My Week in Yoga: More Breakthroughs

If last week wasn’t crazy enough (er, HANDSTANDS without a wall or a spotter, and the first time teaching my now regular 90min vinyasa class), the Yoga gods just keep on giving at the moment… Could it possibly be something to do with getting back to a consistent practice after the craziness of travelling so much through August and September?! 

Monday:  

Rest day. Because Monday. 

Tuesday: 

40min self practice in the work gym before going out for dinner with a friend – all full of inversions and arm balances and power. No doubt because there were lots of people around me doing gym-y things like box jumps and weightlifting and burpees. I would love to say I am a zen yogi goddess all the time, but hey, that alpha dog competitive spirit is hard to let go of. So yeah…. I may have been showing them that us yogis are hardcore. Not that anyone was even batting an eyelid. Oh the stories we tell ourselves in our heads!

Wednesday: 

Busy day and client drinks that were far too much fun meant my practice was 3 long hold downward dogs (put a playlist on and hold around for the length of a song) with 20 breaths in child’s pose in between each one. Simple. Effective. And I slept so much better because of it I’m sure. 5 minutes max. 

Thursday: 

Popped out to a 1 hour power yoga class and it was a backbendarama (that is the technical term my friends) which peaked in drop backs. I’ve chatted recently across on Instagram how I was getting a little frustrated that I couldn’t get over my fear of doing these alone, even though my backbend is ready for it and two different teachers tell me I am ready.

Well today there was no hiding.

So I tried the walk-your-hands-down-the-back-of-your-legs technique the teacher demonstrated; and it worked!! It gave me that extra bit of mental security I needed I think. So I cracked it in class, and then managed to do it again at home. Which is the ultimate test don’t you think?

When I talk about yoga giving you the chance to learn so much about yourself, this is it. Real, small examples of how your mind and your perception of yourself and your abilities holds you back. And once you work out how to overcome them in a safe and low cost environment (because let’s be honest, let’s never pretend being able to do dropbacks is fundamentally important to anything), you can start to apply the same lessons to things that do matter. 

Friday: 

75min Rocket yoga class after work led by a substitute teacher. She was great, I was not. I wasn’t feeling it from the moment I walked into the room. The windows hadn’t been opened after the previous hot class in the studio so it was baking. Which I hate. I then foolishly left space between me and the open window, which someone who doesn’t like a lovely cool refreshing breeze on them during a sweaty class (someone crazy clearly) snuck into and after about 3 minutes closed it. I was then way to British to say anything so just gently simmered with resentment for the rest of the wobbly, miserable, unbendy, weakling class. Hpmf. 

Saturday:

After yesterday’s write off, I had zero expectations for this 75min Rocket yoga class. But that deflated feeling turned out to be a friend of course. Because my mind just sat in the moment and let my body take over. And my body knows what it is doing these days: strong sun salutations, solid pinchas, and more drop backs, including two without the hands on leg technique.

Later that afternoon I spent 45min warming up for and running through the sequence for the class I was teaching.

Sunday:

With 3 classes in three days, 2 nights out and 1 ninety minute class taught, I woke up to the sound of my emergency-there-is-no-way-you-are-actually-still-sleeping-at-this-time 10.30am alarm absolutely bushed. I had been booked in for a 90min Rocket class but quickly decided a quiet day of pottering and self-practice was in order. And what a self-practice it was. 75 minutes of slow, deliberate movement.

An unseasonably warm October combined with a late in the day practice meant I felt bendy bendy bendy. And it showed. Drumroll plllleeeeaaaaasssseeeee: THE SPLITS!! What on earth?! I’m going to do a full post on this devil of a pose as I can’t quite do justice to the journey that it has taken me on here, but for now I’m just going to say THE SPLITS THE SPLITS THE SPLITS! 

• Self-Practice: 2hrs 50min 
• Classes: 3hrs 30min  
• TOTAL: 6hrs 10min