Outdoor yoga

I’ve been thinking about doing my yoga practice outside for a little while now, and this Sunday morning I finally did it. I was a little nervous about practicing without the DVD to tell me what to do next. Silly, maybe, to feel the need the training wheels, but that need is part of the reason I wanted to do it.

I took my sticky mat outside and found a relatively even patch of ground. The outdoor cat thought I was there to give her pets and lovin’s, and I gave in for awhile, before gently pushing her out of the way. She moved to the folded blanket I use to ease tension in my back when I’m doing seated postures. I was not allowed to use it, so I managed without.

I managed a good practice just fine without instructions. I did some of my favorite poses, and the practice flowed easily. I think I was out there for about 45 or 50 minutes. I heard the sound of the cicadas over the noise of the cars on the highway. I saw trees silhouetted against blue sky. I noticed a wasp nest on a window frame (I should probably do something about that). The blue jay whose territory I was in scolded me from a fence post. Normally I would have no visitors (I live in the country somewhat separated from my closest neighbors), but this morning my neighbor came by with the tractor to mow the bull run. I lifted out of my seated forward bend to wave.

I was a very nice practice indeed. I like being able to move at my own pace without the distraction of the instructor’s voice. I want to become more comfortable practicing on my own. I feel like I can feel the pose more deeply, feel what’s going on inside. And practicing outdoors is a luxury, while the warm weather lasts. Soon enough it will be too cold to be outside.

Yoga practice update

It has been almost two months since I updated on my yoga practice, so I thought I should do that. I am still using the DVD Yoga For Every Body as the cornerstone of my practice. For the past two or three weeks I have been dipping into the “Intermediate” level sessions. These sessions are a little longer than the beginning level workouts (around 40-45 minutes as opposed to 20-35 minutes), and a bit more challenging. I’m pleased with my increasing strength and stamina, but I’m still taking things slowly, i.e., no power yoga for me yet!

I’m still practicing yin yoga once a week or so. Holding a forward bend or hip opener for 5 minutes makes me feel like a novice meditator. Thoughts swirl up inside and I feel restless. I try to breathe through the internal unquiet, but I know to accept the beginner phase for what it is. Eventually my thoughts will slow and be replaced by peace and calm. The presence of so many thoughts now lets me know how much deeper my practice can become. It is a good sign.

I have been doing more pranayama-based Kriya yoga in recent weeks, too. I’m trying to do 45 minutes twice a week. I figured if I’m going to be teaching it I should be practicing it regularly. It’s hard to explain Kriya yoga. It’s kind of like doing light calisthenics while breathing rapidly through your nose. It is calming to the thoughts and emotions, and cleansing to the physical body.

Except for the two weeks in June when I felt pretty run-down and tired, I have consistently been practicing 4 to 6 days a week since January. I’ve been keeping a variety to my workouts so that I don’t get sore or overtired. It would be nice to practice 7 days a week. A couple of those days would be very light practices, of course. The ways it is, without the schedule of work on the weekends, I am not disciplined enough to make it to the mat both days. I would like to change that.

Maintaining a sustainable yoga practice

In early March I purchased the Yoga For Every Body DVD. My plan was to try using it for a few weeks and then post a review. Since then, this DVD has become my default go-to for my daily practice. It contains yoga practice sessions at progressive levels of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced; some 35 workouts in all. At each difficulty level the disk includes workouts of differing lengths (the beginner level includes session from 20 to 50 minutes in length, for example), as well as with different anatomical focuses. And at $18 it is a real bargin. I highly recommend this DVD.

Yoga practice update:

I realized it has been over a month since I posted a general update on my yoga practice. It’s going very well. I usually get in about 30 minutes of yoga five or six days a week. As I mentioned above, Yoga For Every Body is my favorite right now. There are enough different sessions on the DVD that I don’t get bored with it. So far I have been working from the Beginner’s workouts, but now I’m just starting to do a few in the Intermediate section.

I can really tell an improvement in my strength and flexibility. I can tell that the general health of my muscles has improved, too. Though the gardening I did last weekend was hard work and I felt sore when I cooled down in the evening, I felt better more quickly than I am used to. A light yoga session the next morning worked most of the lactic acid out of my muscles and I was ready to get back to the garden. It’s like the yoga is giving my muscles a massage, pumping out the toxins, as well as improving their general health. It probably doesn’t hurt that I am also more conscious of the need to drink more water, too.

I have been practicing Yin Yoga once a week. It has become easier since the first time I tried it. But it has been challenging. Yin yoga poses strongly stimulate the chi meridians (the energy channels in the body that are used in accupuncture) as well as the chakras. That can bring up some uncomfortable feelings, and a couple of times I felt icky after the practice. I have gotten used to it now, plus I’m practicing for 30 minutes instead of an hour, both of which makes the practice easier. The last couple of weeks I have felt a very pleasant euphoria after doing yin yoga.

I have also been increasing the length of time I put in on the elliptical in the past couple of weeks, in an attempt to lose more weight (and to improve my stamina and fitness, too, yeah). I have had some success, but I’d like more. If I’m going to have a steady weight loss I need to be more consistent with it than I have been. May it be so.

All-in-all, though, I’m really pleased with my workout regime. I am reaching my goals of being more pain-free, healthier, more flexible, and finding a sustainable practice.