Well Deserved

Day 28, Class 31

6:30 with Susan

This morning when I woke up, my leg was still bothering me. In fact, it was a bit more achy than before. At work, I iced it and massaged it a little. That alleviated the discomfort some. When I arrived at my 31st class (YAY!), I was bound and determined to achieve this milestone, but I knew to do it safely. I went all out when I could and backed off when I needed to. Surprisingly enough, my balancing series was great. I was half anticipating it to bother me, but it almost felt good. The 3 side postures did hurt and I actually stood out of the first set of Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee for the pain. The sit ups were also painful, so I pretty much skipped them. I did everything else quite well.

Susan said that the stronger we finish the practice, the stronger we'll be after the practice. I think there's something to that. Even posture-by-posture, I think that when I finish strongly, I feel as though I have done a better job- even in those 10 or 30 seconds. On the other hand, if I back off or wimp out, I call that a "bad posture" and several of those add up to a bad class. Likewise, feeling like mess going into the last 3 or 4 postures could make me believe that the entire class was bad... that's not good. She talked about looking to our own eyes, especially before and after those last postures in order to exchange positive reflective energy with ourselves. That's a great idea! I am going to start purposefully finishing each class as strongly as I start.

Positive Reflection... get it?

She also giggled when a few people fell, "causing" others to fall... it wasn't a taunting laugh, just more of a "that's life" kind of laugh. She went on to say that in life, when other people start losing it around you, remember to keep your own focus and balance. That's a good one.

Just kinda cool... no other reason

Finally, she talked about the importance of getting good oxygen to and through our bodies. A while ago, she illustrated how important O2 is, reminding us that we can survive without food for many weeks, can survive without water for a couple of days, but that we need oxygen every few seconds. I had never in my life prioritized it that way, but it's true. Tonight, she talked about how the Half Tortoise posture adds years to the life and that it's named for the long-living tortoise who (and I didn't know this either) have extended life spans because they inhale and exhale about three times per minute. That's 10 seconds each way. Talk about breath control!

Well defended tortoises can live well over one hundred years

I completed my 30th class at BYD and my 31st overall. Because of my leg, I am somewhat relieved to have this 3 day break. I am also looking forward to having a few days of sweat-free twists... now to muster up the energy to wash them...