D2: 10 min sit-ups

I did this for 2 days and then life happened and I missed a day so I'm back to day 2. 10 min of sit-ups makes a big difference quickly. I see less rolls when I look in the mirror. So excited!!!

New rule!

If I miss a day for any reason the week experiment has to start over.

Week #2: 10 minutes of sit-ups

Since last week was so successful I had to think carefully about what I really wanted. Right now my mid section needs some attention and hopefully will help my daily 1st series practice be lighter and even more peppy!

Rules:
1. Daily practice of 10 min. sit-ups but can be at anytime of day
2. Must be a diverse practice
3. Must try my best to maintain proper alignment

What I hope for is some inches off my mid section. What I wonder is will it help or effect more than just looks?

W1: Accomplished!!!

All I can say is I feel great! Still sore each morning I wake up but after practice I'm good. Though I wonder now if I have the correct sequence... I'm going to consult my Ashtanga friends continue to keep rocking this.

So I guess the experiment worked... I am totally hooked on 1st series! Now to do it another week and see how I feel. :)

I'm guessing that my practice will keep evolving. Also keep in mind I practice other yoga during the day and/or try to get to a spin class.

Overall this week made me feel accomplished, motivated and inspired!

What to do this week?

D2W1: Surprisingly fun!!!

I am not typically a morning person so in order to get this practice in today I would have to wake up at 6:45am. Ouch! Since I knew that early rise was coming I took the largest dose of herbal sleeping pills at around 11pm but still couldn't lay down until 2amish. Luckily falling asleep without too much laying there with the noisy mind.

A little over four hours later I pop up from a super deep sleep ready to practice. Well kind of... Like I said I'm not very alert in the morning. So it took a couple of sun sals to get me to focus. The first one I had to stop and mouth wash and the second needed to make a green tea shot. After I did about 2 sun sals I started cranking them out.

The first thing that amazed me about today's practice was that those first two sun sals felt like the steepest up hill climb but then 2 later I was on the other side of this hump and coasting through the sequence. The second I noticed was it was already getting easier to do some of the poses. Though I was a little sore in my deltoids once they were warm from som sun sals I haven't felt the soreness since.

The hour practice passed by so quickly it was fun and I'm surprised I just said that... "it was fun.". Could this be something I continue after the week long experiment?

I'm feeling confident right now that even though I might not look like an Ashtanga yogi I will be able to hold my own in the Mysore practice.

I taught a class right after and was very sharpe and grounded for class. All great effects thus far. ;)

D1W1: Good Morning Sweaty!

Good Morning Sweaty!  Wow, I had no idea that I was this out of shape.  I was dripping after half a page of the practice sequence.  During the practice I flashed back to a time when I used to go to this Ashtanga-ish class 3 times a week and got really good at the sequence.  This not only made me feel like what have I done with myself but also gave me hope as to why can't I do that again?  That took me a month though to get really good, but then again that was 3 times a week not everyday.  Can I flash forward being this out of shape?

My mind state after was great!  I felt accomplished and surprised it only took me an hour not including an 11 minute savasana of which my mind was racing.  I had to keep telling myself to chill and enjoy this rest time.  The practice had a crescendo effect on me.  I got more and more pumped as I went through it with all those press, jump back and jump forwards.

Just after today I would say this is awesome!  I feel awesome!  I can do this and FUCK YAY!  Ashtanga Yoga has something here if only how it makes me feel after practicing series one.  Though I am surprised it only took me 1 hour.  Am I doing something wrong?  I followed the chart perhaps I will look into another chart and on the 7th day go practice with some real Ashtanga practitioners for mysore and see exactly what I am fucking up.

But for now Rock On today and Cheers to tomorrow!

Oh yay and the coolest thing about this mornings practice is that I got a baby bakasana padmasana.  I never tried it before because I thought I couldn't do it and then voila!  I actually started to walk my knees up my wrists a bit and lean forward till I could feel the mechanics of the pose... Omazing!

Week #1: Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series

Let's kick this off with a bang!  Why not?

This isn't so much a bang for me... I have practiced yoga for 10 years and though I am not an Ashtanga practitioner... BRING IT!!!

Rules:

1.  Practice entire series from beginning to end without interruption (phone off)

2.  Can be practiced anytime of day (have to be this way cause I work and have to work it in)

3.  Must do all poses or try to at least  (I can do all but 3 (supta kurmasana, garbha pindasana kukkutasana) and 1 (kurmasana) I get stuck in every time I try it)

4.  Must try to hold each pose for at least 5 breaths

5.  Like classical sequence must do vinyasa flow in between each posture

Here is the sequence if you want to try it and tell me how it goes for you...

Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series

Wish me luck... I think it goes without saying that I will blog how it goes...

I am curious:

1.  How long will it take me?

2.  How sore will I be after the first day?  Then second day?

3.  Will I feel differently if I practice this at night or in the morning or day?

4.  Will I sleep better or worse?

5.  Will my body change in anyway given I don't change anything else... diet, cardio, etc?

6.  Will I be a better person?

7.  Will I be more calm?

8.  What mind state will eat day create afterward and will it change over the week?

9.  Will I run into more Ashtanga Yogis?

10.  Will I suddenly fall in love with it and want to continue it after the week?

What? Why? Huh?

It's 3:46am Friday, June 29, 2012.  I can't sleep and its not that surprising because I have been sick and am all of a sudden feeling better today and I guess I slept enough the last few days being sick that I just can't anymore.  You might be thinking "try this... try that..."  Well I tried all that plus took 2 different kinds of herbal sleeping pills and no luck.  I am still awake and flooded with ideas.  This blog being one of them.

Recently or more precisely this year my life has taken on a whole new direction.  I broke up with my fiance with whom I had been loyal to for 10 years going on 11 and this was shocking to even me.  A.  I didn't think I had the guts to do it and B. I am so glad I did the more I think about it, it wasn't fair to him or I for me to continue to expect him to be something he isn't.  As if that wasn't enough I lost my job and am now living on unemployment with the hopes of going in a whole new direction in life and yet I have no idea what that is at this moment.  But I have a bunch of fun ideas at 3am!!!

I am more likely to accomplish things when I know there is a possibility that someone is watching over me.  Accountability is the key to success!  The idea or goal is to try something new each week and do it everyday.  Ideally its not something that I give too much thought.  How I will try to choose these plans for right now is choose the ones that I say to myself "Oh I totally want to do that" and then I don't and usually wouldn't.  Examples of these would be eat this for breakfast... don't eat past this time... do this exercise... You know what I'm talking about, the things you hear others say... they imprint in your mind that it will make you "feel" better and yet does it?  How often do we really give things like that a try?

Well here I am going to give these things a real chance... a whole week of a chance.  Because if I don't feel better after 7 days of doing something then I honestly wouldn't keep doing it no matter who said it would make me "feel" better.  So this is the weekly blog on how "it = x" makes me feel.

Thanks for reading!