Day 40 - Lots of progress

I can barely do any of the poses properly but I've made a lot of progress. I'm getting way better at getting my forehead closer to the knee in all the poses that ask for that. I'm taking in a lot more air now, drinking it like water - I haven't asked any teachers if I should be doing that but it feels good and it feels like I should be breathing in slowly and deeply. I'm having an awesome time. Today I felt like I'm super healthy and that I am really grateful that everything works properly and I have no aches or problems. I'm also really glad that I started yoga at this time because I was starting to feel somewhat depressed prior to starting yoga. My life didn't fit a successful timeline... there's lots of stuff that was getting me down. But now I feel positive and I feel like I am changing my life. It's awesome to feel like this.

Day 36 - Feel like a different person now

I haven't been attending consecutively since I finished the 30 days in a row. I didn't go to yoga class yesterday. Today I took an evening class. In today's and the last day's classes I realized that I have more endurance from squeezing my muscles in postures. So, now that I have more experience I have learned to breathe deeply and continuously, and to keep squeezing my legs, abdomen and arms. These procedures are helping me to get closer to getting my forehead to the knee in a posture I can't remember the name for when you stand with legs apart, twist the hips so the hips line up, and bend forward stretching the arms to the floor and get the forehead to the knee with throat choked. I'm proud of my progress and look forward to getting better. I feel like a different person than I was one month ago.

day 34 - I need yoga now to feel normal

I took a day off from yoga on Wednesday and Saturday. Yesterday, which was Sunday, I realized that after yoga I felt like myself again... which means that yoga has become a habit that I need to feel normal. Today I felt like I was working so hard, that the class is so difficult, but I persisted and I'm proud of how I kept it together mentally and brought myself back into working hard. What keeps me going, a lot, is remembering C. the teacher from Bikram yoga Vancouver, who was my teacher twice only, saying that we have to have the attitude that we don't have a choice but to do each posture. C. said many times in those two classes that torment lies in the choice, so when you remove the choice and just accept that you have to do the posture, then you can be at peace. I'm really glad he said that because it gets me through a lot. What I've been doing when my heart races (pretty much the entire class) is focussing on breathing and trying to breathe as much air in as I can as if I were drinking it. Breathing deep like this helps to calm me down. I keep trying not to hold my breath, that's something that I keep repeating to myself in my head so I won't forget. Today, day 34, was a day when I felt scared of camel pose again and felt like I was weak from fear to stand on my knees and I wouldn't let myself look in my eyes in the mirror the second time we did the pose because I didn't want to see the fear. I had the thought that it scares me just to see how my face doesn't show fear at all because I'm worried that people can't read my fear and won't help me if I need help. This has something to do with my family dynamic, but it's probably complicated :) because I can't relate it to anything specific except I know a lot of fear comes from when I was a kid and needed help and support and didn't get it. But, anyways, I went really far back and saw the floor in camel so I'm happy with that except I felt like I wasn't pushing forward consistently and have to work on that. There are two poses that I am so slow to get into that sometimes I don't even get into position before the time that we are allotted is finished. One of the poses is when we stand and bend forward to put our forehead to the knee (I take a long time to lower down but I'm proud that I think I touched my forehead today on my left leg). The second pose that is sometimes over before I get into it is rabbit. One thing that's tough in rabbit is I can't grab my ankles so I keep working on trying to grab my ankles and trying to find a way to grab the towel that works. As long as yoga has really become a habit... I will eventually be able to do rabbit, etc. better than I do now. I have problems executing every single pose, but I'm getting stronger every class.

day 31 - getting into it

I did not go to class on Wednesday, May 2, so today was day 31 rather than 32. Well, I feel like I'm starting to adopt the practice of going to yoga regularly as a routine. A hard thing for me to adjust is that I am still teaching myself how to eat before yoga. After yoga, I'm not sure what the rules are yet. Today I ate cookies for breakfast, some canteloupe and coffee. I didn't eat any protein on purpose because I haven't been eating protein until after class so I don't get nauseous. I planned on getting some things done today, because it's a day off from work, and then going to yoga at night. For that reason, I didn't eat after my cookie and canteloupe breakfast. But, just before yoga I had some cookie dough - and didn't feel too good in class :). I'm like a monkey child... but I'm learning. I had one of my favourite teachers, T. T. is a compassionate teacher that greeted me right away each time that I've come into the studio and he's at the desk. The welcome helps me so much, because I'm shy to talk without assurance that someone is welcoming. A few weeks ago, when he was my teacher for the first time, Todd got down right on the floor and explained postures to me. I appreciate his knowledge and interest in teaching. Today, one of the things I had to do as part of my day off was to visit tourist sites around Vancouver. I visited the Sun Yat Sen Garden and it was beautiful today. It was a lightly rainy day with grey sky, the usual weather for Vancouver. The grey brought out the jade colour of the ponds in the garden and the rain dripped from the trees and formed rings on the water. I think it helped me enjoy the garden more that I've gotten more calm from yoga and it's also good that I was alone to think about things. I also visited the Vancouver Art Gallery as part of my duty to visit tourist sites. I also really got into the works from the First Nations exhibition that is set up now. They have some low rider bicycles that were decorated to represent the four directions, created by four different artists from representative First Nations communities. I loved it. I asked a security guard for permission to photograph and he said officially we're not allowed to, but go ahead. I didn't take pictures of the bikes, but I just had to take pictures of the masks created out of Nike Air Jordans (from Michael Jordan's private collection) by Brian Jungen. I loved these things because these types of artifacts are familiar to me growing up in Vancouver, we were taken around BC by my parents and visited a lot of museums, etc., and because I took some classes in University and College that talked about local First Nations culture. So.... I saw Air Jordan "frog" and "orca" and "eagle," and it was really cool to see them as art instead of something made for ceremony that then became co-opted and produced for sale.

day 30 - made it to class all of the 30 days :)

Well, I made it 30 days every single day to bikram yoga class. My skin is very healthy, due to the yoga. I sweat more now, that's another benefit. Today was one of the "easiest" classes - my heart wasn't pounding, I didn't feel nauseous, I put in good effort... with some bad habits still kicking around. My bad habits are: I'm still holding back on some poses, maybe all of the poses :). The purpose behind holding back is that I'm trying to build up strength before I go full-heartedly. With camel pose - I go full heartedly. Nothing hurts me in this pose, I try my best to see the floor and push forward and keep breathing. With Trikanasana, triangle pose - I have a hard time keeping my leg locked and I sometimes feel really exhausted from trying this pose so I hold back from full hearted effort and stand with my legs closer together, or don't bend low towards my foot. When I feel stronger I will put more effort into trikanasana. I have 20 days to go in the 50 day challenge. I'm glad I had a good day today where I felt strong throughout the class. One thing that might have helped me is that I took the class in the morning before work so I probably have more to give physically and psychologically. My work kind of beats me up. I am thinking of quitting and working for myself. I trained in medical transcription last year, but I haven't made serious effort to find work. I am thinking that I want to start doing medical transcription now.

day 26 - day 25 was awesome!

I've been overeating, I think. But, I've been really kicking ass in class - I've gotten much stronger and I feel proud of how much better I am now from when I started. I have developed muscles that keep me from wobbling around. My bum is touching the ground in fixed-firm pose (it wasn't when I started the challenge). About overeating: I need to lose weight, so I should really get back on track. I wouldn't call it "overeating" if I was 50 pounds lighter, but I really am 50 pounds over the healthy weight range. I have tons of muscle - visible biceps and strong legs - but also tons of fat. I ate 3/4 of a frozen pizza yesterday (cooked of course). It was awesome. Right after class I showered, napped, drank 2 litres of water and then began to eat. I started out with a huge bowl of canteloupe, but I really was hungry so I was driven to cook up the pizza. 3/4 of a pizza is way more than I would usually eat - I usually eat 1/4... but I don't feel bad about it, it's just important that I start tracking calories and get at a range that will allow weight loss. I will go to class tonight in about 5 hours. I'm sure I will have another awesome class. About food and hot yoga: Sometime last week I had some fruit/coconut water smoothie within an hour before class but it was uncomfortable to do forward bending poses and a lot of the mat poses. These are the food rules: 1. Do not eat within 4 hours of class. Go with an empty stomach (I need more than 3 hours). 2. Drink water 2 hours before class. Somewhere on the bikram yoga vancouver website (www.bikramyogavancouver.com) I read that water takes 2 hours to be digested so anything you drink within 2 hours prior to class will not increase your hydration. Bikram yoga vancouver has the most helpful website. They post articles on food and lots of information on poses. I love their student profiles. I really liked taking class at bikram yoga vancouver. I was going there in March this year at the Cambie location. One teacher, C., singled me out in class and encouraged me to slow down and work on executing the postures properly. The next time he taught me he singled me out again and complimented me in front of everyone saying that he remembered me from before and that I was showing tremendous patience. It was wonderful encouragement. I changed locations because I would have to drive 20 minutes to Cambie but I live within a 6 minute walk of Metrotown. I love the Metrotown location also. They are also very encouraging and I have started to genuinely smile when I see the staff and teachers. I have some favourite teachers there also that have been very helpful and encouraging. I am looking forward to finishing the 50 day challenge and receiving a towel as a reward (the first 10 students who finish 50 classes in the challenge will receive a hot yoga towel and be entered to win free membership). I am number 3 on the list behind 2 people who do double classes. I expect that I will keep going to yoga everyday after the challenge has been met. First I have to accomplish the challenge :).

day 24 - started standing bow pulling pose

I think that the pose is called "standing bow pulling pose," I'm not sure. I have been holding off from trying to lift my leg and reach forward because I couldn't get too far without falling out, but today I did it for a small amount of time. I got my leg evenly over my head and concentrated on stretching forward. I thought that my body isn't changing much because the scale has gone up about 3 pounds. I stopped counting calories about a week ago and I will start again soon because I won't be able to lose weight without being conscious of the calories. But, even thought I went up 3 pounds and am still wearing the same clothes (but looser) my coworker complimented me yesterday on looking better and it meant a lot to me. It was really good timing because I was starting to feel discouraged, but now I feel encouraged and like I will lose weight and get stronger and everything I want (health-wise). My legs are a lot more solid. During pranayama breathing (I think it's called "pranayama") I stand pretty solid. I tensed my legs yesterday at work to see how I'm doing and it's pretty rock hard all the way up through the thighs. So, I'm overweight - but I'm building tons of muscle. I think that I wrote about being too big to buy yoga clothes... but I feel encouraged that as I build muscle I will increase my metabolism and lose weight. And also, when I start to write down my calories again, I will continue losing fat. It's not really ok to slack off because that's how I became overweight. I really, really got heavy. I got heavier than I ever thought I would, I got to some big numbers (about 60 pounds overweight, I think). I am supposed to weigh between 113-130 on height-weight charts (I have a normal frame at 5' 2") but I got over 180 recently. Now I'm at 177, according to my wonky scale. But I'm thinking some of that might be period water retention... if I'm lucky.

day 19 - life habits are changing

I had a really good class yesterday. Today will be day 19, I will go to the studio a little later. What I noticed, and what I wanted to record is that a lot of my food habits have changed naturally. I read on one of the Bikram sites, I think Bikram yoga Vancouver, , that food habits will change because food cravings are a means for your body to satisfy what it needs, and the yoga also satisfies you so the body has nothing it needs to feel better. I think I will eventually be eating less because I will not be craving anything beyond the food that I really need. I crave water and fruit a lot more. Yesterday I held off on protein before class so when class was over, a few hours later, I had two servings of poached salmon. Nothing naughty - no cravings for potato chips or cake. The salmon just had salt on it, and the other day I ate a ton of lettuce and fruit. I just want a lot more vegetables and light protein. I feel like I'm getting strong like a dancer. I feel like Bikrams is similar to the control and elegance of dancing. Holding my stomach, legs and arms tight is making my body strong and compact. One other new thing that happened is I want to get an official yoga top. I've been using cotton tshirts, but yesterday I felt like it was weighing me down and I want something light that will wick the sweat away.

day 16

I found some new strengths. I pushed my leg harder into the floor during the standing series, and it helped to support me. I touched my head to my knee (finally) in the sitting head to knee. I almost got my head to my knee in the standing series.... but not quite. I'm really proud to get a little closer.

My cardio was weak today and I was lazy and stayed in savasanah for half of almost everything. But, I'm proud of getting stronger and I just concentrated on calming down my heart and breathing.

day 15 - 8 am class - good effort today

I was strong in this morning's class. One thing that happened is that I've been working on getting my bum on the ground in fixed firm pose ... and it's getting closer. Today and yesterday I got it there a little bit. I'm happy to see some progress after only a few weeks. Everything's getting stronger: abdomen, legs, arms, back. I sweated more today, I think. I think that's good, also - it means I'm getting healthier. I sweated through my shirt at work today which I think means that my body's working better. I will have to wear powder or something, but that's fine.

day 14 - I didn't give 100% effort

Today I didn't give 100% effort. I took the 6:15 pm class with a kind teacher. I wasn't feeling very strong. What I learned is that I need more than 3 hours to digest a large meal. I have to keep that in mind, and eat less at the meal (I finished my plate of fettucine pescatore). I still left class feeling good having done the postures only about once on each side. I noticed that my vision was clearer after class.... that might be a new benefit :)

This morning I walked/ran in the SunRun (a 10 km run that is popular in Vancouver) with my mom and 11 year old cousin. My mom is a good runner and wanted to run. My cousin and I kept her walking because she wanted to stay with us as a group and we didn't feel like running too much. We had a nice time on the run - my cousin and I played a game stealing each other's hat or headband and chasing after each other. Then afterwards my family traditionally gets together for lunch at a restaurant which is where I had the fettucine and some birthday cake. My grandma from my mom's side was there with her husband (they had walked the 10 k). Two of my aunts were there: one of my aunts had walked the 10 k with her husband, my second aunt likes to meet us somewhere along the route and cheer. I am not sure why she likes to do that, but it's still nice to search for her every year as we run/walk. Another of my cousins ran and said that she completed the route in about 54 minutes. The SunRun is more of a fun run than a serious race for the majority of us because there are a lot of participants and it gets tricky for the people running to have to weave around the masses of walkers. Some runners do take the SunRun seriously and are seeded into the first group of competitors.

I really love the SunRun because I love to see the huge crowds and I love the actual route that goes through downtown along the water and close to Granville Island. I like Vancouver very much. I really like to see people being active and kind of united.

There was one grumpy woman today who got mad at me. The rule is that you should walk on the right and run on the left. A lot of walkers spread out and it really is difficult for the people running. I did my best to stay to the right when I was walking... but a woman said something snarky to me about "walkers should stay on the right." It makes me happy to hear her because I think it's cute, kind of ironic that someone would be miserable and rude during something so fun and unifying. I really do like these kinds of moments, there are all kinds of people and we all can be a hero or awful. It's ok to sometimes be awful :)

day 13 - Bikram Yoga Challenge and why I think I will blog about it

I finished day 13 of a 50 day challenge. I wanted to blog because I am actually going through changes, just like the articles and marketing of bikram yoga says I would. Lots of parts are getting fitter physically and mentally.

One physical change that I didn't know to expect is that my hamstrings got rock hard. I am used to having strong legs, I've always been proud of this, but I had forgotten about my hamstrings. I feel, physically, like I'm gaining back the body I had as a kid when I used to spend hours playing and was thin and strong.

I'm gaining muscular strength and flexibility (I can see my arms getting stronger and my legs getting thinner) but, this is expected when someone regularly does challenging exercise. What I didn't expect from going to class regularly is that my little issues that I had with urination frequency and unusual urgency has stopped. I thought that it was normal for my body to be a little bit different than everyone else's in this way and that I was just a person that has to go to the bathroom every hour, or sometimes every few minutes, and that's just the way my body is. It is really nice that the urgency and frequency have both been reduced and I can spend longer periods of time out of reach of a bathroom. Sometime last year I had taken a few intermittent classes. In one of those classes I had to ask a bikram yoga teacher for permission to leave the room to go to the bathroom - it was so awkward - I even had to leave one of the classes twice to go to the bathroom, and it was normal for me to not be able to last 15 minutes at work sometimes and have to keep leaving. I'm wondering if the urgency and frequency has lessened because I am sweating more or if it is a benefit that can be attributed to wind removing pose.

In bikram's yoga we do a lot of work on the spine - pulling the spine forward, bending it back - and I'm associating this work with the mental changes that I'm having. I am calmer, like I've seen people describe in their online writing about bikram yoga and in testimonials, but there are other mental changes that are surprising me in the same way that I didn't know to anticipate the physical effects. It's hard to describe mental state, but one thing I can attest to is that I recently had to write a final exam and I felt like I didn't need to study as hard because my memory just seems to be stronger.