Monday, November 5, 2012

Third Bikram Class and Counting

I turned a flower bed into a greens garden.
I did my third Bikram yoga class on Friday. I skipped Thursday as that's my tai chi class morning and I had lots of aches and pains from the previous workouts so I thought my body needed a little break to recover. They say Bikram works every part of your body and I can tell that's true because I think every muscle in my body hurt on Thursday!

Tai chi class was nice and relaxing though and a good stretch. On Thursdays is the beginner class so it kind of flows by easily, while my Sunday class is advanced so it takes more concentration and focus. I've been practicing tai chi for nearly 4 years and my practice has evolved over time. Tai chi has three levels, physical, mental and spiritual. I have made it to the mental level a few times but it takes patience and practice.

I've realized as I've gotten older that anything we want to benefit from takes takes patience and practice and I am going to be patient with myself when it comes to hot yoga class too.

On Friday, the instructor was also very helpful and there were several very new people in the class. My main trouble spots are my neck and my knees, plus my lower back was feeling a bit tender from the week's previous work outs.

I know the best thing to do is find the balance between making an effort and experiencing pain. I've been reading the forum on the Hot Yoga Doctor, plus I downloaded many of her free ebooks, which give great tips on how to get the most out of the poses. The 7 Keys to Hot Yoga and the download on relieving and preventing back pain were invaluable to someone like me who is just starting out.

The deep breathing exercises are really helping my lungs. I was told a few years ago that I have "chronic bronchitis" and when any doctor tells me I have a health issue, instead of asking what drug I can take, I start researching what natural things I can do. For my lungs, deep breathing is one of the natural things I can do to keep from ending up carrying around an oxygen tank when I'm old. I also eat tons of greens in my green smoothies so I am getting the best nutrition to support my lung health.

Good health tip: This fall, my husband and I planted a fall garden for the first time. The picture above is a small flower bed in my back yard that is now loaded with Swiss Chard, Mustard greens, parsley and other nutritious and fresh veggies. I go out each morning and pick a handful to put into our green smoothies. What a treat!

The third hot yoga class was easier than the two previous classes, although by the end, I was dragging a bit. On Saturday, I was still having some body aches but I'm looking forward to my next class on Monday.

Has doing yoga changed the way you eat? I know I don't have as much stress and being good to my body in yoga class does away with the need for my afternoon glass of wine, that's for sure.



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