Bikram. Days 1-4.
This blog has been out of commission for a couple of years now. I've toyed around with several ideas of exactly what to do with it. I've removed some older (and slightly embarrassing or irrelevant) posts. This week, I've decided to reboot it with an ongoing journal of my experience doing a 30-day Bikram yoga challenge, which I started this week.
Day 0. About 20 are participating in the "spring challenge," and I missed the first official day. I don't usually go to the health club on on Sundays, and I didn't double-check the schedule. Ironically, after church in the afternoon I waited around Kangnam for a couple of hours before heading it. Walked upstairs and Ball and the class were already into standing deep breathing. Aargh. I'll have to a double later to compensate.
Day 1. My first official day of the challenge. Juwon leading. I'm feeling unusually energetic, maybe from the anticipation of finally doing a 30-day. Actually it feels like one of my best classes.
Day 2. I've decided to start arriving earlier to stretch and work on my splits (partly to improve standing bow pose) and forward bends. I've always tended to have a little more leg flexibility than most guys, and especially guys my age and height. However, the tradeoff is that it also tends to take me a while to warm up into certain stretches...sometimes 5 to 10 minutes. I've been doing splits for a while, but most of the time it involves a lot of warming up and still some difficulty. I want to eventually get to a point where it feels a little more natural and less forced. At my age (almost 40) there's no telling how long that may take. I don't have any kind of timetable and I'm not trying to outdo anyone else, I just intend to be more consistent than I have in the past. I've also been doing more regular stretching at home and in the office (when no one is around). As a result I've felt more flexible overall. Even bending over to pick up stuff at home feels different. And it seems to take me less time to warm up into certain stretches. Locust pose actually felt good tonight. I think for the first time ever.
Day 3. I once read an article in the New York Times about the narcissism of yoga and how some people always grab certain spots in the yoga room. It was a humorous read. I always go for a certain spot, but that's due mainly to my height. I actually don't like being too close to the mirror and sometimes I worry about blocking other people's view of themselves. However, I need to be in a spot where my hands won't hit a heater or light fixture during standing series, which has happened several times (including today, while coming out of standing bow pose), usually to humorous effect. Ball once said that he felt like the hobbit when standing next to me.
Some progress with standing head to knee pose. I've spent the last few months focusing on locking my knee and grabbing my foot as slowly as possible, however I've always stopped short of extending my leg out because I just always seem to lose control. However, today I decided to step out of my comfort zone and I actually performed the leg extension, albeit for 10 seconds. Now that I know I can actually do it, I have a little more motivation. Also, half-moon felt much tighter; eliminating the gap between my arms and ears just kills me every time, but lately it's felt a little more manageable. Going easy on the first set and going deep on the second set seems to help. I remember how much I used to struggle with half moon in the beginning, and it feels good to have made some tangible progress. And triangle pose didn't feel as tiring as it usually does. That's a breakthrough for me.
After class I was really hungry, but lately I've started to lose my appetite for fried foods, which I tend to eat a lot. I didn't feel like going to the restaurants I usually go to; actually I started to crave fruit. Which rarely happens. I've read a few different blog accounts of people doing 30-day challenges, and a common description among most of them seems to be hitting a wall about a third of the way into it. My first three days have felt great, and I wonder if at some point it's just going to get tiring. And at some point I'm going to have to have to do a double, which honestly I'm not really looking forward to. But one day at a time.
Day 4. I've always been a big and heavy dude with flat feet, so balancing has never come very naturally to me. But this week my balancing has been a lot better. In the locker room, when putting on my socks I can do it slowly, with my knee raised up, and without falling over or having to sit down. My standing leg literally feels like a "lamppost." Pretty cool.
Arrived early again for stretching today. My body was a little bit stiffer. I was also physically tired. Between that and the stiffness, I was a little worried about class, but class was better than expected. Although once we started pranayama breathing I realized I was standing directly underneath a low-hanging light fixture. Throughout the standing series I had do a little maneuvering to avoid hitting it and causing it to swing back and forth. Despite this I still ended up hitting it a couple of times, but not hard, and no one seemed to notice this time. I still sat out toe stand and the first set of camel (every time I do camel pose I feel like I'm going to implode), as I often do...probably too much. That goes back to the comfort zone thing. Although other poses have unexpectedly become easier, particularly fixed firm (not as painful as a few months ago) and locust pose. Generally, locust pose always wins for my most disliked posture, but tonight it almost felt a little bit comfortable, or less tortuous. I didn't even mind having to do two sets. Am I going crazy?
Back at home eating tuna kimbap (the nice kind, from Sinsegae's food court) and oat clusters for dinner. I wanted to laugh as I just typed the previous sentence.
Day 0. About 20 are participating in the "spring challenge," and I missed the first official day. I don't usually go to the health club on on Sundays, and I didn't double-check the schedule. Ironically, after church in the afternoon I waited around Kangnam for a couple of hours before heading it. Walked upstairs and Ball and the class were already into standing deep breathing. Aargh. I'll have to a double later to compensate.
Day 1. My first official day of the challenge. Juwon leading. I'm feeling unusually energetic, maybe from the anticipation of finally doing a 30-day. Actually it feels like one of my best classes.
Day 2. I've decided to start arriving earlier to stretch and work on my splits (partly to improve standing bow pose) and forward bends. I've always tended to have a little more leg flexibility than most guys, and especially guys my age and height. However, the tradeoff is that it also tends to take me a while to warm up into certain stretches...sometimes 5 to 10 minutes. I've been doing splits for a while, but most of the time it involves a lot of warming up and still some difficulty. I want to eventually get to a point where it feels a little more natural and less forced. At my age (almost 40) there's no telling how long that may take. I don't have any kind of timetable and I'm not trying to outdo anyone else, I just intend to be more consistent than I have in the past. I've also been doing more regular stretching at home and in the office (when no one is around). As a result I've felt more flexible overall. Even bending over to pick up stuff at home feels different. And it seems to take me less time to warm up into certain stretches. Locust pose actually felt good tonight. I think for the first time ever.
Day 3. I once read an article in the New York Times about the narcissism of yoga and how some people always grab certain spots in the yoga room. It was a humorous read. I always go for a certain spot, but that's due mainly to my height. I actually don't like being too close to the mirror and sometimes I worry about blocking other people's view of themselves. However, I need to be in a spot where my hands won't hit a heater or light fixture during standing series, which has happened several times (including today, while coming out of standing bow pose), usually to humorous effect. Ball once said that he felt like the hobbit when standing next to me.
Some progress with standing head to knee pose. I've spent the last few months focusing on locking my knee and grabbing my foot as slowly as possible, however I've always stopped short of extending my leg out because I just always seem to lose control. However, today I decided to step out of my comfort zone and I actually performed the leg extension, albeit for 10 seconds. Now that I know I can actually do it, I have a little more motivation. Also, half-moon felt much tighter; eliminating the gap between my arms and ears just kills me every time, but lately it's felt a little more manageable. Going easy on the first set and going deep on the second set seems to help. I remember how much I used to struggle with half moon in the beginning, and it feels good to have made some tangible progress. And triangle pose didn't feel as tiring as it usually does. That's a breakthrough for me.
After class I was really hungry, but lately I've started to lose my appetite for fried foods, which I tend to eat a lot. I didn't feel like going to the restaurants I usually go to; actually I started to crave fruit. Which rarely happens. I've read a few different blog accounts of people doing 30-day challenges, and a common description among most of them seems to be hitting a wall about a third of the way into it. My first three days have felt great, and I wonder if at some point it's just going to get tiring. And at some point I'm going to have to have to do a double, which honestly I'm not really looking forward to. But one day at a time.
Day 4. I've always been a big and heavy dude with flat feet, so balancing has never come very naturally to me. But this week my balancing has been a lot better. In the locker room, when putting on my socks I can do it slowly, with my knee raised up, and without falling over or having to sit down. My standing leg literally feels like a "lamppost." Pretty cool.
Arrived early again for stretching today. My body was a little bit stiffer. I was also physically tired. Between that and the stiffness, I was a little worried about class, but class was better than expected. Although once we started pranayama breathing I realized I was standing directly underneath a low-hanging light fixture. Throughout the standing series I had do a little maneuvering to avoid hitting it and causing it to swing back and forth. Despite this I still ended up hitting it a couple of times, but not hard, and no one seemed to notice this time. I still sat out toe stand and the first set of camel (every time I do camel pose I feel like I'm going to implode), as I often do...probably too much. That goes back to the comfort zone thing. Although other poses have unexpectedly become easier, particularly fixed firm (not as painful as a few months ago) and locust pose. Generally, locust pose always wins for my most disliked posture, but tonight it almost felt a little bit comfortable, or less tortuous. I didn't even mind having to do two sets. Am I going crazy?
Back at home eating tuna kimbap (the nice kind, from Sinsegae's food court) and oat clusters for dinner. I wanted to laugh as I just typed the previous sentence.
posted by Marc Hogi at
9:14 PM
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