Not what I was expecting…

Today i found myself at a noontime Vinyasa flow class, with Becca at Stil Studio, not my usual.  I arrived without my yoga mat, which left me feeling slightly unnerved, but asked around and was kindly lent a mat by one of the owners of the studio (thank you Betty).  I made my way to my mat and chatted with my neighbors as I waited for class to begin.  It’s funny how different a class can be from one you are used to routinely attending.  My classmates were wide awake and a lot more chatty than the 9:00 a.m. crew, but we quickly settled in.

Because I’m not familiar with the instructor I didn’t know what the class was going to be like, and here’s what happened.  I found myself feeling stressed.  The class wasn’t what I expected.  Please don’t get me wrong.  It was a fabulous class and we accomplished a LOT in an hour, a ton actually.  But it just wasn’t what I was expecting.  The music was different, the sequencing was unfamiliar to me and I had to work harder than usual during my practice to quiet my thoughts.  I’ve gotten to a place in my practice, where as long as things go slightly as I’ve expected them to, my mind is still.

I enjoyed today’s class for several reasons.  Number one, it was hard.  Number two it was short and sweet.  And lastly it reminded me how damaging our expectations can be sometimes.  I had to work around and through my expectations several times, and in the end working through this was what I liked best about today’s class.  I was practically smiling in my dekasana because i felt like i was flying.  Flying right over all the expectations I brought to my mat with me at noontime.

-J

deliberateness

 

Yesterday I attended a yoga class for the first time in 2013!  We had been traveling and while one might think that there would be more time for yoga while on vacation, somehow, there was less.  I was so happy to be reunited with my breath.  It honestly felt like perhaps I had been holding my breath for days?  The class I took was at one of my favorite studios with a wonderful teacher.  For some reason with this particular teacher I always feel like the dancer I once was.  We move gracefully, with purpose and great strength.

Today in class I thought about moving deliberately and applying that to my life outside of class.  It is the perfect mantra to begin a new year and relates to Ali’s most recent post as well.  Think about your life and your needs and move deliberately this year.

-J

joyful

Day 11 – Prana 2 Music  – – Prana Power Yoga – with Jene Rossi and Ali

This class for me was an absolute delight!  I was beginning to feel like I couldn’t possibly squeze another yoga class into my schedule.  Christmas was very close and making everyone’s Christmas wishes come true is a BIG JOB!  I was starting to believe that there really wasn’t time for me.  I was feeling selfish.  My family was pushing back.  They were starting to feel tired of my small but persistent absences, and they were being vocal about it.  We were hosting a Christmas party and it was feeling almost ridiculous that I take the time to run off to a yoga class with all the preparation that laid waiting for me.  But I decided that I was too close to the finish line to quit now.

Ali found a class with an instructor she was familiar with.  She encouraged me to come along, praising the instructor, which had me intrigued.  We got there a few minutes early and parked RIGHT OUT FRONT!  The class was HOT and I was a little worried because it was an hour and a half long and I really had a lot to do.  To my delight though, the class was hard work with a few tasty treats thrown in.  We spent some time at the end of class trying fun poses and new tricks.  Some were successful and some were not.  We cheered when our classmates climbed out of a wheel up the wall like spiderman, it was truly fun.  We finished the class by resting in Shavasana against the wall.  This was symbolic for me.  I was feeling like I really needed the support of the wall today, because I’m feeling so exhausted by all the demands of Christmas.  I loved every minute of my final pose and did not shift or try and wriggle out.  I ate it up.  The class ended with a powerful chant.  The chant of Joy.  It is entitled “Jaya Jaya Shiva Shambo”.  It was spoken in Sanskrit and it warmed my heart.  The song remains in my body and I’ve found myself singing it as I make my final preparations for Christmas morning.  Thank you Jene for such a beautiful class.

-J

NAMASTE

endure

Day 10 – HYP Power flow with Misaaki 4:30-6:00 p.m with Ali

Day ten and let me tell you the thought of an hour and a half of heated power yoga with Misaaki was enough to make me cry.  I literally wasn’t sure I had the strength.  I was inspired however, by the fact that I was finally going to be able to get to a class with my blogging cohort, Ali, so i went.  I am not even kidding when I tell you that it felt like he was torturing us.   The room was unbearably hot.  The heat was so intense that my fingers began to prune and I started to worry.  What the hell?  Was this normal?  What does it mean when your fingers prune?  Am I dehydrated?  It felt like the instructor spent the entire class near the thermostat.  He wasn’t letting up.

My heart was pounding and I found my head filling with thoughts of doubt… I doubted my strength in every pose.  Wanted out of a pose as soon as I got there.  I was feeling overwhelmed.  I found myself searching for the clock, wishing it would end, and then it did.  I was on my back in Shavasana and I had endured.  I left the class feeling like a million bucks.  I’m not sure there’s anything better than a hot yoga class for relieving stress.  It is truly transforming.  Thank you Ali for getting me there.  It was just what I needed.

-J

a total bust…

photo credits:  jessica jenkins

day 8

9:30-11:00 a.m. Fluid 2 – Stil Studio with Kevan Gale

12:00 p.m. Mid Day Flow – Stil Studio with Allison

5:30 – 6:45 p.m. Intermediate Fun Flow – Stil Studio with Betty

7:30 – 9:00 a.m. Hip Hop Yoga – Back Bay Yoga with Goldie and Ali!!!

Today was a total bust.  The classes above are the ones I whole heartedly attempted to get to but was unable to.  This was really hard for me.  I’m blogging about 12 days of yoga (although I think I’ve done 21 now) and now I am going to have to absolutely miss a day.  ugh.  pathetic. I was needed at one school and then another.  I had timely paperwork to complete.  Gifts to buy. A dental appointment at noon (really)?  The only time I was able to practice my yoga today was directly in my very own life.  So as I sat in the hygenist’s chair, I surveyed my body for tension, located it, breathed into it and released.  Then I noticed something, there were beautiful white fluffy clouds today in the sky,

floating by my as I was having the plaque scraped off my teeth (gag)!

After the dentist, I ran around like a nut, stringing up lights in trees, checking electrical outlets and reworking newtworks of little white lites to useful remote control fixtures.

Then I lent an ear to a friend to really needed it, and I skipped yoga.

-J

a favorite quote

photo credits:  my sweet sister, jessica jenkins

“Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

this is one of my favorite quotes, although I have many.  It related so well to Ali’s last post that I felt compelled to share it.  With regards to yoga, I say, if you’ve never gone, GO!  If you’re stuck in one studio, try another.  Got a favorite class?  Skip it and try hip hop or black light or Intermediate Fun Flow!  You only live once, and nothing is as scary as it first seems.

-J

yoga calms me down

Day 7 – Back Bay Yoga – Hip Hop Yoga w Goldie Kaufenberg

I literally woke up in a full panic, my heart was beating super fast and I was not breathing effectively.  My husband started asking the kinds of questions that only add to the burden already weighing me down at 6:15 a.m..  Did I mail the Christmas cards?  Is the electrician coming to fix the outdoor power source?  Am I going to be able to get my son to his appointment across town at 8:15, while simultaneously getting another child elsewhere…. Not sure what to do, and feeling like I was in unfamiliar territory(wasn’t i making my way through the twelve days of Christmas with breath)?  I asked my husband to wait a minute and I grabbed my pillow.  I decided to try one of the restorative poses that I learned yesterday, while practicing by myself at home and I dug in.  It only took a minute to check the stress level.  I lengthened my breath, rested in my side twist and decided two things.  I needed to make a list, and I needed a REALLY good class today.

Here’s where I wound up.  In the Back Bay, no parking space waiting for me today, but I still got there on time.  I dragged a friend along under the pretext of a Vinyasa class, knowing all along that I had pre-registered us both for the ever fabulous HIP HOP YOGA with Goldie Kaufenberg. The class was intense.  We did some super serious hip openers and a lot of sequencing that was unfamiliar to me, but I absolutely loved it.  The ever changing flow kept my mind at bay.  I had to listen to Goldie and remain fully present in order to move with her, so for an hour and a half my overwhelmed brain took a rest.  Now all I have to do is drink a ton of water and get after that list making task.  Maybe tomorrow I will cross some things off the list.  Namaste.

-J

take what you need

Day 5 – Back Bay Yoga – 10:30-12:00 p.m.Vinyasa Flow with sarah sturges

I dedicated today’s practice to my partner in crime Ali, who is officially home with the flu, practicing STILLNESS and watching Dexter like a fiend.

Today I returned to the very place I fell in love with yoga.  Back Bay Yoga and the 2nd floor,  Vinyasa flow with Sarah Sturges and her all too inspirational playlists.  I drove my car into the city leery of finding a parking meter, which is actually a sick sport I kind of enjoy.  My heart almost stopped when I realized that there was a parking spot, literally directly in front of the studio! I’m talking height of the christmas season, 10 a.m. in the Back Bay (Ali – gosh I wish you had been with me to experience this)!  On my mat in the far corner of studio, with the familiar smell of pancakes pulling on my psyche (am I the only person smelling this?) I felt like I was home.

The class today was a perfect combination of meditative offerings, flow, challanging poses, unique combinations and transitions and a lengthy restorative Shavasana, where I ironically found myself restless.  Most of the classes I take I end up yearning for more and the one time I find myself with the gift of a long Shavasana and I’m trying to wiggle out of it early.  Why is it we always want what we can’t have?

Throughout the class today, Sarah reminded us to listen to our inner voices, to know when we need to pull back, to “take what we need” from a pose.  I think that this skill if it can be mastered in life, is invaluable.  Sometimes, especially during the holidays, we push ourselves too hard, when we might benefit so much more from less.

-J

letting go

Day 4 – Prana Power Yoga- 4:30-5:30 Prana 2 Music with Kate Harrington

best yoga tank e.v.e.r sold at  Back Bay Yoga, made by Spiritual Gangster

http://spiritualgangster.com

It’s funny, today my day was filled with commitments and I found myself feeling super angry that I was unable to find a yoga class that was going to fit into my day, how un-yogalike!  But I didn’t give up.  Ali and I must have searched 20 different yoga sites looking at schedules, trying to find the perfect class.  We both wanted to practice and we kinda wanted to go together.  We also wanted a one hour class.  Ali was feeling really under the weather and I was feeling so TIRED!  My 1 1/2 hour class with Misaaki left me feeling depleted.  What I really wanted to try was a restorative class, but this was not an option, not today.  So we ended up at Prana at 4:30, and wouldn’t you know, we found a parking space right out front (this is starting to become a trend Ali, lol)!

Here’s what resonated with me today.  LETTING GO.  Sometimes we need to let go in a pose, to go deeper.  For me today, it was particularly noticeable in 1/2 pigeon.  I tend to hold a lot of tension in my hips.  Sometimes when I’m deep into a pigeon stretch, I think I’ve arrived, but if I search myself i can still feel my muscles fighting me.  Only once I have witnessed the tension there, can I begin to release it.  And only then, does it begin to feel good.

What we practice in yoga is an artform to be applied in our everyday life.  We all carry around a lot in our head.  Our job is to identify the thoughts that aren’t serving us.  We need to witness their presence and then let them go.   To quote our teacher tonight “when you finally decide to let something go, the earth is there to catch you”, so just do it.

-J

Peace on Earth

Day 3 – 4:00-5:30 p.m. Power Flow/All Levels (Hot) – w. Misaaki Okamura – HYP – Wellesley

My practice tonight was dedicated to those suffering from the tragedy in Connecticut of yesterday.

I arrived at tonights’ class with seconds to spare. Traffic was hectic, parking was tricky and finding a place to put my mat felt overwhelming.  But, Misaaki welcomed me into the class with a kind gesture, so I took a deep breath and kindly asked a neighbor to move over a teeny bit.  Within seconds I was on my mat trying to catch my breath.  This is only my second class with Misaaki, but I will tell you this. He is the Master of breath.  He commands us to breath in… and out… in…. and out… in perfect rhythm and I find myself wishing he could sit on my shoulder like a little angel and follow me around all day reminding me to inhale and exhale.

Partway through the class he asked us to “match our breaths”, meaning equal parts in and out.  This is a powerful thing to do, and it’s amazing to witness how our slow, even breath can calm our central nervous system down so quickly.

After class I found myself thinking this.  What if we could think as equally about others as we do of ourselves?  What if we could match our thoughts?  How powerful might this be?

-J

Loka samasta sukino bhavantu

May the entire universe be filled with peace and joy; love and light.