Something bizarre this way comes. And goes. Last week was the most bizarre week in the atmosphere outside my windows — and also the one in my body and heart. It went from a chilly Sunday to a rainy Monday (after the school system made a super snafu and called for a snow day) to…
10-day yoga challenge
Where is the yogi?
It’s been only eight days since I completed my 10-Day Yoga Challenge, but I broke the daily yoga and writing habit in a big way. My last class was on Monday, and on Tuesday night I was up until nearly 1 a.m. preparing food for a surprise road trip to my sister’s on her 50th…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Ten: “Party in the pose”
It felt like a graduation. I completed my 10-Day Yoga Challenge Monday yesterday, taking my fourth class with the Anusara-inspired teacher who told me and the other students that we were all ready to kick it up a notch. We’d all gotten comfortable with her repeated calls to isometrically draw our legs together and to…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Nine: “Play”
It didn’t take me long to get off my game. I finished class #8 of my 10-day Yoga Challenge at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night and spent Saturday virtually yoga-free, except for one sun salutation in the morning. When I finally returned today at 4:00 p.m., it felt at the start like that 44-hour break…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Eight: “Expose your heart”
The theme of yesterday’s post was “reveal,” but I waited until this one to close that loop. I am not going to yoga on Day Eight. Instead I went back to a second class on the evening of Day Seven. This does feel like cheating, I admit. But looking at the day, with a wedding…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Seven: “Reveal”
Today, I am tired. I had trouble focusing in the Anusara class on this, my seventh day of my 10-Day Yoga Challenge. I did not feel strong and bright. I’d gone to bed too late, the baby had woken too often, and I hadn’t gotten up early enough to eat enough to sustain me through…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Six: “Brighten the belly”
I might have missed my exit if this were my first day driving into the District. The rising sun made it impossible to see the sign for Rosslyn/Key Bridge. But by now, this sixth day of my 10-Day Yoga Challenge, I feel like I know what I’m doing, and I know where to turn. And…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Five: “Root and reach”
I cannot wait for tomorrow’s 6:30 a.m. yoga class. Seriously. I’m tired and sweaty, and at 9:00 p.m., both my kids have just gotten to sleep. I have miles to go before I can. But, when I look ahead at tomorrow, I think about crossing the Potomac just after sunrise and about arriving home at…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Four: “Surrender”
“Rest your shoulder blades on the back of your heart,” the teacher said. But what if the heart is tender? “Surrender,” she said later, in what felt at once like a welcoming to take a breather and at the same time, almost a dare. Am I capable of surrendering? Can I ever not try so…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Three: “Shine!”
I made it to my third yoga class in a row today in my self-imposed challenge to go every day for 10 days on my $10 ten-day pass at Centered Yoga. This class — the 9:30 a.m. Anusara-inspired yoga — was what drew me to the studio. I like what I know about this style,…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Two: “Let your bottom blossom”
After my first of what I hope will be ten consecutive days of yoga class, I woke today feeling like my calf muscles had wrapped themselves around my legs. Same with the triceps. It was an enjoyable, tightened sore, like I’d had someone squeeze me into Saran Wrap. I was feeling so good yesterday after…
10-day yoga challenge begins!
What would happen if I did yoga for 10 days in a row? I don’t mean just a home practice. But if I went to a yoga class every day for 10 days? Improved health? A clearer mind? A more settled heart? A bigger smile? A deeper sense of loving kindness? An enhanced sense of…