Yoga taking over life

More yoga...

It's pretty much all I've got to report right now.  A typical day this week will look like this:

4:35 (Tues/Thurs), 5:00 (M/W/F) wake up
5:00 (Tues/Thurs), 5:15 (M/W/F) leave house
5:15 (Tues/Thurs), 5:30 (M/W/F) start running with friends or boot camp
6:45 back home
7:45 leave for work
8-6 work, work, work, don't talk to anyone, don't leave desk for lunch (I can't complain about this when it's tax time and I know people in that biz have it much worse)
6:00 change into yoga clothes
6:10 drive to yoga
6:20 arrive at yoga
6:30-8:00 Bikram class
8:15 back home
8:25 dinner ready
8:35 done eating
8:40 kitchen cleaned
8:45 clothes laid out for morning
9:00 bed

REPEAT until end of April pretty much...

Yow, it's tough.  I feel like I have no "me" time, but in reality, isn't all my life "me" time?  I choose to run and go to boot camp, I generally like my job (or at least I did until our new parent company made some big changes a few months ago, but I still love the actual work I do), and certainly no one is making me do yoga!  But doing this 30 day challenge essentially means I'm not doing anything else. 

I can write down a few blog thoughts during dinner, but I'm pretty much off the grid I guess for this month. 

Anyway, here's how my 30 day challenge is unfolding, six classes complete so far, next one on the books in about 5 hours. 

Fri, 4-4-14, made it to the 4:00 class, which was awesome because it meant we had a real Friday night!  Instructor was the surfer looking guy with shaggy blond hair again and I had a GREAT class for a while.  And then I concluded that my body is lopsided.  Specifically, I think my right eye and eyebrow are higher than my left.  And I have a more pronounced love handle on my left side.  In between noticing all of that, I took an extra water break just before starting the spine series.  And since I'd gone to class from home instead of straight from work, I'd brought a bottle of G2 with me.  And I gulped it.  Way too much sugar.  I ended up sitting out one set of one spine exercise, and generally quietly belching and feeling like I might puke for some time.  Very close to leaving the room.  A.) That's why they give you water breaks at designated times and you're not supposed to do it at other times.  B.) That's why they say "have a SIP of water" and don't tell you to chug it.  C.)  That's why they say WATER, not Gatorade or some other sickly sweet drink.  Oops.

Sat, 4-5-14, went to the noon class after going for a walk with a friend in the morning.  An instructor I had before, Julie.  I recognized her and said hello on the way in, so she looked up my name.  In the past, she'd kind of irritated me.  She seems kind of clique-ish, hugging students, calling people by name, etc.  And she also seems to screw up the dialogue at least once every other class.  But from the second class started, I felt good and was enjoying her energy.  And then we got to the first part of the first series of Awkward pose and she called ME out by name as doing a good job!!!  And I was!  I was sitting way down in the chair, leaning way back, trying to fall down backwards.  I was grinning for far too long after that!  Class felt like it went by very quickly.  Part of that was because it did -- she forgot to do one part of standing head to knee -- she was talking to a student about what do to differently, and she totally skipped over the first leg of the second set.  But who am I to complain about a skipped exercise?  I just enjoyed the little class cheat, and no one pointed it out.  Oh, and she totally screwed up her dialogue during "wind-removing" pose, reading one leg when we were doing both, and realizing it and just telling us to pull, pull, pull.  But she's definitely in my "preferred" column now, either way. 

Sun, 4-6-14, wen to the 10:30 class after having done my first run back since my calf injury last week Thursday.  I'd run a very slow 7 miles and been glad I didn't go further as it started pouring when I finished.  I felt so bad for my buddies running Boston -- they had 15, but some of it was race pace, so at least they were moving kind of fast.  But it was still sucky conditions for all of them.  Anyway, yoga was one of my old favorite instructors, Andrew.  I think I was in one of his very first classes as an instructor.  He also called me out by name to give me guidance on how to improve, also much appreciated.  Class was great.  Felt like I was making progress in several postures. 

Order of preference of postures (NOT according to ability):
Fixed firm (managed to get my hips on the floor for the first set Sunday, and even stuck it out for half of the second set)
Standing separate leg stretching (goal is forehead on the floor, I'm not even close, but progress)
Toe stand (I've gotten up a couple times, but usually, I can't even bring my hands to the sides and balance)