Day One

BEFORE CLASS: I've been feeling like a deep sea diver investigating an old wreck when I practice yoga lately. A deep sea diver has to breathe or there is no diving. A yogi has to breathe calmly or there is no yoga. But the key words here are probably "old wreck". I don't mean I am an old wreck, though some days this 45 year old body does feel like a bit of a rust heap, especially as I go deeper and deeper into the practice, going back through old injuries, past hurts etc, and as the layers of who we think we are slowly get stripped away. And unless the breath is steady and calm it is impossible to get into the place I need to be to really check out what's going on in there - what parts need adjustment, what still works, what to "treasure", what I can let go of - before I rise to the surface again, ready to take on the world. I woke this morning feeling a bit resistant to the 30 day challenge - possibly because of the grey clouds outside that feel a little oppressive, possibly because I'm resisting change (and I know 30 days in a row of yoga is going to change something), possibly because it feels like I have a cold coming on (that bit of a sore throat, that blocked nose) or possibly as a bit of an overdose on MacIntosh caramels while handing out lollies to the teeny ghouls & guises that came to our door for Halloween last night. But I am still very excited about what this challenge could throw at me and I am even resisting the urge to be resistant. 4.30 class - can't wait!

AFTER: Man, it was hot in there tonight. 4.30pm class with Luke, which was awesome, but even though I hydrated like hell over the past couple of days I could still feel the heat like a wall of fire in there the minute I walked into the room. Others in the front row were definitely of the opinion that the temp had been rammed up, possibly because it's warmer outside but more likely as a way of getting deeper into the practice, sooner. I had a bloom of sweat on the front of my red yoga top by the end of the first breathing exercise, which, because of the colour, looked like blood spreading out in a flowering circle on my chest, until the whole outfit was soaked, which I am sure happened pretty soon after eagle. Fell out of triangle in the first set (left side) but managed to resurrect it for the second. Came out of camel earlier than normal in the second set because I thought I might puke, just a little bit, because of the heat. Managed to get through everything else with some breathing, though it wasn't the best or most flowing class I've ever done. Luke kept us honest and "in it" though, and was just as motivating and enthusiastic as he always is. Felt great to have a sticker on the 30 day challenge board at the end of the class, and to have only 29 of them to go! (As Todd said to Molly this evening at the dinner table after she asked why I'm even doing it, "It's like a marathon your mum's doing, except she's not a runner..") And he's right - I'm not a runner. But remember the tortoise and the hare? ;)