40 Day Yoga Challenge: Week Three

I have completely lost myself in the yoga and been neglecting my blog. But then I guess that’s a good thing right? More time on the mat and less on the laptop.

I noticed a real difference between my second and third weeks. I was going to The Waitahanui Lodge, my parents place in Taupo, for Labour Weekend, so I needed to get my five classes in before I left. Doing six days in a row was pretty amazing. I became like this little machine. I was so super organised with my laundry and making my salads and smoothies to take with me to work. Who knew I could get so much done all in one week! I had plenty of energy in class, my diet was all raw, I was fully hydrated from all the fruit I was eating and I generally felt amazing.

Things were a bit different once I rolled back into town after the long weekend. Note to self: Don’t drive five hours straight on a hot day and then go to a hot yoga class without eating enough fruit. I spent half the standing postures on the floor in child’s pose because I was getting all weak and dizzy. I literally thought I was going to faint several times. Once upon a time things like that would have really phased me. I would have felt really down on myself that I wasn’t doing as well as everyone else in the class. But over the last couple of years with my change in diet and through practicing yoga I have come to know what is up with my body and exactly why I feel a bit off when I do. There are ups and downs along this journey, and either way, it’s okay. You just pay attention and look after yourself in that moment.

I also wanted to mention a website that I am in love with. Philosophers Notes.  Brian Johnson summarises a shelf full of inspirational books into a set of cliff notes basically. Every morning I get an email in my inbox from them with a little pearl of wisdom. It’s a great way to start the day. I think my fellow 40 day challengers and aspiring raw foodies would love it too. Here is the quote from todays email…

“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?’”

Carlos Castaneda from The Wheel of Time

You can sign up to the daily inspirational emails here

I hope everyone is enjoying their 40 day challenge as much as I am. Keep at it!

Namaste

40 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 4 & 5

Well days four and five couldn’t have been more different. Talk about yin and yang. Literally!

I arrived nice and early to Thursdays Yin class and which began with an almost silent room, allowing me to fall into twenty minutes of meditation before class began. I am constantly amazed at how the energy of the room changes each day. Wednesdays class was loud with lots of chatter and movement before we began and Thursday, almost completely silent. I absolutely love Yin Yoga. I am more flexible than I am strong so at this point it feels more natural to me. It’s feels almost comfortable to lay down in sleeping swan, one of my all time favourite Yin postures. I love how all the clutter in my mind just falls away and I can spend the time really getting to know the subtleties of each asana. If you are not familiar with Yin Yoga, it is a practice that focuses more on stretching out the connective tissue in the body like getting your hips joints to open up for instance. It’s mostly floor based postures that are held for much longer than in other types of yoga and with each moment the body opens up more and more. You can just close your eyes, focus in on the breath and everything else falls away. I hadn’t done a class with Claire for a while and I’d really missed it. She has a special way of  putting you in that mindful state of relaxation as you practice.

So then Fridays class, whoah! I’d never seen the studio so packed out. It is a very popular class, and with the two for the price of one deal I’m not surprised. It was a room full of people all happy for the week to be over that’s for sure. It’s the first time I’d come to the Hot Happy Hour and it really is just that! Sometimes we can be so serious in our yoga practice, our faces all tense with concentration, not giving in to that irritating bead of sweat on the tip of our nose. In this class though, we were encouraged to smile and laugh and just have fun with it. Lou loves to crack some jokes to get a smile on your face especially when you are on the third section of utkatasana and feel like your arms are about to fall off. I am beginning to notice more strength developing as I practice things like Virabhadrasana or Utthita Parsvakonasana which is great. I can focus more now that I am not spending the whole posture thinking when is he going to let us finish!

There are some great teacher profiles of Claire and Lou at PranaFlow if you’d like to read more about them.

Namaste.

40 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 3

A few years ago the idea of doing some kind of ‘fitness challenge’ was on par with being dragged by my ponytail across a bed of hot coals. Throughout my school years I seemed to have some sort of allergic reaction to sports. Maybe it was the torture of being pummelled by large red rubber balls during lunchtime games of bullrush or the annual school cross-country that ran during magpie nesting season. (Yes, rather than holding the event on a more appropriate date, we were advised to wear bicycle helmets for protection during our run or if we did not have a bicycle helmet, as Mrs Tabernacle demonstrated at the school assembly, we could construct a sturdy makeshift headpiece from an icecream container and a reasonable length of string). Mine was a small town and a small school. You were either in the sports camp or the arts camp. Needless to say I spent a lot more time in the darkroom than on the rugby field. There weren’t a lot of options in between. During university I experimented with visits to the gymnasium, but we never really clicked either. The harsh flourescent lights and top 40 dance remixes combined with repetitive motions on grey machines only made me feel like I was in some sort of Orwellian torture factory. So we quickly parted ways. And then I found yoga. Finally there was something that didn’t involve a uniform or a competition. Something that made me feel amazing and happy every time I went. If PE class had only been filled with downward dogs instead of tackles and triple jumps my level of teen angst would have been dramatically reduced and repeats of The Cure on my walkman would have been on the steady decline. So now a few years on and several downward dogs behind me, I of all people have voluntarily signed up for a physical challenge. Since switching to a raw food diet I have so much energy and clarity and my body can do so much more that I can’t not do yoga now. It’s become part of who I am. And today as I was leaving work to go to class I think i may have actually done a little dance in the elevator at the thought of it.

Namaste.

40 Day Yoga Challenge: Day 1

Tonight as I practiced on my mat next to an absolute beginner I was reminded of both of how far I had come in my own practice and that at that moment I too was an absolute beginner stepping into this 40 day challenge. Thankyou yoga neighbour, this is why I love choosing a different spot in the room each time I come. I get to see things from a different perspective and practice next to someone new each time. While yoga is not about comparing yourself to your neighbour I believe you can always learn something new, sharing your breath and your energy with your next door yogi.

I felt a lot more energy in body throughout class tonight. I attribute that to my day of 100% low-fat raw vegan foods.  Over the winter I’ve been incorporating a bit of cooked food but I notice an enormous difference when I stick to 100% low-fat raw vegan. Not only does my digestion go about it’s business practically unnoticed, my energy and my mood are at a constant high level from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. The difference is so dramatic that I am really going to try and keep it up through this challenge. The other thing I remembered to do was to get in some sweet juicy organic naval oranges an hour before class so my body had some fuel to work with. If you are looking to improve your yoga practice there’s nothing better than fresh ripe raw organic fruits and greens to take you there.

As part of the 40 day challenge we drink a green smoothie each day. My glorious green smoothie for this mornings breakfast was 6 bananas,  3-4 cups of tightly packed spinach, 2 cups of frozen strawberries and about 500ml of pure artesan water from the petone aquifer blended til silky smooth. It sounds like a lot, but it’s less than a third of my calories for the day. A one or two banana smoothie is just going to leave me hungry in another hour. Which is fine, but to have it as a whole meal, you gotta think big. Mmm, I can’t wait for tomorrows smoothie.

Namaste.

40 Day Yoga Challenge

I’ve done yoga for a few years now, but over the last couple of months I have really been getting into my practice. I’ve been averaging around four classes a week lately. So when my Hot Yoga Studio announced that they would be hosting a 40 day challenge I thought it could be really good for me.

I’ve noticed such a difference already, not only in my physical practice, but also in my breath and my mind and my heart. It also extends beyond the mat. I’m much calmer and more tolerant at work or in day to day life. I’m excited to see where it takes me over the next couple of months as I immerse myself in the yoga world.

Kicking off on October 12th, the challenge consists of any five yoga classes a week, it could be Yin, Hot, Vinyasa or any of the other classes there,  1 green smoothie a day and five minutes meditation a day. Many of the others will be doing the full challenge which also includes a health assessment before and after, a colonic and a massage. I’ve been on the raw vegan lifestyle for a couple of years now, vegan for many years before that and have my own awesome colon hydrotherapist Malia, so I’m just sticking to the simpler version.

There will be a lot of other yogis in the challenge that I’m sure will be able to offer me guidance in areas that I need help. So for a little bit of karma yoga I’ll be offering up my raw vegan learnings and experience, posting recipes, tips and resources here as I go.

If you’re keen to join in for some green smoothies and a bit of yoga you can contact Hot Yoga New Zealand in Wellington. Or maybe you’d like to set yourself your own 40 day challenge. Green Smoothies every day? Meditation every day? Think of a new habit you’d like to form.

Namaste my fellow yogis, namaste.