Thirtysomething

Keep the Bumps, Give Me Back the Spine

As a hypermobile teenager, I always had the best jumps in cheerleading and only did pretend stretching before gymnastics and track meets, never sustaining a serious sports-related injury in childhood. I also never suffered with acne.

A little Noxema carried me well through college.

Now, as a 33 year old woman, I have cracks and pops with every step, I can't do a back bend from standing, and I am dealing with a progressive break-out on my forehead. I was blaming it on the yoga- Half-Tortoise pose, in particular, until a friend mentioned a recent acne attack on her Facebook page. Suddenly, an outpouring of support rang out from 30something year old women with similar hormone-related skin care issues. As long as we're going back 20 years, why can't we bring back my effortless flexibility, instead of these horribly annoying and unattractive bumps?

Day 6, Class 7
5:30 with Rebecca R.

Before I left work, I began feeling like I could pull off a double. I stopped at Sports Authority and bought another outfit and planned to just rent a towel. I really need to purchase another towel, but that's a different issue. I got to class with plenty of time to stretch and focus. The practice was good with no major changes from previous classes. I am definitely finding my rhythm. I decided that I would like to be a more graceful yogi, which means that I want to float out of all postures with control, instead of falling and stumbling out of them. I'm adding that to my to-do list... really. That's one of my goals at the end of this.

Genetically tattooed butterfly

During class, it occurred to me that I never tell myself to "go for it" and then just stand there. I always give full effort and whether I fall out or not is of no concern. My body has received the full benefits of the posture for that time. Likewise, when I never tell myself to hold back and then find myself in the full expression of some beautiful posture. Either way, the success of each posture begins in my own head before I move a single muscle or take another breath. I get to decide.

Rebecca has a wonderful way with words. At the end of class today, she said something like, 'when we focus on the good parts of our lives more than the bad parts, we create an actual shift toward positivity that begins with a simple thought'. She said it better, but I have the gist. I love it and I honestly try to live that everyday.

"Your life is your garden, your thoughts are the seeds. If your life isn't awesome, you've been watering the weeds".

Day 6, Class 8
7:30 with Susan

This was my second back to back class of the challenge, but the first in the evening. I have never been great at 7:30 classes. But on this day, I was motivated to do it and I prepared for it. I moved my set-up to the two mirror corner, just in case. In between classes, I showered, changed, ate some granola, drank some Emergen-C and practiced my back bend. I am determined to get that back. I am going to practice everyday outside of class. I was a little off balance during the standing series, but I gave everything full effort. I was hit or miss with kicking and holding various postures, but nothing was horrible. I was happy to had made it that far.

During the floor series, it hit me: pure exhaustion. I don't think that I was as tired from the previous class as I was from not being in my own bed at 8:30. After a while, Susan's sweet voice began to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. It was bad. I totally lost focused and hoped that I could muster up the energy to drive home. I can usually hardly wait until the music comes on after the final Savasana, but this time, I missed it. I actually fell asleep. More than half of the students had left by the time I came to. I made it home, but I'm fading now.... Namaste.

Mental Note: Keep 7:30p classes to a minimum.