Practice yoga 30 times in 30 days

Before anyone commits to this number, a few words of advice from someone who has done it and lived (in fact barely survived ) to tell the tale.

Do at least one month of exercises to increase strength in your hamstrings. Plenty of reps on the leg curl machine and daily ball bridges will definitely be in order.

Similarly start pumping up the work on those triceps and shoulders. Do a variety of moves that will hit them from every angle. I have just discovered muscles attached to the back of my upper arm that I never knew existed. And my shoulders are so fatigued that they even find my head too heavy!

Invest in copious amounts of muscle relaxing pain balm. In fact even consider buying shares in companies that make them. It’s value will definitely increase if enough 43T members embark on this expedition.

Begin to train at least one family member on deep tissue massage techniques. They will be put to the test the day after your 108SS and for several days after.

Loosen the lids on all tight lidded jars and change the sheets on your bed and the slips on all quilts. In fact finish all chores that involves the use of triceps. Your arms will fail you for a few days after your 108SS.

Be prepared to walk with hamstrings that have suddenly contracted and refuse to stretch. This means developing a shuffling gait that does not require you lift the foot too much off the ground and a stride that does not want the knees to be fully flexed. ( Think penguin )

If you were planning to buy a new car, now is the time to ditch that manual transmission junk box you have been driving, for a racy automatic. Chances are that your hamstrings will refuse to co-perate with your clutch pedal which needs depressing whenever you need to change gears , not to mention your arm which will join in the non-co-operation movement on the gear shift.

Practice sleeping as long as possible in one position. DOMS will otherwise rudely wake you up with a jolt every time you change position.

And for those of you who are wondering if I will commit to 108 SS again…... well maybe not if I have to do it today but I hope to do it at least once every month. Hopefully, it will be less painful the next time and the next!

1. Avoid any kind of weight training for about a day or two prior to the session.

2. The chosen day should be a day off from work. I fell asleep that day unwittingly and slept for an hour and a half. So we need to provide for any feelings of fatigue that may follow the session.

3.Be prepared for muscle soreness. Especially in your triceps, shoulders and hamstrings. Mine are screaming today!

4. Lets set a date for the a day in the second half of Februaury. That way we could assess our ability and commit to a number that adds up to nine that will be suited to us.

5. It need not be a specific date. It could be the a specific week and we could chose any day in that week.

6. Minimum 9 for beginners and 18 for intermediate/advanced and maximum 108. Any number in between that adds up to nine will also be allowed! Why nine? Well Ay has said she will find out the significance of that number from Venkat and let us know.

Any other suggestions would be welcome.

AY had posted here that her teacher had guided them through a series of 108 sunsalutations a couple of days back.

She called and we discussed it. I told her that I probably will not attempt it for the simple reason that I cannot keep count.

This morning just as I was getting ready for my morning aerobics ( usually a dvd workout ), the power supply failed.

I wanted to get a workout in. I took out a paper and pecil and wrote the numbers 1 to 9 on the horizontal and 1 to 12 on the vertical. It was my grid for the 108 Sun salutations.

I may not be able to keep count of 108 but i definitely can for 9.

I started the practice and everytime I finished 9, I ticked off a column, took a sip of water wiped off and got back to the practice. If my right lead the first 9, then the left lead for the next 9.

Around the 6th or 7th set, I found myself beginning to fatigue. And I was only half way through.

I drank some more water and told myself to start and take it one salutation at a time. I gave myself the permission to stop if I could not go on. That set of 9 was tough but I pushed through.

I then found that the remaining sets went quite smoothly.

The 108 sets took me an hour and 15 minutes. I flowed with the breath but took extra breaths twice for each salutatiuon; once during the down-dog and once when I came back to mountain at the end.

It was yoga but at the same time it was not. It was yoga because the poses and the salutation and the Ujjayi breathing were all what I learnt as yoga.

But the workout was mostly aerobic endurance. My heart rate was elevated well into my target zone. And the sweating was very much like if not more than during an aerobic workout.

I would say also, that I used my own body weight to get a resistance workout especially in the shoulders and arms. My wrists were feeling tired!
Anyone else game to try it?
At least 18 if not 108? 9 is an auspicious number and 1 and 8 add up to nine!

at the gym.

By evening, I was beginning to feel sore. So decided to do one of Alan Finger’s workouts.

I chose ‘Yoga for Conditioning and Stress Release’

But barely was I into the fist five minutes and our power supply went out. Bangalore has been experiencing a shortage in power supply and we have been having power cuts.

It was dark, ( around 6:30 pm ) silent and the evening was cool. My daughter lit a cndle at the table so that she could continue to study.

I just decided to do whatever came to mind. So I did a few seated forward bends and side bends with the legs in diffent positions. ( cross legged, out to the side, and out in front ).

Then I did a few poses to stretch like cat-cow and downdog. The hip openers like pigeon, and back bend in the lunge position followed. A seated twist to either side relieved the tightness in my spine.

I then went through some supine poses that included plough, shoulder stand, table and chakrasana.

The prone poses came next. Did cobra and bow.
Did some shoulder stretches in Vajrasana .
Did forward bend in cobbler.
Then lying flat on the floor, I did the side stretches.
Finally, it was Shavasana.
The practice took about an hour. The power came back just as I was getting ready to turn over onto my side and get up.

Doing yoga in absolute silence with just the glow of a candle flooding the room was a new experience.
Usually there is always a TV or the whir of a kitchen appliance next door or the slamming of elevator doors that you have to consciously shut out.

I was able to really focus on my breath and submit to every pose effortlessly.

I only wish now that I had done some standing poses. But maybe because I had already worked my legs, they were tired so it did not occur to me at that time.

Am now toying with the idea of doing yoga in the evenings at least for a few minutes. Maybe not to a dvd but on my own.

workout of the day yesterday. I had already finished my morning 1 hr step, a core and shoulder workout at the gym and CC6 Candace Grasso on the treadmill.
My sis AY was in town on work. We spent last evening and this morning together. Then it was off to work for me and off to catch the flight home for her.
We spent most of the time talking about our new-found family and friends on 43T.
We agonised over EBear and checked every few hours to see if he had logged in. He had admitted to taking some extra medication by mistake and we were hoping he was alright. When he finally did log in this morning it was a tremendous relief!
We did yoga yesterday. It was Baron Baptiste who lead us through a half hour of yoga and Unlocking Athletic Power was the title of the practice.
Again we wished he would not suffer from verbal diarrhoea. But the workout itself was good.
This morning I had to tear my sis away from the computer to workout. Rod Stryker and Kathy Smith lead us through a wonderful yoga practice. It was one hour of Yoga Bliss!
My daughter took pictures and many of them are already on AY’s page.
We did the usual ‘sister stuff’ went shopping, chatted with each other, chatted online with NYC.
Had a great time and it was over too soon!

I decided that this new year, I have to do everything I have signed up for on 43T
So I started the day by clearing the furniture in the living room, pulling out my step and doing a one hour step workout. My instructor for the day was Marcus Irwin and he got my heart rate up into my target range.
I then went to the gym and did a 40 minute mid section session ( abs and sides ). followed it up with half of a 70 minute Itrain Itri workout.
Came home and dragged my neighbour to my living room to do a 80 minute yoga session with me. It was Tilak Pyle again.
I pondered on some more women who can serve as role models. I thought maybe Indian tennis star Sania Mirza would be a good young role model for little girls.
I kept thinking of the innumerable things I am grateful for but had no energy left to log in and post here.
I ate clean the whole day. I abandoned the terribly strict diet and included extra fruit. Ate a few walnuts and dates. Ate spinach rice. Ate boneless, skinless chicken breast. Drank tons of water.
Had a great New Years day. When I woke up today and weighed myself, I found I had reached a new low – 69.2 kg!
IT IS GOING TO BE A GOOD NEW YEAR!

Are you in the mood for yoga but are finding the prospect of unending chaturangas, updogs, downdogs, triangles, twists, chairs and warriors a bit daunting?
Well, then this is the day you need to take out Gurmukh’s Kundalini Yoga and enjoy!
The principles are the same: you move with the breath. ( But you do not do a single asana.)

You think ‘Sat’ on the inhale and ‘Nam’ on the exhale as you do the movements. The words Sat Nam literally translate to True Name. She says that Kundalini Yoga helps us to discover our true identities.

Your eyes are closed and your eyeballs focus on your ‘third eye’ between your brows for most of the practice. The only time you keep your eyes open are when you may lose your balance.

Gurmukh guides you through a series of movements that range from rotations, to rocks, to swings, squats, jumping jacks ( yes you heard it right! ) to punches. All movements are rhythmic and increase in tempo steadily and are done repeatedly for I think 3 minutes. So fatigue invariably sets in by the end of the three minutes.

The practice ends in Shavasana anda short seated meditation.

She used normal nose breathing for most of the practice but does make you practice breath of fire occasionally.

I was able to keep up, but my neighbour who sometimes joins me on my Saturday Yoga seesions, was a little stressed on some parts of the practice.

We have a TV channel in India that frequently features a yogi called Baba Ramdev. He has a huge following in India not because he claims to be a miracle man but because he teaches yoga and pranayama and his teachings have helped people to control ailments ranging from diabetes and heart disease to infertility and skin problems.

He openly derides the entry of American fast food and aereated drinks into India and says that these foods ruin our health and the health of our children.

Recently, he went so far as to say that his patients have even found that yoga helped them with managing cancer and AIDS.

He has been targeted by our polititians and his Yoga and Ayurvedic centre was under the media spotlight when a political party claimed that he used animal bones in his medicines and his workers were treated badly.

I used to practice pranayama with Baba Ramdev whenever he came on TV. Other than pranayama, he also made his disciples do similar movements that Gurmukh does.

My husband used to think the whole thing was hilarious and it did look strange to have saree clad women and dhoti clad men generally gyrating and moving their limbs in all directions but when I did it today, I actually got a workout!

Took out Tilak Pyle’s dvd called Alter of the Heart, my mat a couple of towels and started.
A very doable and enjoyable yoga session. The only part I skipped was the headstand.
At the end of the 1hr 28min, I felt like I had experienced a wonderful massage.
The short pranayama session at the end was refreshing and rejuvenating.
Only, I was thinking of what El had said about yoga being linked to a religion. Tilak Pyle’s dvd has chants where praise is given to Hindu gods like Ram, Sita and Hanuman.
That may probably be the only part that some might find objectionable.
Pyle has a long but silent part in the dvd where he expects us to do shavasana. As I lay in shavasana, I could feel my fingertips, a small area beneath my navel and the backs of my knees keeping time with my heart. I thought of my sis who experienced a similar pulse in her palm for the first time yesterday.
I felt sad that her class is filled with chattering women who pay little attention to their breath or the deep inner peace that yoga fills one with. No wonder she could not connect with herself all these days.
On the day she did yoga alone with her teacher, there would have been peace silence and an atmosphere conducive to performing asanas in tune with the breath. It culminated with the meditation that my sis found magical where she experienced the gentle throbbing in her palms.
Maybe now she will understand why I need silence when I do yoga.

Most of the yoga dvds I do have poses that really work the muscles of the shoulder, chest and hamstrings.
On most Saturdays, I am pretty sore from a week of gruelling weight training.
I hence find that I have to struggle through the chaturangas and chairs and lunges and triangles.
Ravi and Ana’s dvd does not have a single chaturanga. So the shoulders and chest do not get stressed.
There are a few lunges and chair poses but they are quite manageable.
So now, I have a workout for the Saturdays when I am not up to a Rodney Yee or a Shiva Rea.
Another thing about this dvd is that here is no downward dog in the entire dvd.

Elderbear invited to this forum. I practice yoga once a week.
But drcided to join anyway.
Practiced Yoga today using Ravi and Ana’s dvd.
A gentle yoga practice that makes you do Kapalbhati pranayama while holding an asana for a couple of minutes.
Enjoyed it as my teacher used to make us do this in class.
The warm up exercises were also reminiscent of my yoga classes.