January 7, 2009 at 6:03 am (Bumping into YOGA, Step away and TRAVEL, Stepping it up and DANCING, The steps of LIFE)
Tags: Dance, Life, Work, Yoga
So. More traveling and exhaustion. It seems that it will never stop. I was in San Diego over the past weekend… supposedly to celebrate the incoming of the New Year, and also to dance (there was a festival going on there). Plus, this was an occasion to see the (long-distance) boyfriend. The trip went well, though my energy was obviously really gone–I was so tired from work and the non-stop travel of the past few weeks, that I just fell asleep hours before New Year’s eve. The 3-hour change relative to the East Coast didn’t help me; I had to make an effort to open an eye and celebrate the New Year in New York that my boyfriend was watching on our hotel room’s TV. Poor thing, he didn’t even complain that I snored through it all. Other than that, the dancing was good, but again a test to how tired I was (since I was not able to pull the late nights *at all*). Ha, what a surprise.
Anyhoo… Back in town since yesterday night. I am *theoretically* on vacation, and running a thousand needed errands. Some of them pretty engaged–they involve some house renovations that I’m getting into, not without fear of the mess they’ll bring into my life. But I’ve been saying I’d do them for long enough, it’s time to just get to them, and things and plans have been in motion–though slowly–for a few months already. I just have to push ahead and do it. In fact, today I ran errands all day long and at least got a lot of stuff done.
Of course, my Ashtanga practice is one of the most important things that are not getting done these days. This frantic rushing between the office, the urgent stuff to do, and the airports, really demands of me a level of discipline and stamina to keep the Yoga practice going that I’m finding–not without disappointment–I just don’t have. I admit that, from time to time, the fact that I don’t manage to make the space for it doesn’t make me precisely proud of myself, although I also realize that maybe is simply makes me human.
At least I’ll be able to go back to the shala for the rest of the week to start to recover. Then… I travel again (on Sunday!!!). Ugh. And, 4-5 days after that, I will come back home and things will finally calm down. I’ll again have time for myself, and will go back to my more peaceful and normal life 
Can’t wait for that to happen…
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November 24, 2008 at 2:27 am (Bumping into YOGA, WORKing steps...)
Tags: Work, Yoga
Finally back to the shala today 
Tried to not push myself too hard and definitely stuck to 5 breaths per pose rather than my usual 10 on Sundays to protect my arm and shoulder. Practice wasn’t stellar (as expected), but it went much better than I would have thought, and I was very happy that the pain didn’t come back. Even better, I surprised myself with some pretty decent hasta-padas (probably the best I’ve done so far). It’s so weird how one’s body reacts to things, no? Totally unpredictable…
Other than that, it’s almost 9:30pm and I’m taking a break from the office (yes, I’m here…, working). My mood is much better than in previous days (when I was totally burnt out) but sigh… am I tired or what. I don’t want to have to be here, and the thing is, I”m not nearly done yet. Yes, it’s partly my fault because I didn’t come yesterday, but c’mon… I really needed a 1-day break.
Sigh. Just a few more days and things will be a bit better…
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November 22, 2008 at 3:51 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH, The steps of LIFE)
Tags: Health, Work, Yoga
Phew… it’s been (another) rough week for me. First of all, I started it feeling quite sick (nausea, headache, and a general sense of weakness and low spirits). On top of that, a lot of stress at work–not only a lot on my plate but also changes were launched in the organizational structure of the institution I work for, with my division being split, and lots of emotions involved.
Things improved a bit toward mid-week. I had two really nice Mysore practices on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. However, as I wrote in my past posts, I seem to have strained myself a bit. I soon discovered that not only I had the natural soreness from pushing the muscles to elongate, but also I started having waves of pain running from my right shoulder (and shoulder blade) through the arm and to the hand. Since it didn’t feel “muscular” it kind of scared me. I saw my chiropractor on Wednesday night and she thought that perhaps there were being some nerves pinched under my clavicle (that was a little turned) but the adjustment didn’t seem do do much. I actually suspect that the problem is that I was already carrying a lot of tension (knots and what not) on my shoulder and pushing myself during practice may have caused some stress on the arm. The pain was so bad that when I had my work’s performance evaluation on Thursday afternoon I spent most of the meeting grabbing my arm to ease the pain (luckily it was a very relaxed/informal meeting).
Anyhoo… I ended up having to take a break from practice from Thursday to today (Saturday), since the pain only started receding yesterday afternoon. Luckily it feels much better now and this afternoon I’ll go see a therapist that my chiro recommended to take another look.
Not doing Yoga, however, came at a bad moment. I really need it to make myself feel better, specially since more work stress toward the end of the week. I have 3 research projects to complete before I leave in a 2 and 1/2 week work trip on Wednesday, and I continue to get this stream of requests that interrupt me constantly. End of the story-will have to work on the weekend again ;( … and in the meantime I have this feeling of being the one person of the team who’s being overworked. It’s a vicious circle-the more I deliver and create a reputation for being hard working and good at producing, the more comes my way. Sigh. In the meantime, I have teammates on vacation! (literally). I admit that is *not* helping to lift my spirits.
Ugh. I hope this bad period will end soon. With my arm in much better condition, I’ll be able to practice in the next 4 days, before I leave. And I’m excited. Because of the Thanksgiving weekend I’ll have a chance to stop in Cusco and Macchu Picchu before a couple of work-crazy weeks in Lima. I’m dreaming of the place–I have heard not only of its beauty, but also of its energy. I think there could not be a better way to recover my energy before starting another rushed cycle. And by the way, my plan is to write every day to report on Ashtanga practice once in Lima (I will try while in Cusco and Macchu Picchu, but it will depend on how the altitude hits me)…
Oh, and I forgot. Thanks to Ms. Portside, I managed to do some little internet shopping to enlighten the end of my week (I think I deserve it)
5 Comments
November 17, 2008 at 1:20 pm (Bumping into YOGA, WORKing steps...)
Tags: Work, Yoga
First: Can I just say it? OK, here I go: I *hate* having to work on weekends. Phew. That’s better.
Second: What a lackluster practice today after my break. I’m still feeling weak, lack of energy and off balance–the hasta padas are becoming harder rather than easier. Sigh…
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October 11, 2008 at 2:54 pm (Bumping into YOGA, WORKing steps...)
Tags: Work, Yoga
Sometimes I’m amazed at how much difference it makes for my state of being to actually sleep. And then, again, I probably shouldn’t be so surprised.
Yesterday I stayed in the office until after 10 pm, but then I came home, relaxed and went to bed feeling really great. This morning I couldn’t wait to go to the shala- I got there earlier than the official “opening” time; the instructor in charge of todays’ Mysore session was still practicing herself and there were just a couple of other people starting their practice. For some reason I really loved the quiet empty place, the shiny floor, the relative silence. I guess I was just very eager to get back into it.
As it was to be expected after 3 days without Yoga and sitting in my office chair for long hours, stressing out and eating chocolate bars as if it were Mana falling from Heaven, I was very stiff to start. The irony is that I really enjoyed breaking into the stiffness and finding myself gradually bending more and more as I progressed. I did catch myself breathing a bit too rapidly more than a few times, but overall I was really happy by the end
I still have to go to the office during the long weekend–otherwise the research paper I’m writing won’t be finished, since during the work week I constantly get interrupted with little requests relating to the financial crisis. But it’s OK. I’m inspired about this paper now, and that’s key. I’m actually looking forward running more programs on econometric software during the day ;P And then, in the evening, I’ll take a little break to attend a birthday party and maybe dance a bit afterwards…
And then, back to Yoga tomorrow. That’s the best part
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