I did it, I finally made it through Bikram Yoga without sitting out a posture. Yesterday’s class was hard and not what I would call fun but it after it was all over I felt such a sense of achievement and I knew I was on my way to many more great yoga classes. We kill ourselves in class so we can feel wonderful outside of class!
I had trouble in the balancing series which puzzles me. Some days I can balance and lock my knee and nothing moves, other days I am like a wet noodle and nothing will keep me balanced. They say it is all in your head. They say in class if you focus and keep your mind on the task, you can do anything. They also say every class is different and you should let your body tell you what it can and can’t do.
This is so true, some days are amazing and no matter what the heat or humidity is doing, the postures are awesome and I can hold them the entire time. Other days it is like a slow beating and I am counting the postures until the end. And why is that? Because life gets in the way, life takes over the mind and body. One just never know how it is going to go, all a person can do is go and do their best and give 100%.
What I struggle with is giving 100%. I’m great at giving 50%, I think you get 50% just for showing up. I’m good at giving 80% or even 90%, it is giving 100% all the time that is a challenge. I gauge this by my attitude in between postures. If I am exhausted and “dying” then I assume I am giving 100%. If I am not breathing hard and can stand perfectly still without my legs wobbling, I probably didn’t try hard enough or go deep enough in the posture. This is just my way of gauging my own effort in class. I think everyone is different and should find their own measure of success for each class. Never assume that one persons success is what you should be striving for, you will never succeed. This is one of the reasons you should focus on yourself in class, you are there to improve yourself and you can only do that if you watch yourself and forget there are others standing right next to you, probably about to fling sweat on you.
I love reading your posts! Gets me energized for my class and gets me thinking. I think it's funny there are so many of us that are having the very same experience in the studio. Myself, I find I have my best classes where I push and push and push when it is really hot & humid. I thrive on it. I love it. But when it's just a tad cooler and not as humid I find it harder to stay with the class. This is when my mind wanders, this is when I fall out of standing bow pulling, this is when I just don't have it in me to 2 sets of full locust, this is when the guy who grunts the whole class starts to bother me (really bother me!). Those are the days where the 90 min seems to last forever! Oh the Hot Room...you just have to love it! And I do! Our studio has been closed for 2 days to repair the heat and I MISS it! Can't wait to get in there tonight. Like they say, you don't realize how much you will miss something until you cant have it. Have a great day!
ReplyDelete