Days 40 & 41, Classes 34 & 35: Different Every Day

Sorry to have missed a few days away from the blog. My yoga experiences this weekend highlighted the concept that although every Bikram class is the same it is always different as well.

After a night off on Friday, I attended the 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. Jaime, who used to teach regularly at BYH but had moved south, was in town and guest teaching. I realized that I had become very used to the four teachers I'd had for the last month and a half. Jaime is more soft-spoken than my other teachers and has a way of pausing in between each phrase of the dialogue that makes her delivery seem very deliberate. I had arrived a bit later than usual and ended up in the front right hand of the corner of the studio which is darker due to a burnt-out light and seemed far away from the center of the room I usually inhabit. I felt much more isolated than I normally do. Right after class I had to hustle to get to my niece's lacrosse game at Hopkins and I was aware of the time boggle peripherally throughout my practice. Normally I just shower and go home to dinner and bed. It rained steadily all Saturday and we rained as well. It was a VERY wet class but I felt very strong. Each one of those things made Saturday's practice unique despite the fact that it was the same 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises it always is.

Today Daylight Savings Time began and although I managed to get a houseguest out the door for a late night bus to Pittsburgh, I completely forgot to set my clocks forward. You can imagine my chagrin when I woke up at 7:50 and then abruptly realized that it was now 8:50 and I was 10 minutes from missing Kyle's 9:00 a.m. class. J.R. looked at my face and said, "Grab your stuff. I'll drop you at class and then go pick up our CSA." So I threw on my yoga clothes, grabbed my towels and mat and got to class with 5 minutes to spare.

Normally for weekend morning classes, I set my alarm early so that I can eat some scrambled egg whites and a piece of fruit and drink some water a few hours beforehand. I also take a hot bath, stretch a bit, and then walk the two and half blocks to class. All of this warms me up in a way I didn't fully appreciate until I was in a painful Half Moon and then a Pada Hastasana in which I had a bit of trouble locking my knees! I NEVER have trouble in that posture! It was just as humid as the day before but also hotter as well. Kyle's jokes and stories helped when I felt that I had been hit by the "Yoga Golf Cart." Normally we refer to those days when we feel like limp noodles and have to sit out postures as being hit by the "Yoga Truck." This felt akin to that, but, other than sitting out one set of triangle, I was somehow able to keep going, thus "golf cart" instead of "truck."

The class made me appreciate one of the effects of the 60-Day Challenge, which is that the habit of practice has its own rewards. By practicing "all the time," our bodies are able to carry on even when circumstances are not optimal. Even when I don't feel strong in the indvidual postures or overall class, I feel strong that I went. That tight, humid class was my practice today.

This is Spring Break week for me and I don't have a lot of plans. I'm looking forward to a little downtime and to a varied yoga schedule. It will be fun to practice at different times of the day, with all five teachers.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!