WEEK TWO ~ BIKRAM 30-DAY CHALLENGE...

Before my decision to do the Bikram 30-Day challenge last Monday, I had only done two consecutive classes in two consecutive days at the most. I have been practicing on & off since 2002/2003 abouts, but my mind never felt strong enough to make the decision to go further than what I thought was tough enough already. I am so thankful that something inside of me has pushed for all these years to help me maintain a practice and/or curiosity to stay with and keep coming back to Bikram.

These past 7 days have been a blur of emotions, up & down, and all around. I have hit lower points in my practice this week than I had in years (Day 3 was the biggest challenge) and higher points than ever too (last night's Standing Bow Pulling pose was other worldly... and I almost fainted I fell so deep into it, I started laughing it was so crazy).

The picture above is not me, but that's the pose I had most fun with. I can say humbly enough that my deepest point of this pose was deeper than this Gentleman is doing, so I pat myself on the back for that one. Also, Camel pose is just something else too. When you can do it and breathe and push yourself under the circumstances, it invigorates your soul to a point where you just cannot explain it. Transcendent.

My legs feel stronger than EVER before. "Lock the knee, lock the knee, lock the kneeeeeee.... and change." And I can feel my feet changing and evolving. I have always had problems with my feet and calf muscles cramping up, but not much more at all now. I still have issues with my back. As you can see from poses like the Camel pose above, the lower back is of main focus for a lot of the Bikram class. I take precautions in and out of class to support my back. Its a DAILY thing that keeps changing and evolving but its my back and with kids gloves, (I think and hope) its getting stronger... or at least not worse than it already is. Thanks US Navy...

Day 8 is here. I have a feeling that Week 2 is going to be pretty much like Week 1. Starts off fine, but by Wednesday I'm going to want to runaway and hide... then by Saturday I'll feel like a zillion bucks. I must say though, it feels like its consuming a lot of time... A LOT OF TIME. Like, all I do or think of is eating enough to maintain energy, then NOT eating for about 2.5 hours before class (whenever that may be, I cannot pick a time to save a squirrel's life) and then class>then recovery and sleep. Even if I do not make 30 days, whatever may happen, I know I cannot do Bikram every day as a part of my lifestyle. I could see M-W-F no doubt, hands down for sure. But that's a long time from now...

Happy Yoga Monday everyone! "Yogi, fight on! Brothers, sisters roll! Sunlight, ride on! Let's ride on, ride on, ride on!"

JVR