My Week in Yoga: Pretty Darn Good

After saying last week 'wasn't the normal', this one panned out nearly exactly the same. I had zero time to get to any of my usual classes at work, so I tried some new ones at my local studio and topped those off with lots of home practice. I love that the study and practice of yoga can be this flexible. It is truly what you make it. And this week I think I made it pretty darn good. My pincha is coming on massively (including my first ever time trying on the concrete kitchen floor that was the reason I broke my collarbone a second time) and all the hot weather is showing itself beautifully through lots of progress on the flexibility side as well...

Monday:  

60min power flow class after work, followed by 20 more minutes at home working on my backbends. Which sounds like a good start to the week, and it was, but I felt I had to make up for the fact that I set my alarm to get up and practice before work and snoozed my way through the entire hour. Whoops!

Tuesday: 

Didn't feel like getting up early (again!) so 20min of post work flows were all I managed today. Doors open, warm evening air on my face, nothing fancy, but just what I needed.

Wednesday: 

First time I actually got out of bed when my early morning yoga alarm went off - yay! And I had a really good practice. Lots of sun salutations, lots of heat building, long sequences and headstand press reps. 50min flowing, plus 10min of pincha practice in the garden.

Thursday: 

Finally nailed Eka Hasta Bhujasana (Elephant's Trunk Pose) to Astavakrasana (eight angle pose) to EPK2 to Chinstand. Getting arm balance transitions nailed really brings a new level of fun to the strength side of practice for me. This particular sequence was something I cracked in YTT  but I hadn't been able to replicate at home. Until today! 45min flowing (inc 5min of pincha work) at home before work.

Friday: 

Evening rocket class. 60min of sweltering intensity. Not really long enough for a rocket class in my humble opinion, but the teacher really went for it with getting us to try inversions at every opportunity. My in class pincha is really coming on: exciting times!

Saturday:

60min vinyasa flow class. Wasn't expecting a huge amount, of myself or the class to be honest, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Again the teacher gave lots of space for trying our own variations so I managed to do a couple of really good (if I do say so myself!) pincha's, and then full flipped grip eka pada raja kapotasana aka king pigeon! I only managed this pose once on YTT, and that was with my teacher assisting me into it. And I mean A LOT of assisting! And now I can do it myself, even without a prop under my hips. Which totally blows my mind because my tight hips are (were?!) a feature of my life that I was starting to accept might never change. WOW! Got home and did another 30mins, just to see if I could do it all again. Which I could. Double WOW! So took full advantage and filmed a nice video as well as snapping some exciting 'after' shots for new transformation comparisons which I will post on Instagram over the next week or two.

Sunday:

Another morning 60min vinyasa class. It was crazy crazy hot in London today (32c!) so this was far too much like a hot yoga class than is tolerable for me, but on days like this I need to go to a class. As lets be honest, there is zero chance I am pushing myself through a full practice at home when the call of the garden is so strong!!

• Self-Practice: 2hrs 45min

• Dynamic Classes: 4hrs
• Flex Focused Classes: 0
• TOTAL: 6hrs 45min