practice yoga everyday

I love yoga. I’m recovering from severe mono and so I have to take things very slowly but I want to be in that beautiful yoga shape I was before I became ill. Mentally and physically, I love what yoga does for me.

Why can’t I find more time to practice? I don’t have the courage to enrol in a class because of my appearance and the excuses I find are endless. I do have dvds that I like and a week ago I decided to get up before my husband and my kids to have one special hour for myself. I call it my solo time and I go for walk but the winter is getting cold and 4:30 am is pretty dark. This is the perfect time for YOGA!! Quiet, peaceful, connected time just for me.

I have joined a lunch time session at work which I think is Ashtanga Yoga. This definately feels like a work out and there is no meditation – well I guess it is lunch time.

Information from http://yoga.org.nz/what-is-yoga/yoga_styles.htm
Ashtanga (Power Yoga) the preferred choice for athletes, Ashtanga yoga is light on meditation but heavy on developing strength and stamina. The poses are more difficult than those performed in other styles, students move quickly from one pose to another in an effort to build strength and flexibility.

This style is suitable for anyone in reasonable physical condition but should be avoided by those who are new to exercise. Even the “beginners” routines are a physically demanding workout. Ashtanga yoga takes students through a warming up of the body to “activate” the muscles.

Students move from one pose to another in a continual flow and combine the inhale and exhale of the breath with movements. This physically demanding yoga was developed to build strength, flexibility, and stamina.

Ashtanga yoga is becoming very popular. Expect the teacher to move the students through a sequence of poses, which is practiced, until it is mastered to some degree and the fundamentals completely understood. Then the student moves on to practice another series of poses that are more difficult, but the foundations are the same.

The series of poses involves weaving in a combination of standing, seated, backbends, inversions, balancing, and twisting poses into sun salutation poses which include a standing forward bend, upward dog, downward dog, and other poses.

There is a focus on breath control and focal point of the eyes as the students do a specific prescribed series of poses, moving gracefully from one to another. It is very beneficial for the body to be warm and/or the room to be heated as one does ashtanga, this will help the muscles to be very flexible, and help the body avoid strains due to the physically demanding style of ashtanga

I have:

Committed to: One session of formal Inyengar style yoga every weekend.

The infomation below is from http://yoga.org.nz/what-is-yoga/yoga_styles.htm
Iyengar – A softer on the body classical style of yoga, Iyengar is perfect for beginners and those who haven’t exercised in a while. It uses props such as chairs, straps, blocks and pillows, and even sandbags, to compensate for a lack of flexibility, which is helpful for anyone with back or joint problems.

Iyengar is the most widely recognized approach to Hatha Yoga, it was created by B. K. S. Iyengar. Iyengar yoga is characterized by attention to detail within poses and the aid of the props.

The props assist all sorts of people to be able to do the poses comfortably.

The key to all styles of yoga is to get the fundamentals and form correct, this is where the props aid the student. There is more focus on symmetry and alignment and also meditation. Each pose is held for a longer amount of time than in most other yoga styles, developing a state of focused calm. Iyengar Yoga is meditation in action.

Benefits include toning muscles, eliminating tension and easing chronic pain. When we strengthen weak areas of ourselves and open and stretch tight ones, our bodies return to their correct alignment.

Practicing Iyengar yoga will give you a good knowledge of classic yoga poses so that whatever other style you practice, you will have the basic fundamentals of how to do each posture. The teacher focuses on alignment and inner awareness. Awareness starts with the body and expands to other parts of the self as one continues with the regularity of practice.

I’m finding this difficult as I am currently staying on my brothers tiny closed in front porch with three books cases, a desk, a tv, and a futon. Barely enough room to walk let alone stretch.
I’m a little shy to practice in the living room in front of everyone and am having trouble finding time alone to practice.
I’m thinking about taking classes, but to be honest I would prefer to do it alone.
This one might be put on hold until the new apartment I’m afraid.

I have decided next weekend I will mark this goal off my list if I continue to do yoga every do between now and then. That means I will have done it every day straight for 2 weeks!

I feel like I’m almost ready to mark this off my list. I feel like this is really becoming a habit. My yoga classes are actually one of the few things I look forward to every week. I am going to one hardcore class a week. I am really craving going to 2 but I’ve been trying to hold off until my body gets more used to it because I’ve been pretty sore. Next week I think I will add an extra class. I am also trying to do 2 days of relaxation yoga at home and 3 days of meditation. So, if I can keep this going for a couple more weeks and it continues to be something I look forward to and not something I try to put off then I will mark the goal accomplished.

I have started a new class. It is much more of a workout than the relaxation class I took. It was an hour and a half long!! I am really enjoying yoga and so proud of myself for sticking with it and buying the series of 30 classes. My goal is to practice everyday and I just can’t see myself doing that. I am so sore after yesterday’s class I just don’t want to do anything today. But, I am trying to get in the habit of meditating everyday. I got this really cool tibetan singing bowls CD that I heard in my yoga class. I have been trying to meditate with that every night before I go to bed. I haven’t been really good about doing it regularly though. So, I have decided if I can meditate OR do yoga everyday I can count this goal as complete. Meditation is a part of yoga right? So now my plan is to go to a yoga class once a week, maybe twice this summer or when my body gets more used to it. Then I will try to practice some of the relaxation yoga at home once or twice a week that I learned in my last class. The other days I will meditate. If I can do that I will consider this goal completed! I feel like I’m making progress and getting close.

I went to the class today. I liked it! I bought a 30 class session and will keep going back. I feel really proud of myself for going and sticking with it and everything. But….I’ve only been going once a week and then MAYBE doing some yoga once a week at home. That is no where near everyday!

I’m going to try going to a new class tomorrow. I’m kind of nervous because it is an on going class so most of the people will probably have been there before. My last class I took we all started at the same time. Something about that was less threatening. Hopefully I will make it and it will all turn out good. I have a feeling the closer it gets I will be looking for any little excuse to not go!