Have I been the change?

When I started this 30 day challenge on September 1st, I was in it for the yoga. When I heard about a challenge happening at Pure Yoga Ottawa, my favourite studio, I jumped on the chance to participate. I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was more to it than doing yoga every day.

I received daily e-mails filled with motivational quotes and messages from Megan, the creator of this amazing challenge, videos and tips for at-home practice from Megan and Mike, another teacher. There were nutrition tips and delicious recipes. I discovered new ways to prepare old ingredients and new foods to try. There was information about holistic healing. This was new, and interesting to read about.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my body is tired and needs a rest from daily practice, at least for a while. However, my mind and spirit will miss the daily motivation and encouragement. For this, I am sad to see the challenge end.

This challenge coincided with going back to work. Last year, I found the back to school period to be very difficult. I felt like there was always something more to do. I never had enough time to do it all. Once I realized I couldn’t do it all, I relaxed and enjoyed my work a lot more. This year, I was afraid of falling into the same trap. I was happy to have a reason to leave work at a reasonable hour, to take some time for myself and to have a way to find peace every day.

I realized one of the things I love the most about yoga is the quiet moment that comes after giving all I’ve got. Taking child’s pose anytime feels good, but taking child’s pose after going through several flows, side planks and chair pose is bliss. I was thinking about this during class today, when Megan said something that struck a chord with me. She said The vinyasa of our practice mirrors the vinyasa of our lives.

During a class, I might feel happy, frustrated, proud, discouraged, tired, curious, scared and blissed out. I feel these same emotions during my daily life. I try to approach challenges in my practice with an open mind and lots of laughter. I am trying to do the same with the challenges in my life. This is the change I did not know I was looking for. So yes, to answer my own question, I think I have been the change.

Today was day 30. It was the last class. I went to Megan’s class, which was perfect, because I started this challenge with one of her classes and also because without her, there wouldn’t be a challenge. I was very proud of myself for seeing this through all the way to the end. I got all 30 stickers on the board! Yes, they’re all pink.

I was also very happy to do this class with Jacynthe and Dominique, who are both collegues and friends. We did this challenge together and it definitely contributed to the motivation to make it to class every day!

And finally, it was great to meet some of the other challengers. We have become a community, linked by our desire to be the change. Thanks so much Megan for giving us the chance to find the best in ourselves. Namaste.

Run for the cure

This morning I participated in a 5k run for “Run for the cure” to help in the fight agains breast cancer. Ok, it was actually a 5k walk, not a run! I haven’t been running lately. Participating in a 30-day yoga challenge meant I had to chose, I couldn’t do it all. It was still lots of fun and we had a big team, called Pink Power. It started off cloudy and I was hoping the rain would hold off, but as soon as we started out, it started to drizzle. Not pouring or anything, so it could have been worse! It was like being at Niagara Falls, where there’s a mist everywhere. There were 10 000 people there, all wearing pink!

Now I’m off to the final class of my yoga challenge. Lots of people from the challenge are going to be there, so it’s going to be one big yoga party! I can’t wait!

Teddy bear headstand

My 30-day yoga challenge is coming to an end, and I’ve learned two very important things. More than two things, actually. But here are two of them.

1. I love yoga (I knew this, but now it’s reaffirmed. Again.)

2. I love other things too. I love running, reading, baking, my friends, my family. I haven’t had much time for any of these things for most of September.

This past week has been the most challenging. Motivation was down and grumpiness was up. Last night’s class was a perfect example of the low-energy practice that has been annoying me. On my way home, I told myself to suck it up. There were only three days left to the challenge and I had two choices: finish kicking and screaming (ok, more like whining and dragging my feet) or give it all I’ve got left.

I chose option 2. (Not finishing was never an option.)

With this new determination to just enjoy myself and make the most of it, I went to a power class with Laurie after work. I love Laurie’s classes.

When we did crow pose, she said we could bring our head down and stand in tripod. Then we could bring our legs up into a tripod headstand. My first reaction was “No way! I’ll smash my head into the floor and that will not go well with the whole fun vibe I’ve got going on here.”

I hesitated for just a second, then I went for it. It looked something like this. (The placement of my legs on my arms is a little off, but I took these pictures when I came home and I was trying to do it fast so I could shower and eat. I was starving!)

First crow.

Then teddy bear headstand. How cute is that? (The name, not my butt up in the air.)

I’m actually a little disappointed in this picture, because it looks nowhere near as awesome as it felt. During my pity-party practice last night, I had an Eeyore moment during standing splits where I thought “I’ll never do a headstand.” This pose made me realize that I’ll get there one day. I tried lifting my legs up off my arms, but they were not moving. One step at a time!

The yoga diaries

Last Saturday, I was sick and I did not go to yoga. I know! Crazy. But I needed a rest day. I want to make up the missed class, but I haven’t done it yet. I’m thinking Saturday’s my day.

I haven’t been blogging much, because yoga has taken over my life. I do realize it’s day 27, and I’ve been doing this for close to a month, but this week it felt like I had even less time for other things.

I thought I would give you all a little update, since I know you’ve all been dying to know about my classes!

Sunday

I felt better than Saturday, so I went to a yang/yin class with Edith. The yang part was obviously the most difficult, as I kept thinking “It’s so nice and warm in here, I’d really like a nap.” Also, when I had my head upside down, like in downward dog, I couldn’t breathe. Fun stuff. Also very attractive. Yin was bliss.

Monday

Power class with Jen. I was a little worried, even though I felt better. However, I worried for nothing. It was a-ma-zing! It had been almost a week since I had enough energy to actually enjoy a power class. We did dragon (yuck) but also that awesome arm-balance thing that I can actually do now! Only for about 3 seconds, then I fall over, but still, it’s fabulous!

Tuesday

Low-energy day. When I got up that morning, I had great plans to do two classes, but as the day went on, I realized that was not going to happen! I went to candlelight yin with Mark and it was just what I needed.

Wednesday

I also thought this might be a two-class day, but I had a headache at work, so I decided against it. It was yin again, this time with Ichih. It was the yoga hug I didn’t know I needed. I felt so much better after class.

Thursday

Today, I had a grumpy practice. I thought I had more energy and motivation than I actually did. So when class started and I realized I would rather be crashed on the couch than at a flow clas, it was kind of a shock. I tried to shake it off, but I was kind of like Eeyore. I sighed my way through chair pose and sat out side plank. Near the end, we did eagle and dancer, and although my balance was not great, it made me feel better.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is more Winnie the Pooh like, and less Eeyore like!

Recharging my batteries

I’m sick. I’ve been kind of avoiding this reality all week, but there’s no escaping it now. It’s just a cold, so it could definitely be worse. No fever, no aches and pains, I’m just tired and stuffed up. Also, I sneeze a lot.

I’m like this kitty plus sneezing and coughing.

This morning, I was supposed to participate in a yoga mala, which is 108 sun salutations for the changing of the seasons. I did it for srping and summer, and I was excited to do it for fall, thinking I could do it for winter as well, then I would have done 108 sun salutations for each season of 2012. The event was meant to take place on Parliament Hill, so outside. It was raining all day yesterday, and was calling for rain this morning, so they cancelled the event last night. I was disappointed, but I think it was for the best. I’m not sure how long I would have lasted in the rain this morning!

I decided to go to a noon class at Pure instead. Well, I woke up at 11:30, so I guess that wasn’t meant to be either. I needed sleep and I think I need a day of rest. Right now I’m watching Maid in Manhattan in my Barbie pyjamas (yes, Barbie. I love Barbie and true love lasts forever.) I’ve got my box of Vicks scented tissues and a cup of tea. For now, this is what I need.

I might try to get to a class later today, or maybe I’ll just stay home and do two classes on another day when I feel better. We’ll see!

What if sloths did yoga?

You know those days where putting on your shoes seems like so much work and you would rather buy new clothes than do laundry? Today was one of those days. It wasn’t a lazy day on purpose, it was more because of lack of energy due to a cold and small children driving me a little crazy.

On a non-challenge day, I would have stayed home and not gone to yoga. Since it is day 20 out of 30, I couldn’t very well miss it. I decided to have a nap, then I asked myself “What would a sloth do?” This was not a good question, because obviously, a sloth would have said “Forget yoga. I’m just going to hang here on my tree. I don’t even come down to pee.”

I made my way to the studio, warned Jen about my sloth-like energy level, then tried not to fall asleep on my mat before class started. I realized I was more like a baby sloth, because they have a little more energy than their parents (I’m guessing). A baby sloth would have made it to class, but might still fall asleep. Plus, they’re way cuter.

This was me on my mat. I like to think my nose is a little smaller.

Jen’s class was awesome. It was more on the chill side that I expected. Not that it was easy. I tried to wimp out on bear pose, but Jen saw me. I was hiding out in the back corner and I kind of looked like this.

I actually did better than I thought I would. I got dizzy at one point and had to sit down, but mostly I felt good. Tired, but happy to be practicing. I ended the class with more energy than when I started. Such is the power of yoga!

The great pumpkin adventure

I don’t like pumpkin pie. There. I said it. I know it makes people think I’m weird, but I think pumpkin pie is weird. I don’t like the texture. Also, it’s a vegetable. In a dessert. Because I don’t like pumpkin pie, I’ve always thought I don’t like pumpkin anything. However, last weekend, I picked some very beautiful, very orange pumpkins in the garden.

I washed the dirt off, then cut one in half. I scooped out it’s insides. (I was planning on roasting the seeds, but I forgot about them and they kind of all stuck together. It was a little icky looking, so I threw them out.) Then, I placed each half in a baking dish and poured about an inch of water around them.

They went into the oven for about an hour at 350 0C, then I scooped out the edible part. Voilà, roasted pumpkin. That’s it. Nothing else to do.

I did this yesterday, then put the pumpkin in the fridge. Today, I pureed it and froze some of it in half-cup measures to use in the future.

Then came the fun part. Pumpkin scones. I figured if I wanted to check to see if I liked pumpkin flavoured anything, it was best to test it out in one of my favourite things ever. Scones.

I used this recipe and they came out tasting marvelous! They taste like fall, spices and Halloween. Ok, maybe not Halloween, but they’re really good! I made mine bite-sized, so I baked them for 8-9 minutes.

I brought some in to the yoga studio tonight and left with an empty plate!

Baking these put me in a good mood. I wasn’t in a bad mood, but I had kind of a grumpy day. I’ve been feeling a cold coming on all week and today it made sure I knew it was here to stay for a few days. It was one of those days where everything and everyone annoyed me. Being annoyed all day, while sniffling, is exhausting.

The scones made me feel better, and then yoga was perfect. It was yin and it was heaven. At the end of class, we chilled out in pentacle pose. I’ve only done this pose a few times, but I love it. You lay out in one big X with a block under your sacrum. I felt very relaxed and just let go. Then, I got a rare blissful moment where I let go even more when I thought I wasn’t holding anything. It was amazing and I think I gave a little sigh of happiness.

When I came home, my kitchen had that sweet, happy, baking scent. Bliss.

Busy weekend, happy me!

This weekend has been pretty busy. But it was the good kind of busy. The I-am-so-lucky-to-have-such-a-wonderful-life-family-and-friends kind of busy.

Saturday morning started off with a hot flow class at 8 am. This was too early for me on a Saturday. I enjoy sleeping in. I qualify sleeping in as getting up later than I do during the week. I actually had to leave for yoga earlier than I have to leave for work! The class was perfect for a Saturday morning: the teacher had great energy, but she wasn’t too peppy, there was a good mix of flowing and stretching. Sadly, I spent most of class facedown on my mat or taking a child’s pose break.

Saturday afternoon was my cousin’s wedding and it was great to spend time with my family. I also saw some friends I had not seen in a very long time. I got to wear heels, which I love. Right after dinner, I got to change into my flats because my feet were killing me!

Some of my favourite moments:

Johanne and I pretending to eat our place cards because we were hungry while waiting for our dinner!

Elizabeth giving me a makeover.

My very pretty sister.

Today, Sunday, I went to the farm to have coffee with my mom, aunts, uncles and cousins. Elizabeth wanted us to do yoga together. She had a mat with her and she was dressed specially for yoga.

My cousin Annie, who happens to be Elizabeth’s mom, took this picture of us. I don’t know which one of us is having more fun!

I also got some great loot from the garden. I can’t wait to make it all into fall-tastic soups and muffins and brownies and casseroles and lots of good stuff!

When I came back to the city, I only had time to drop off my stuff, make a cup of lemon-honey tea (I have a little tickle in the back of my throat. I hope it goes away.) before I left for the yoga studio. I went to a karma class with Megan. The class was perfect! It exactly fit my mood and my energy level.

After the karma classes, Megan likes to have treats for everyone. This week, I offered to make healthy zucchini brownies. Seriously delicious and actually pretty healthy. You can’t even taste the zucchini.

The lovely weekend had to come to an end, but my challenge will keep going. I am aiming to find balance this week. I have to figure out how much to give to work, to my practice, to other people, and how much to keep for myself. I really don’t want to get sick!

135 minutes

Since my last post, four days ago, I did 255 minutes of yoga. 135 of those minutes were today. But who’s counting?

As predicted, this past week has been crazy, busy, exhausting and challenging. It has also been fun, filled with laughter and special moments. My favourite was the first grader who told me “Before being in this class, I dreamed of having a teacher like you!”

I couldn’t go to class last night, as I had a parent-teacher meeting. It’s not actually a meeting, it’s more of a presentation and it drives me nuts! I don’t like speaking in front of large groups of people.

Today, however, I more than made up for my missed day. I did two classes! I totally rocked day 14! I had planned on taking the day off to make a wedding cake for tomorrow. However, last week while talking with the bride, we realized she wanted something that kind of exceded my cake-making abilities, so she asked someone else, and I was left with an empty day off. It didn’t take me very long to figure out what to do with it.

I went to Jen’s powerflow class at 9:30. We did a lot of bear pose, which is a good one to know if you’re in the woods where there are no bathrooms and you have to pee. We didn’t do dragon pose because I begged Jen to keep it out. It was great doing yoga in the morning, when I wasn’t tired from work or anything else, really!

This is a picture of Amber, Jen and I on day 4. I don’t have one from today, be we always look the same after yoga: sweaty and smiley.

In between classes, I went to Starbucks for a latte and a muffin. It was raining and it made me want to head back into the hot room to warm up.

I did Amber’s vinyasa class at noon, and I was a little tired. My chaturangas were more of the belly flop variety and my knees came down a few times in plank. At one point, with all the ups and downs, I kind wished I hadn’t eaten the muffin, but that passed and I gave it all I had. My intention was to do what I could and enjoy myself and I did both.

I had done two classes in one day before, and I forgot how much I enjoy it. I wish I could do it more often. I will do it more often. It makes me happy.

Side Star Superstar

Today is day 10 of my challenge. I’m a third of the way there and I am feeling great! I was talking to a girl at the studio today who said she could never do a 30-day challenge. I know how she feels. I used to feel like that too. I thought there would be reasons not to go to class, or days where I was tired and just stayed home instead. The thing is, not going to class is not an option for me. I decided to do this, and I’m going to give it all I’ve got. So yes, there are days when I’m tired, but the couch will not win.

Even when I feel like this, I’m going to get my butt to class.

I went to Todd’s class at Pure. It was a powerflow class and it was a-ma-zing! I hadn’t done one of Todd’s classes in a while, so I was looking forward to it. It started off right away, with some chair pose, forward bend, flat back, reach up, swan dive down kind of flow. No child’s pose or butterfly pose to start. It kind of threw me at first and I felt a little dizzy, trying to match my breath to the movements.

It didn’t take long however, before we moved into a flow that included side star. I love side star. It doesn’t always love me, but my love is enough for both of us. I usually use a block, as I find it helps my balance. The first time we did it though, Todd said not to use a block and just hover our hand over the ground. I didn’t think I could do this, but surprise, surprise, I can! Sort of. When I was standing on my right foot, it wasn’t so bad. And sure, when I was standing on my left foot, my right foot came down every four seconds, but at least I didn’t fall on my face. (That happened later.)

I sometimes confuse side star with half moon. I think in half moon, you have your hand on the ground, and in side star, you have both arms up. Maybe they’re just variations of the same pose.

This little guy is doing half moon. Imagine his left paw reaching forward so it’s in line with his left leg. Also, his right paw would be parallel to the left one and he would be looking down. It’s not warrior 3, because his chest is still towards the horizon. If you can make sense of this, you can imagine me in side star.

We also did crow, which I enjoy more and more, because I’m finding stillness with more ease every time. I’m working on jumping back into chaturanga, but so far, my feet only get to the middle of my mat and I end up looking like a frog.

Then came boat pose. We had blocks next to our hips, and after going down into low boat (insert lots of shaking here) we would come up, place our hand on our blocks and lift ourselves up. The plan was to swing the crossed legs behind and come up onto the hands in an inversion, but I’m still working on lifting my own weight up with my arms. No swinging yet. At least with the blocks, I don’t feel like my arms are too short to lift me up!

This is not me, but it is what I was doing.

One of my goals is to one day do an inversion. I know I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it. We did some arm balance practice stuff. Both forearms flat on the mat, lifting one leg at a time. At one point, I had one leg up and decided to give a little hop with the other. This usually gives me the impression of being upside down for a half-second. It didn’t really work today and I ended up in a neat little pile. This is progress, however, because I usually wind up in an impersonation of a starfish.

I could go on and on about the fun stuff we did in this class. Well, I kind of already did, but there’s more! What surprised me was how serious some people were. This was tough stuff, sure, but it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. There were lots of sighs and frowns. I think some people need to laugh at themselves more, it makes for a much better class!

This is Todd and I after class. I told him I would definitely be back, because I enjoy falling down. Also, I have 20 more days of yoga ahead of me, so I’ll need to laugh, otherwise I’ll go crazy!