Day 28: Challenges within the Challenge

When I walked into the studio tonight both Kyle and Lynne greeted me enthusiastically from behind the desk and then Lynne said, "I think it's time for you to move to the hot side of the studio!" Kyle chimed in with, "Yeah, you should be right by the new side mirrors." Having said last night that I was going to try to be "more accepting of WHATEVER comes up in the yoga studio and in my life" this week, I said, "Okay. I'll give it a try."

I'm a weenie about the hot side of the room the way I've always been a weenie about doing a Bikram Yoga Challenge of any kind, taking the 6:15 a.m. class or doing a double. Well, I'm doing the 60-Day Challenge {and yes, it has crossed my mind that if I'd started with a 30-day one, I'd almost be done!}, I've taken one 6:15 a.m. class so far and I'm contemplating doing a double this Saturday morning. Doing the Challenge is about pushing myself out of my comfort zone and it looked like today was "hot side day."

Right before class began, Kyle suggested to us that if we started planning during one posture to sit the next one out, that we should plan to sit the one after it out and see if we could make it through, especially if there was one we had a habit of skipping. "The beauty of this series," she said, "is that it's designed to give you the break you need if you keep going in the postures."

So this was another challenge on top of the hot side of the room challenge, and you know what? I did it! I hung on during my Triangles and I really wanted to take a break during the spine strengthening series and I didn't. I caught up to myself during Fixed Firm {even though we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Nikki while we were in it--very fun!} and Half Tortoise, and then felt really nauseous after the first set of Camel. After the savasana, I still felt a little nauseous but I thought, do the sit up and then do the setup. I did and when I got into the setup I felt ten times worse, so back I went into savasana and thought, "That's okay. Just let it all go and REALLY relax. You followed Kyle's instructions, now just breathe in and out, in and out.... Now sit up and do Rabbit!" And I did!

At times it really felt like someone had opened an oven door right in front of me, {Kyle said afterwards that I was in one of the hottest spots in the room} but I did it. It's good to have teachers gently, but firmly, give you the opportunity to discover what you can really do. So now I know that I can practice on the hot side and I can push myself a little farther than I thought. Thanks Lynne and Kyle!