My Week in Yoga: A Special Week

Four amazing things happened this week… and as the below is so long I’m not going to waffle on here about them first. So read on!

Monday:  

Spur of the moment decision to try a new class out (at the studio I now teach at, see here for details!) paid off massively. 60min and out of nowhere came wild thing to wheel and back, EPK 2 to chinstand, eka pada raja katpotasana, full dhanurasana, and some pincha to top it all off. Granted, all of these things have been in my practice for the past few months but I can’t think of a time where they have all been there simultaneously. Ever. The craziest things happen when you least expect them!

Tuesday: 

30min at home after work. I felt a bit deflated for some reason, and those feelings were exacerbated two dreadful commutes. All of this expressed itself in my practice via slow languid flows and long juicy holds. Lots of simple postures that focused on heart opening.

It’s so interesting to see how different emotions express themselves when I get on my mat. And what a tool a yoga practice can be for identifying and processing those emotions too. Hmmmm, this feels like a full blog post to me. Would that be interest to anyone?! 

Wednesday: 

Planned day off due to a busy schedule and a client dinner.

Thursday: 

An unplanned day off due to my inability to get up early after a night out (I do not subscribe to the whole ‘sweat it out philosophy!) and a hectic day meaning the 30min I thought I had earmarked for practice before another work night out disappeared into a mini email frenzy. This would have stressed me out a couple of months ago, and lets be clear, it’s still not my preferred outcome of course, but I’m getting better at handling not always being in control of the time I want to spend on my mat. Well, lets say less worse for now, ha!

Friday: 

75min Rocket yoga class after work. Or more accurately a 60min class that ran over. And I couldn’t have been more happy about that! This was a different class to the one I’ve been going to of late, but one I was doing more in the middle of the summer. And I had forgotten what a hard task master this teacher is! You literally do not stop. It rocked. Especially now the room is a little cooler – thanks autumn in London – and it’s less like a hot class. Which means its a lot more up my street. And that was before this evening’s breakthrough. HANG TIME IN HANDSTANDS WITHOUT A SPOTTER. Say whhhhaaaatt?! 

Whenever there are handstand drills in a class I go to, I play along, kicking up, trying the bunny hops etc etc but I never really commit. Because there is no way I am kicking up properly without a spotter. There is no way I am breaking a bone for a pose again. But something was different today. Not that I was aware of it until we were one-leg kicking up to handstands and I stayed there. Just for a couple of seconds. And then I did it again, and again. Nothing crazy long, but I was consistently holding my own weight, and balancing through pushing my hands into the mat. Mind. Blown.

Saturday:

60min Rocket yoga class. My normal Saturday Rocket teacher was away so I tried a different class that was nearer to me. Little did I know that the normal teacher there was away as well, and I can’t say I was a fan. Mainly because I liked to be pushed in a class like this. I have no issue with pottering through a practice at home, so I want something a bit different when I go to a class. The energy, the creativity, the trying just a little bit harder. You know?

Anyhoooo, the bright side was that I had plenty of energy left when I got home, so I messed around for another 45min or so, running through the sequences I was teaching later that day (did I mention that I start teaching my regular class today?!?!) and practicing some handstands post yesterday’s success…

And the hang-time was back! 

I wondered about my ability to do this at home given this was the scene of one of the previous collarbone break crimes (see here), and maybe I was a little more cautious that I had been the day before. But still. I was, and am SO HUGELY PROUD of myself for doing this at home. There was so much fear, and shame, and physical weakness to overcome over in the past 18 months. And days like this remind me just how far I have come.

And then there was the teaching! 90min of vinyasa: I demoed and I assisted, but aside from noting all that here, I’m not going to be adding any of my taught classes to my tally, because these classes are about my students, not about me. Don’t forget to head over to my Classes & Events page to see the details of this weekly class.

Sunday:

One hour self-practice, playing around with similar poses on different planes, binds, and some pincha work (as I’ve been neglecting it of late, and it shows). A perfect Sunday morning.

• Self-Practice: 2hrs 15min
• Classes: 3hrs 15min  
• TOTAL: 5hrs 30min