Days 44 and 45 - Rebalancing for strength

I can't believe it has been a whole week since a man called Bibo did these two workouts with me.  It was really nice to have someone to practice with.  The energy is a whole lot better.

The balance workout is really difficult, but it makes perfect sense why yogis seem to love the balance metaphor for life.  Allowing yourself to try your best, but be comfortable when you fall is a real challenge to the ego.  The important thing is not in whether you fall, but rather in how you respond when you do fall.

For me most of the balancing and falling was spent staring at Meredith's big, round eyes...honestly - quite the pretty lady.

Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Ok...I might have snuck a glance or two at her ample bosom.  I mean seriously folks, did she have to wear something so low cut and stand in the front row?  Torture, especially when you need to focus not to fall.

The balance workout is also a great reminder of how important it is to balance efforts when exercising.  By going 100% you open yourself to injury.  By not working hard enough you won't get results, but by pushing yourself at a good 80% - where you feel it, but it's not too much and recalibrating to remain there you get the best results.

This is really important for me to remember because I am such an extreme person and I tend to believe you do all or nothing.  That is sad because the 80/20 rule seems to be a much more accurate way of living life.

Today's strength workout was fine.  I really am regaining the strength in my back and shoulder, though it is annoyingly still hurting.  My hip is probably out again because last night the pain was pretty bad.  Still, the mornings are getting easier and they used to be the worst and stiffest.  This is one of the longer ones so it will always be challenging and by layering clothes I managed to get a good sweat.

I have only one thing to say to my main man Bibo - "5 more yogi style pushups"

Days 37 & 38 - Balancing with Bibo

A man named Bibo came to visit.  Together we did yoga.  It was great.  Really nice to have a real life classmate.  We were both distracted by the buxom Mila Kunis lookalike (Meredith).  Why did she have to be in the front row for the balance class?  I pretty much go into an anime like nosebleed tailspin every time I see her so putting her up front and center in a balance class is a cruel distraction.

That Bibo guy was a lot more focused than I was though.

Today's strength workout was harder on him though - I'm pretty sure I heard a few "no...please..." groans coming from him.  Reminds me of my first week on the program.

I'll give a more detailed breakdown of the balance class next week, but suffice it to say, you need to do a little more than tree pose...

Given my poor hamstring flexibility and calf weakness it was probably my hardest class to date and I'm looking forward to trying it again.

Day 12 - Get those toxins out

Wowza - today's detox workout was probably the hardest one I've faced so far, but also one of the most satisfying.  I had some of the best focus I've had yet.  I think the following contributed:

• Sleeping in and working out when the boy took his nap in the afternoon;
• A warmer living room; and
• Finding my breath.

This was perfect - especially b/c I did something very unnatural yesterday and zapped all my back hair. Yes, actually my 5th session of laser hair removal.  So painful and all for vanity, but yoga breathing helped sooooo much to avoid the pain.  Ironically the place I go to for hair removal also operates a yoga studio and I met the Yin Yoga teacher.  Go figure - maybe I will try it after I am done with the 108, but I still wonder if there is a contradiction in places that have that kind of focus on aesthetics also being a yoga studio.  Then again, I noticed while doing hardcore today that Travis Eliot's body is virtually hairless, yet he definitely has a healthy amount of stubble on his face.  Guessing that body is not naturally that (antonym of hirsute?)

Anyway - my few distraction thoughts today: Brazilian looking lady is named Patti (Patty?).  She is also hot.  One dude has a shitty blue tiger tattoo on his shoulder that reminds me of my best friend Bibo's shitty tiger tattoo.  That Lauren Eckstrom really is pretty hot.

Same thoughts as usual I guess, the key is that the frequency was much less.  I focused for most of the workout.  Still suffering on meditation though.

I also have a dilemma.  I'm traveling next week and thought was to do yoga in my hotel room by just bringing my DVDs, but after reaching out to a colleague to see if there was a good space she suggested a yoga class on the company campus.  I really want to check it out, but it is the same day as my cardio day so I don't think I could handle both workouts!