Practice yoga 30 times in 30 days

I finished this goal off at 46/43 due to my mini yoga (re)treat over the weekend. I’ve also collected info on several classes being offered locally. I think it might be nice to join a live class again.

Meanwhile, I’m dusting off my first edition (1969) Richard Hittleman’s yoga 28 day exercise plan. This is one of my favorite yoga books and I’d recommend it to anyone starting a practice. You learn a few asanas a day, starting with simple versions, and gradually adding more advanced variations as your ability to do them increases. I find the progress one can make with this book in a month is remarkable.

Sooooo glad I joined with this team in practice! I’ll keep updating with the alumni team, but reading and cheering here. As ElderBear pointed out, please don’t forget to invite others from time to time, ok?

Last night I followed the Patricia Walden DVD again. Wow! It was different than any other practice in the last month and a half. I noticed myself doing a lot of swaying and gentle twisting between poses, as if to release hidden kinks. As I followed Patricia’s instruction, I felt completely inside each pose, full of power, as if my spine were a generator and great currents of energy were travelling along each limb. The session lasted more than an hour, but it was the shortest hour I’ve known.

This morning’s session will be my 43rd practice, and tomorrow, my 43rd day. I’m celebrating by turning the weekend into a mini yoga retreat, dedicated to everyone here who’s been sharing this wonderful journey.

Na-Ma-STAY, BAY-BEEE!!!!

As of yesterday, it’s 40/38. The last few days’ practices were weird. I’d been dancing Saturday night, and Sunday I could barely move – I tried to do a little yoga but was so foggy I’m not sure what I did, what I sat there thinking of doing. Monday and Tuesday I was distracted by needing to get to work early. I practiced anyway. Today I haven’t practiced yet. I think I’m going to sleep now. It’s lame, but I can’t stay awake any longer.

40/39

I have a kitten in that fiesty, rowdy, often-manic phase kittens experience. Whnever I practice, no matter what her antics at the start of my session, by the end she’s always sitting calmly, eyes shut, somewhere nearby, in the same little tucked in, sphynx-like position. Kitten meditation?

34/32

I was offline for a few days… but my practice stayed on track! Yesterday was day 30. On to 43!

Still doing the Kathy Smith, Patricia Walden, and Suzanne Deason routines mentioned in previous posts, with Rodney Yee on those mornings when I’m short on time.

Usually I practice in the morning first thing, but today it was after work. I’ve been working on keeping shoulders down and relaxed, spine lifting, through the entire routine. Today I really felt improvement with that, and also in strength and balance. I’m also somewhat more composed on the sideways bends. :)

Now to catch up on everybody else’s progress…

33/31 (12 more days to 43)

Last night, Patricia Walden and this morning, for a change,
Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss with Suzanne Deason.

25times/24days

days remaining:
6 in 30, 18 in 43

Yesterday was a very busy day. I had to go in to work early and come home late, and didn’t have time for yoga until 8 pm. (I usually n trying to practice early in the morning.) I hadn’t planned on even trying to practice, but by then my legs and spine were craving it terribly. I used the Patricia Walden DVD again, and this time I really felt a difference with just about every asana. I feel stronger, more steady, and I can really feel the stretches. Ended up spending the rest of the evening in cobbler’s pose, just because it felt so good.

Lately I’ve been using

Patricia Walden’s Yoga for Beginners

Kathy Smith’s New Yoga Basics

Rodney Yee’s AM Yoga for Beginners

I think I’ll stick with them in the upcoming week, but make time for some additional pranayama and meditation. I’m off to practice now. Take care, everybody.

21 times in 19 days – as of 1/4/07. I just counted, had no idea I was that far along! seems like I’m just starting. Regaining my strength. I ran out of cheers – want to give cheers to everybody here – we’re all surprising ourselves!

It’s fascinating how you can do the same practice day after day, but experience it differently every time.

Yesterday, as usual, I started the day with the Rodney Yee tape. Normally I like this calm, easy pace that I know so well. But yesterday it felt so hectic, I was constantly running behind as he changed from one pose to the next. I must not have slept right. Next I tried the Patricia Walden DVD but didn’t have time to do the entire thing. Every time I tried to skip a pose, I ended up ejecting the DVD and having to reload it.

So I tried again when I came home from work. It was difficult. (Though on the bright side, I now am ahead one session.)

This morning, I started with the Patricia Walden DVD and did the entire thing. I noticed that soon after the initial warmup come my two least favorite, most difficult poses, the triangle and side stretch ones. I’ve always had trouble with these; they make me feel disoriented as well as tired. The good thing is if I follow this sequence, I can get through those and enjoy the rest of the session. Patricia Walden is a very good teacher, and I find that I now have a better understanding of some postures I’ve been doing for years.

based on the cheers my 43T friends left at the time. Clearly my practice was already faltering then, as the complete lack of entries implies.

But now I’m a whopping 7 for 7, baby step practices, but getting back in the groove. How nice to see this whole big team has formed in the meantime. Well, good luck to each of you.