My Week In Yoga: first full week back from YTT

This is the first of what I plan to be weekly posts about what my practice, be it by myself or in a class, involved in the previous 7 days.

I hope to paint a more transparent picture here than what you see on Instagram… because while I love insta so so much, it is definitely the sugar coated version of my yoga life! Not least of all because I normally post twice a day there, which can give the illusion I am practicing twice a day. Which I can tell you is NOT happening! As much as I would like it to be the case, I do not have time for that given the hours I work! Anyhoo, this is what my week in yoga looked like…

Monday:  

Bank Holiday so lots of time, woot woot! 20mins on my mat to warm up then 20mins practicing pincha in my garden. First time kicking up smoothly, without a wall or a spotter, and holding repeatedly. Yay! Hands pressing together helped a lot, but realise hands flat on the floor would be better prep for handstand. Still struggling to engage my lower body. But one step at a time… Later that evening I then pottered off to my first class post yoga teacher training. 60min Power Yoga at my new local studio in South London. It was basically a rocket class. The lack of creativity in the flow was massively netted out by the fact the teacher spotted me on inversions so I got 3 proper holds in pincha and handstand. 25c heat outside made this an especially sweaty endeavor. 

Tuesday: 

60min Iyengar class at work. Cover teacher which normally means a much easier class, and I thought I would feel super bored after so much vinyasa over the past few weeks… felt bored 30 seconds into the first down dog… 3 minutes later and my shoulders were on fire and I remembered just how much work not moving can involve! 

Wednesday: 

15min pincha practice in my work dress at the end of a long day. Dress not recommended but needs must when you have a new pact with an insta friend (hi Emily!!) to do at least one pincha a day for the next month

Thursday: 

45min self-practice before work. Nice flows with lots of standing poses and navasanas. 10min of pincha in there too. Breathing, picking the back leg up quickly and engaging my lower body are the things that are standing between me and nailing this currently!

Friday: 

1hr backbend practice before work. Had plans to go to a vinyasa class at work too but the days events took over so am even more pleased I dragged myself out of bed at 5.45am to do this in hindsight

Saturday:

10min of downdogs and childs poses once I got out of bed. Was meant to go to a class, but cancelled to spend the day with the hubby. Then spent 10mins on my mat later in the afternoon to film a little sequence for Instagram, after being inspired by re-reading some of the Yoga Sutras.

Sunday:

90min vinyasa class at my local studio. Really great slow intense flow, lots of long holds and arm balances and a good backbend section too. Fun fun fun. Then came home and did another 15min working on flying pigeon… still such a challenging one for me, but we are getting there slowly but surely.

• Self-Practice: 3hrs15min
• Dynamic Classes: 2.5hrs  
• Flex Focused Classes: 1hr
• TOTAL: 6hrs45min