Day 7 - bird vs crow

 

   Today's challenge was mastering the crow pose. Here comes my question, is there a difference between a crow pose and the bird pose? I can do the bird pose when the knees are placed on the inside of the hands but in today's challenge Erin placed the knees on the backs of her hands and now I am a bit confused. I remember when a year ago I conquered the bird pose at my bodybalance training. I still remember the feeling like it was yesterday. I felt like I could take on the world. And after taking on the bird in a basket pose which I also got the hang of, it was exilirating. Today I had mixed feelings. To be honest I was frustrated because I couldn't do it exactly like she did. Now thinking about it maybe I do not have to do it like her. Someone more knowledgable should help me now. I know yoga is all about practice but today felt like I am so far away from achieving anything because I just couldn't balance my body on the hands. The fact that my weight is pretty high because of my muscles isn't really helping me either. The fact that that muscle is turning into fat so quickly this summer is a whole other story :D Anyway, if someone could tell me the difference or if there even is a difference I would be very thankful. Plus I really feel like I want to practice more so I could master it because even though in the morning I was so angry at myself I am not willing to give up just yet. 

Namaste!

Kris.

Day 6 - happy go lucky

  I just saw that I have done 50 blog posts as of now and this one will be 51 so let`s see if I make it to a 100. My day was pretty chilled today. I spent most of it alone. I went to the beach alone and was at home alone and watched the song festival on tv alone. Story of my life- being alone. :D When I was at the beach I had time to read an article in a magazine that really inspired me. It was from Tiina Tiitus who`s job discription is "The inspirator" . The article talked about relationships, about love , about receiving love etc. But the one thought that stuck out to me was "Please let`s be in this world and do this world here right now" which was very amp in my situation right now since I feel like I`ve sort of lost the idea in my own life. She meant that people tend to live in their dreams and in their past and in different realities but should be living their life which is happening right now. She is also a firm believer of throwing your ideas and wishes in the air and they come true that way but you have to be careful what you wish for and that you only make wishes about yourself. For example she said: "When you want a happy relationship you have to think what YOU would feel being in a happy, fun, sexual relationship. Focus on that and you will attract what you need. Don´t think what your partner should look like or smell like because there are millions of people in the world like that and you can`t go through smelling them all". I thought that was a really awesome new point of view which I should practice. If you want to read the whole article , get a hold of this months Anne&Stiil magazine. She also has a book that I am dying to read now.
  But on we go with today`s challenge which was about yoga for your lower back. I must say this one was my favorite so far. The exercises mostly contained of twists and stretches. As you might know by now my back is sort of messed up. I have a really flat lower back so it is hard for me to get the curvature to it. I have to position my body very precisely to get the stretch to my lower back but I do find that the twists are helping me a lot with that. Also the fact that you have to aim your breathing to the right spot is making it a lot easier to get the full affect. The happy baby pose in the end was a tough one though, I have never really liked the pose because it is challenging for me to keep my lower back down and it is pretty intense because I am not flexible but let`s hope it will also change when the time is right. I am also making progress with the timing of my workout. Today I did it in the afternoon rather than right before bedtime and it is definitely more enjoyable that way. :)


Namaste!
Kris.

Day 5 - extreme planking

Credits: Theboers

  

   The summer is here!!! Finally. We had to wait a long time for this. I was at the beach most of the day today with my bff. I did get a bit of a sunburn on my stomach which is not good but it still is worth it since it was pretty much the first time we got to sunbathe this summer. As always with us two the topics went wall to wall but the one that stuck out today was the subject of being together with someone just to be with someone. What do you think about that? I think that is actually sad when people just settle with their partners not loving them anymore but being with them just for the comfort and familiarity. I am single myself and I think one of the many reasons is that I am not willing to just settle with someone just to not be. Of course you can have fun with people and you don`t have to be in a relationship right away but in a long run you have to be with someone that you need and want and love 100%. It is a rare thing to find someone you love unconditionally so if you have someone special in your life, go and tell that he/she is special to you right now. :)

   So about today`s challenge. It was part two of the core challenge. It was mostly different plank poses and movement in them. I had a slight problem today, I discovered that my right palm is hurting when I stand on it. It could be a bigger problem if I progress with this challenge but I hope it was just a bad angle on my part and the pain will eventually go away. We will see and I'll keep you posted. Another thing I discovered, and this is totally TMI, is that don`t do yoga in your swimming suit, I saw terrible cellulite on my legs doing the downward dog with my bare legs. :D And still the inner core strength is lacking these days so I was shaking pretty hard in these poses. I am still hopeful though, I will get it back eventually. Positive thinking!

Kris.

  

Day 4 - dreaming of abs

  Day four has gone by. Had 3 classes my own. Was very happy people were attending because it seems summer is finally peeking its lovely head and the weather is nicer which means it is always touch and go with indoor classes. Anyway it was a pretty chilled day, got myself a pair of sunglasses for 3 euros which was a great find and hopefully we get to see the sun now too.
  Let`s talk about today`s challenge. It was an evening one for me again and this time I wasn`t fully into it because the Brazil-Colombia soccer game was on and I didn`t want to turn off the tv so I combined the two things. Luckily it wasn`t really yoga this time but it was part one of a pilates inspired core workout (tomorrow will be part two) so it meant I didn`t need to concentrate on stretches or anything. The exercises were pretty hard, I am not sure what has happened to my inner core strength because it seems I don`t really have it right now. :D At least that`s what I felt when I did the challenge today. I think the las time I had visible stomach abs was in 2007 and I know that is not intirely true but I am very critical when it comes to my abs, I rarely show my stomach outside the beach. Well I do think I am probably in better shape than an average person doing this challenge but it still doesn`t mean it was easy for me. I got through it, it was a short one and now I am concentrating on the game. Olè!

PS! Also talking about football what are the chances that Norbert is single? :D The estonian readers know who I am talking about ;)

Kris.

Day 3 - posture! balance!

    So it is day three of the challenge. I know I said yesterday that I will attempt to do it in the morning this time. Well that didn`t really work out in the end. I did wake up at a decent hour. Okay so the 9-17 work people are gonna laugh now but 10.30 in the morning when it`s your morning off is pretty decent right?! :D But when you just wake up that`s only half of the attempt done because I didn`t get out of bed til 12.15 and had an appointment at one so no yoga in the morning for me this time.
   The day itself was pretty good. Had a lovely lunch and catch up with some friends which is always good and then had 2 classes in the evening.
   I got around to yoga when it was 23.15 ( a lot of numbers in this blog post :D). It was the posture challenge which meant exercises for the back. My back is sort of a sensitive issue right now. I have discovered that it is totally crooked, one of my shoulders is higher than the other and maybe even one of my legs is shorter than the other but not sure. Some of it is caused by ballroom dancing that I practiced for ~9 years and the posture that you hold there. Some of it is due to the fact that I have been a dancer for 24 years. Some of it is caused by the fact that I am a full time fitness trainer and have been for the last 10 years. And most of it is due to the fact that I am the most lazy person and don`t bother to stretch correctly outside my classes. So right now it is all about controlling and managing the damage with my back. The exercises in today`s challenge were not hard but my back is stiff so it is difficult for me to stretch it fully and feel the right effect. But I am hopeful that as the time goes by I will gain back flexibility in my back. Maybe I should try taping it as well. Also a massage would be nice once in a while. Oh the luxury... :D
 

Namaste!
Kris.

Day 2 - opening the chest but not in a surgical way ;)

   I know that technically it`s the third day already when I am writing this but I did start the challenge when it was still day 2 so it still counts. Today it was difficult to find the time to do the challenge because since I am a fitness instructor I do have to deal with my normal classes as well. Since today I had four of them and all of them pretty demanding then the yoga challenge was pushed back until the wee hours of the night.
  I still got around to it and it was really good. It was all about opening the chest area muscles and there were some familiar poses like the warrior pose for example. To those who don`t know this is a good time to mention that I am actually a Bodybalance instructor but I have been on hiatus since spring so sadly I haven`t had the chance to practice it since then. So I am familiar with some of the poses and sequences. Today I felt that the breathing part was tricky at first because my nose was kinda stuffy but as I committed to breathing in and out of my nose it started to get better by the end of the challenge. This was actually a surprise for me because I have heard that you can easily open up your nose with only just breathing but up until today I really did not think that it actually worked. The breathing is really important in yoga and I slowly seem to get the idea why. Because my body and muscles are so tight right now I really feel the need to breathe slowly in these positions in order to completely get the beneficial result out of them. It really was a revelation today in that sense. So I am actually getting more and more into it which is really nice. Hopefully I get to do the third challenge tomorrow (well actually it is today) morning because I feel like I have so much energy now that it will be hard to go to sleep. :D

PS! I am really glad so many of you have given me positive feedback and encouragement with this little journey. No criticizing yet (well none in my face at least) which is good. But I do need to point out something. Some of you have congratulated me on taking up yoga and to me that feels a bit too soon calling it a real yoga practice. So let`s take it one day at a time and just get through this 30 day challenge first before calling me a true yoga lover :)

Namaste!
Kris.

Day 1 - rain and pain

 

    I woke up today thinking that I will start the challenge in the morning. It was 12 o´clock in the afternoon so there went that plan out the window. I have a thing with sleeping lately in sense that I tend to sleep a lot. And when I say a lot I mean a l o t. Like 10-12 hours straight. I don`t know if I am just tired or is this the way I am resting my body or dealing with stress but sometimes I get worried that I will sleep trough my life. The weather was miserable today, it has not stop raining all day. So I decided that I would do the challenge in the evening after my class and I did.
   It was all about opening the hips which is my worst nightmare because I am totally stuck in my hip area. The challenge was pretty easy in theory, in reality I was hurting. A lot. But I got through it. Enjoyed the 20 something minutes I had to myself all alone. Was struggling with the breathing because the positions were pretty invasive to my knees (I am old don`t laugh) but I am sure this will keep getting better as time goes by.
   All`n all it was a good start today, looking forward to the next days. No major changes in my mood or attitude or look of life have not yet occurred so I will keep you posted.
  If you would like to join the 30 day yoga challenge visit www.doyouyoga.com

Namaste!
Kris.