Day 23

Tonight I went to Kenny’s Moksha Music class at 530pm. It felt like it did before the challenge, just the right size, not too packed. I felt weightless tonight, the strongest I have been in a while through the balancing poses and no stiffness in my muscles. I am a little shocked as I thought by day 23 I wouldn't be able to move from not having a day of rest; I really surprised myself that I seem to be recovering quickly between classes and getting stronger each day. I did go a lot this summer but only 3- 4 times a week so going the extra has really pushed me. I plan to go 5 times a week after the challenge is over. 

I thought about doing the 7 day cleanse with Brittanie for the remaining 7 days of the challenge but I am  almost vegan already (minus the tiny bit of milk I put in my coffee), that I am not sure what else I could remove from my diet. I also didn't want to give up my 2 cups of coffee habit a day either; I love it too much :)  It would have been great to do the cleanse to find out all the recipes as Brittanie is vegan too. I want to celebrate this challenge completion first, and maybe do a Brittanie cleanse in the future when I am ready for another challenge :)

Favourite pose tonight:

Rabbit / Sasangasana  (we did the modified version but I could not find a photo of it)

And for a little inspiration to get us through the last 7 days of this challenge (and any life challenges for that matter) check out this video. This woman is brilliant and right on the mark, her name is Danielle LaPorte, author of “The Fire Starter sessions”.  She created a video called “A Credo for Making it Happen (for best results watch daily).

Just last week she launched a poster, it is a nice visual to summarize her video's key messages :)

 Tomorrow I am going to Hot Hatha, I have only been to it once before…can’t wait to try it again :)

Day 22

Wow tonight was the hottest class I have ever been at, at least it felt like it was. All the mirrors were fogged up and my finger tips were all wrinkly like I had been in the bath for two hours...that has never happened to me at yoga before.  It was hard to breath and I couldn’t stay for even 30 seconds in final savasana… many people felt the same I think as lots left before me, someone even left before the class was over, I have never seen that happen before. The thermo reading said 112 degrees but it must have been the humidity as today was a beautiful warm day.

That was my first class with Steve. He said it was the first class he taught in the evening and he asked the class if they minded the lights off. I really liked it dark, I think if the lights had have been on it would have made it even hotter.  It was the best feeling to walk outside after class to the fresh air after it had rained.

Challenging  pose of the evening:

Big toe pose / Padangusthasana

My little meditation room is finally complete. It is so cozy, I love it. Looking forward to trying out my new meditation app tonight that @katewmak & @ColleenMcFall recommended.

Here is the cute little room :) The artwork looks odd from this angle but the room has 9 foot ceilings so the frame height looks really good when you are in the room as opposed to the picture I took of it. It has french doors, that is what you are seeing on either side of the photo with the hinges showing.

This is the meditation app, it is called Yoga with Janet Stone but it has 13 meditation sessions included. They all have different themes and are 5 minutes each.

 I also like the Mindfulness meditation app as well as some other iphone apps I downloaded in the last few months. I find I have so much more mental clarity when I do the meditation regularly and I can also find my focus more easily.

Day 22 complete! 

Day 21

Today I went to Airlie’s Yin class at 10am. I was a bit nervous about going as my legs still felt like rubber bands that lost their elasticity after Wednesday’s Yin class. Today the focus was on heart openers and not as much leg action so I was happy. We did some challenging poses including one that she created called dragon fly, it was very pretzel like :)

Airlie read some inspirational quotes from the I Ching by Brian Browne Walker. She read them slowly and a couple of times so they really sank in while we were in the 5 minute poses. I found a great I Ching iphone app, looking forward to reading more about it.

I loved the music in class today, one of the songs was the Wake up the Sun mantra reminding us that when we wake up on one side of the world, others are in darkness on another side of the world.  

The heart opener poses were difficult to hold for the 5 minutes but it was an excellent deep stretch. Airlie said that it is important to do these stretches as the heart is the first place we tend to hold adversity and the heart openers allow us space to accept both blessings and challenges that we face.

As always, I loved the cozy Savasana at the end of class to rest my body after the challenging deep tissue postures. It was such an awesome start to my day, I feel so good.

Challenging pose of the day:

Spinal Twist - Supta Matsyendrasana

Today I am grateful for my incredible Mom. She supports and encourages me through everything and is my biggest cheerleader in life. She reads my 30 day challenge blog every day even though she has never even tried yoga; she takes an intense interest in everything I am involved in no matter how boring it may be. I could not imagine my life without her in it; I don’t know how I got so lucky to have her as my Mom and best friend. Thanks Mom, for being you, love you to bits xo

Day 20

This morning I went to the 8am Moksha class with Karen. Excellent class – I was sore but the poses really helped to stretch out my muscles. We focused a lot on core and spine strengthening today. Can hardly believe we are 2/3 of the way through the challenge...

Challenging pose of the day:

Powerful Pose / Utkatasana

As part of the 30 Day Challenge we get to attend two workshops with Heather MacMillan Owner of HM Life Coaching and Training. Today’s workshop was called “Finding Balance off the Mat - an Examination of Life Balance".  Here is a summary of what we learned at the workshop:

-Work-Life Challenge – never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.

-Finding a balance between “paid work” and a personal life has become a significant issue for 50% of the labour force, both women and men.

-Feeling overloaded with both work and family responsibilities is a big stressor for many.

-Life balance is an ever changing dynamic process that requires continuous adjustment.

-Life balance is doing an asana like tree pose or dancer’s pose or like riding a bike, sailing a boat – you are continuously making shifts to stay in balance.

-Although continuous balance is impossible you can tell when your life is out of balance and take steps to correct it. Life balance is all about the choices you make and the good news is the little choices can make a big impact.

-There are five balls of life we juggle everyday – work, health, family, friends, spirit. The work ball is made of rubber so if it drops it will bounce back. The other four balls are made of glass so if you drop one it will become damaged - it will never be the same as it was before.

- “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least” – Johann Goethe

-Remember that the life work balance will shift every day, and it is okay to have times that are busy and there is no balance as long as you can communicate this with your family and then make sure you get back on track when the busy period is over.

-The other thing is to do what you can do to reach a balance and then be happy with the situation.

-Observe the mind – if there is that little negative voice – let it go – do not attach yourself to it (Metaphor – sticky fly tape) otherwise self sabotage takes hold – old subconscious patterns to run the show.

-Clarify your values, your priorities. Take steps towards a more balanced life, and then be content with what is going on and what you are doing.

-Learn to say no without feeling guilty.

-Then there will be contentment, peace, and life will be a lot less stressful.

-Choose to find balance – reclaim your time and lead a more fulfilling life.

 Looking forward to the next workshop "Keeping the Momentum, Goals for Success" on November 3^rd :)

Day 19

I decided to go to the Guided Meditation class at 1pm today. I thought my body deserved a bit of a break from the last 18 days and decided to take some time out for my mind instead. It was a very busy day so I was quite anxious when I arrived from my whirlwind work day rushing through my mind. I decided to leave it at the door and really dive into the meditation and not think of anything else. There were 30 people there; Airlie said it was her biggest class yet as there is usually only 7-15. There were some crew members there from the Holland America Eurodam Cruise ship which was really neat.

Airlie began by talking about her teacher Sally that said not to focus so much on sitting a certain way and being uncomfortable in one pose. If you need to stretch or move about the room, move with breath. That was encouraging as sometimes your body can fall asleep/get numb by staying in one pose for too long.

Airlie talked about Prana the life force, the essential energy underlying all of existence.  She asked us to put our left hand on our chest and our right hand on top of our left ,  really feeling our heart beat. I pushed everything out of my mind except for the sound of Airlie’s voice. She told us to share our aura with those in the room, and it felt like at one point I was looking at everyone in the room even though my eyes were closed. It felt warm, almost a glow to the room (or at least in my mind that is how it felt) when she talked about sharing our energy and blending our aura with those around us.

At the end of class we brought our prana back to our body and really noticed every moment -- every breath.  “From my heart to yours, Namaste”.

The rest of my afternoon was so peaceful, I am really going to make an effort to go to that class every Friday regardless how busy I am. What a difference it made for my day.

Found this article that talks about “Mind and Prana in Meditation Practice”. I have been meditating a lot lately with a few great iphone apps and it has made a huge difference in clearing my mind especially before I go to bed; it makes me sleep so deeply.

Airlie read from the book “The Secret Power of Yoga”. I definitely want to pick up this book, it says that the authour Nischala Joy Devi interprets Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the principles at the basis of Yoga practice, from a heart-centered, intuitive perspective.

Looking forward to the "Finding Balance off the Mat - an Examination of Life Balance" workshop tomorrow :)

Day 18

I can hardly believe today was day 18 of the challenge. I was a bit unmotivated to go tonight, I usually look forward to going every night but I was pretty sore today and just felt like curling up on the couch and watching a movie. At 7pm I pushed myself to get going and went to the 730 Moksha Flow class. I am really glad I went, it was an amazing class. I think I was also a bit sluggish because I wasn’t on top of my water intake today as I was in and out of meetings all day.

Karen is an incredible teacher, she has such a calming, relaxing voice and she also is very encouraging to have us push to our edge and hold a little longer even when we are dying to let go. Down dog after down dog, flow after flow, she keeps us motivated every class :)

I really needed tonight’s class to let go mentally and really take time for me – without any thoughts of my to-do-list or anything at all. I feel energized but yet numb, no cares in the world... I can tell that I am going to sleep well tonight. 

Favourite pose of the night:

Peaceful  Warrior / shanti (peace) warrior

I wanted to share this beautiful photo of my friend’s daughter and her stress-free technique. So adorable and wise beyond her years :)

Vous êtes stressés aujourd'hui? Mettons en pratique la super technique de ma petite fille de 7 ans sur "Comment Gérer le Stress et la Colère"! "Maman, on fait comme si on a une fleur dans la main, on respire la fleur doucement et on souffle sur la fleur comme on souffle une chandelle! Cute vous trouvez pas! :) 

Day 17

Last night when I said I was looking forward to Yin today and what a nice treat it would be from the moksha…boy was I ever wrong about that ;) That was only my third Yin class but definitely 10 times harder than the other two classes I went to. I still enjoyed it but found it harder to relax and focus as my body was screaming in some of the poses. Not pain, just strong sensations and very uncomfortable. Yin yoga uses long, passive holds to work on the deep, dense connective tissues of the body--the tendons, ligaments and cartilage--which are difficult to energize and open.

Tonight we did lots of leg poses – ½ butterfly, saddle, dragon, swan etc and held them for 5 minutes on each side. It was very challenging but I did my best and I am happy about that. My legs are on fire tonight, so an Epsom salt bath may be a great solution. I don’t want to be sore tomorrow. 

Airlie read some inspirational quotes tonight from her teachers Matthew and Elena. The theme of the quotes were on “pausing”, listening to your body, taking time to notice, mindfulness, feeling your bodies sensations, and feeling alive. I found it tough to focus during the quotes tonight as my body was fighting for my attention in the poses. Airlie mentioned when we close our eyes it is easier for our bodies to accept and melt into the poses.  I wanted to know more about Yin so I found out that "a long-held passive pose practiced while the muscles are not yet warm allows the energy to reach the deeper connective tissues of the joints and the corresponding pathways of the meridian system. The prana (or life force) stimulates and tones the joints' deep connective tissues, increasing the supply of fluids to them, making them less dense and enabling them to stretch deeply."   No wonder it is so uncomfortable... :)

Airlie read a beautiful poem near the end of class called “Mindful” by Mary Oliver, (I am pretty sure this is the one but like I said I was not able to pay attention with my body nagging me tonight in the poses).

“Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It was what I was born for-- to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world-- to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation. Nor am I talking about the exceptional, the fearful, the dreadful, the very extravagant--but of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations. Oh, good scholar, I say to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these-- the untrimmable light of the world, the ocean's shine, the prayers that are made out of grass?” – Mary Oliver  

If you like her poetry here is more of her work :)

Most challenging pose of the night:

Dragon pose / Yin variation of Ashwa Sanchalasana:

At the end of the class Airlie said for those that were plotting her demise during the poses, we will thank her later for the challenging class. I guess it is like a deep tissue massage, it hurts at the time but afterwards feels amazing. :) Even though tonight was so tough I am really looking forward to the Sunday Yin class.

Day 17 complete! :)