So, great progress. The only thing is that in the very last attempt to jump through I broke my right pinky toe. At least, it made a horrid noise as it crashed against my Manduka. D heard it and adviced to ice it asap. He also noted that unfortunately there was little I could do apart from taping it properly (to the next toe) and waiting for it to heal.
I tried to take it with high spirits; at some point I had to had some injury, right? It comes at a bad time because my whole practice is getting momentum, as are my running and swimming, and I don’t want all of it to get interrupted… I’m particularly concerned about the running, which was starting to feel stronger. But maybe I’ll be able to do activities that don’t require so much play with the toes in the next few days–maybe the step master and the stationary bike? I should also try the swimming as soon as I see that stepping is not so painful anymore. And, of course, I would like to go back to Yoga practice as soon as the pain subsides. To make matters worse, right now I cannot drive (an issue with the timing of my visa renewal and a US government letter I need to renew my driver’s license once the visa has been renewed; the bottom line is that despite my efforts my driver’s license just expired two days ago and I still don’t have the letter for the DMV that would allow me to get the new license). Oh well.
Just to get a sense of how long the toe is going to take to recover, I’ll probably get an X-ray to find out if I really fractured the bone (I hope not). In the meantime, a lot of ice before I tape it…
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October 23, 2009 at 12:31 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH, The steps of LIFE)
After a one-day break, back at the shala–practice felt fantastic. I was flexible and strong, and I just felt really light moving from asana to asana. Of course, no jump throughs or jump backs yet–who knows when those will come; but in the meantime, I just really enjoyed myself.
The best part was, perhaps, that I managed to do a very deep, connected breathing. This is rare for me, so I was particularly excited
PS On other news, I’m delirious–I’m fitting into my clothes once more!!! (and they are lose)!! It’s as if I had a whole new wardrobe to chose from (which I have not been able to wear for more than two years). I have officially lost 16-17 pounds by now since mid-August. I still have a little more to go until I reach my “ideal”… but I couldn’t be more excited or motived to keep the efforts going
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