Am I glad to get that out of the way

Yoga Practical Assessment Looming...And breathe

Its fair to say that I love yoga, but I'm guessing you know that from my blogs

But this last 6 months have really challenged me, in every sense..

6 months preparing for my practical exam ( to enable me to instruct a class ) eat breathe and sleep yoga 

which as we all know does not make me an expert...far from it

So the day Arrived, the day I had been dreading since I was given my assessment date ( 6 months ago ) and I was really nervous.

The idea of teaching a group of strangers was very scary.

I thought I had gone over every single thing, checking paperwork, obtaining all relevant equipment ( blocks straps mats etc ) making sure my journal was up to date, ensuring water was available, AND, practising my routine til I really couldnt remember wether I was on my right or left side.

I must of gone over everything 100 times!!!!

It didnt start well,  How ever I managed it I will never know ( I had forgot an essential piece of coursework! how could that be? ) The worst possible scenario had showed itself!!!!

So my assessor  advised me to complete it there on the day, (how could I do that) which was not just stressful but really annoying because I wasnt able to do it to my standard, but I had to submit it or fail, before I'd even started

And all that achieved was to make me even more stressed...arghhhh

I did my practical ( even though I just wanted to run and hide myself, somewhere I found the strength and calm to complete it )

No it wasnt how I would have liked it to have been, but I did it

~He wasnt going to give me a pass~

no way...but hey I gave it my best shot

I was invited in to speak to my assessor and get my feedback, he said he knew I had had a stressful day ( tell me about it ) he asked me several questions about my class and how I would progress it ( which really irritated me, because what did it matter if I hadnt passed?)

 Well....I could have 'pee'd my pants'

'I'm pleased to tell you that you have passed' he said

Well I nearly PASSED OUT!!!!  My eyes leaked too!!!!

I didnt know wether to cry or hug him  ( so I did both........ )

( its fair to say that on the day when it mattered I had a lot of support from my class mates and my assessor.....)

thank the Lord ( and may be a little bit of yoga 😉) for the strength I found to get me through it....

And breathe........

Get stretching - Parsva Sukhasana

Good morning... its time to stretch

 I start with a few gentle breaths to waken the body.. here goes.. Tadasana - mountain pose

Inhale through the nose and stretch your arms up and above your head, keeping feet grounded and close together..letting the in breath inflate your chest 

exhale through the mouth, returning the arms back down to the sides of the body, noticing how the chest deflates on the out breath.. repeat this several times making the breath deeper with each breath..filling the lungs with fresh oxygen and expelling the stale breath

focus and keep breath smooth and controlled... try to stretch as tall as possible ( keep upper body soft and legs strong, knee caps lifted  )

A few sun salutations to warm up the body as seen in previous posts...

and onto some side body stretches... ( some of my favourite asanas )

Starting off in an easy seated side stretch- parsva sukhasana.  This is an excellent stretch for the waist and side of the body, including the neck and shoulders.  

I find this beneficial for my obliques and back, a part of the body that I dont usually stretch in my usual day to day movements.

This is one of the asana that I have seen noticeable improvement since i started practising yoga.  I love the lengthening that I feel from doing this pose.  

A more advanced asana can 

be seen here Parivrtta janu sisasana ( seated side stretch ) it also shows which muscles are being used.This gives the sides of the body a fantastic stretch as seen in the diagrams, it has many benefits including opening and lengthening the side of the body and intercostal muscles between the ribs.

It also massages the abdominal organs improving digestion.

It is important to keep both sitting bones down and to keep lengthening before stretching over to side. 

fab yoga class

My favourite class of the week to date

My Saturday morning yoga class is amazing..the instructor is an amazing young woman who just inspires me.

Before I get their I am my usual hyped up individual, always rushing round, chasing my tail, ( even if I do get up at stupid oclock ) and always on the go.....

that is until I get into my Yoga class and this morning was no exception.

Little bit of chat with the class members about the forthcoming yoga work shop before the class starts leaves us all feeling a little excited and curious.

But soon we are right into the class with a few slow deep breaths to begin our class and ease us into the practise....

I have noticed of late how much quicker I get into the moment...

. The instructor reminds us that it is our practise and not to compete with others in  the class...(one of my pet habits in the past...sure, I'm still very competitive, but I dont tend to watch others int he class now, I try to focus on what I am doing and just to compete with myself, improving my own practise )

This is really good advice as we are all different, with different body shapes, some more flexible than others, and all bringing to the class different issues, all of which can hamper or aid the practise.  What might be good for us to do on one day, may not be good on another day.....

So I always try to treat each practise with a fresh outlook...I do my best..I be he best I can be....

But as our instructor reminds us ( she refers to Ahimsa, one of the 5 Yamas, Non-violent/non harming, and that means to our selves also )...we also have to be kind to ourselves..if we need to take a break..that is ok.... we can resume when it is good for us..( that is not to say that we shouldnt push ourselves to try to be better..it means that it has to be balanced.....and the fact that we are present in the practise means we want to be the best we can ) 

It is an intense class with lots of asanas I havnt practised for a while, I feel invigorated, and strong, and somewhat stretched!!!!

The class ends all too soon... with 10 minutes savasana/meditation..and opportunity to relax my body and mind and to give thanx that i am able to take part in my yoga practise....

yoga class ..its been ages

After 10 days of  not doing a yoga class....

 fotos by chardonnay

Our holidays are over and its back to normality/reality

some of the things that we come back to I'm sure are not always welcome!!

all that washing..ironing...cleaning...etc

sunshine ...sea...cocktails are now just beautiful memories...

seeing our loved ones and being in places we feel familiar with, I'm sure are some of the things we feel happy coming back to....

for me, getting back to my exercise routine, is also really important....especially my yoga

(thats not to say that I dont want to get back to see my lovly family 😉, I miss them loads really )

So my 1st class in 10 days is done, and yes it was tough going....

I really couldnt wait to get to it ....my body felt like it needed a good stretch, especially after that 5 hour flight ( which was not enjoyable...after being up for 15 hrs, then the flight, then the 2 hr difference, its fair to say that we were feeling a little fragile...  )

it started very gently with some nice loosening up exercises/forward folds etc but quickly moved onto some quite intense strength asanas/poses...moving through several sequences of downward dog, 3 legged dog, plank, and side plank which was , for me, quite tough!! 😩 ( was I really missing this! )

moving on, twists of different variations!!...and by now I was feeling very tired..so the arrival of some work on our back was very welcome.....

Our class finished with 10 minutes meditation which was very welcome...an opportunity to rest and breathe.......and focus on nothing but my breath entering and leaving my tired body 😔

Namaste

yoga journal...

woke early....mind working overtime 
yesterday was a heavy day ( stress wise ) and I think my brain was still there!
(trying to get my 1st assignment in...before my hols
trying to sort out apprenticeship applications for my 16 year old..
sorting holiday arrangements out for forth coming holiday...clothes, toiletries, taxi to airport, making provisions for family members!!! ( 3 days time !)
getting a card and gift for mine and hubbies anniversary..2moro!! ( even though he WILL forget )
not forgetting all the usual day to day things that have to be done...)

And breathe.....

I noticed my body was still there too as I got out of bed....back and joints were noticably stiff....i think they were stressed too!!! holding on to all those memories from yesterday

Unbelievable how stress can affect the body as well as the mind...my body takes on a whole new shape/posture when I am stressed... shoulders and ears noticably connected 😉 spine slumped into my hips!!! and the pain in the base of the skull must be due to my head wanting to disappear in between my clavicle and scapula!!!  ( no wander I'm aching 😉 )

Need to address this with a few nice in breaths/out breaths...stretching my arms above my head and taking a nice full body stretch...getting my neck and head back to normal position! rolling my shoulders back and forth and getting them away from my ears...

Positivity starts to return as I remember I have a yoga class in a couple of hours...( not just any class, but my favorite one of the week)

As the morning went on ..its fair to say that a few negative thoughts crept..

(my cousin rang to say she wouldnt be able to make the class as she had to much to do for our hols!)

(yes I've got loads to do too?  I could do a quick session at home and crack on with my jobs!!)

so easy to let negative thought stop us doing things....that little voice in the head

But I'm glad to say...I went and as usual it was amazing/inspiring/exhilarating/

The instructor was full of her usual energy...puts me in the mind of a perfect sun salutation..

and I instantly remembered why she had inspired me to want to be an instructor and to hopefully pass on to others, what she gives to me 💓

Why did I even consider not coming?    

we started with a deep breaths in and out, calming us and getting us ready for the class.

we did some shaking nxt!! knees bent slightly and shaking our booties, and then doing small jumps on the spot and hugging ourselves/slapping our backs....sounds a bit odd..but it served to wake up our bodies and create energy and warmth, and a little bit of humour, ( when you spotted yeself in the mirror )  breaking down any awkwardness in the class....again I asked myself

'why would I want to do chores instead of this?' I love my yoga

Nicely warm now....we continue into adho mukha svanasana..with an opportunity to pedal our heels to release our calf/hamstrings,( i still struggle with getting my heels to the floor, but it is a working progress )  bending from side to side, with bended knees, feeling a good stretch in each side of the body....thoughts of yesterday melting away as I push myself into the twists, releasing the stiffness from my shoulders
next was sun salutations, again stretching getting rid of stiffness, enjoying breathing into the forward folds and backbends releasing any remaining tension....allowing me to focus and feel my mind becoming calm.
next came the twisted asanas....starting with intense pose,  twisted chair pose, massaging the internal muscles... I have been trying to improve this as I felt my flexibility was not very good, although I do think it is improving, our instructor encourages us to twist as fully as possible...onto twisted lunges..feeling very stretched!! more to come..onto twisted triangle...I always feel my alignment is not good in this pose.even with the help of the block.(which could be why its not one of my favorite poses ) the instructor came round and helped us with alignment..but I do find breathing in this pose quite tough. 
is at this stage I get a few negative thought pop into my mind, struggling a bit now..need to learn to focus more....more than half way through the class and its tough going
opportunity to rest a little and to relax into the pose...into a belly twist...i like this pose more, and we are encouraged to try the variations, one leg extended etc
we end with shoulder stand moving into plough...I love the roll motion into plough....releasing the back 
we settled into Balasana Baby pose ..phew opportunity to relax into this lovly pose..lenghtening and stretching the spine, shoulders and even the legs, instructor encouraging us to sit right back on our heels and reach gently forward....focusing on our breathing, calming down our breath /minds.
and onto relaxation.......

journal Adho mukha svanasana

6 a.m.
Another early start for me ( balance class at 9.30)
Not so much soreness this morning as I stepped out of bed 👌
(  not to say that I cant feel my aches )
This is good it reminds me that I have been working hard, I'm aware of my upper arms in particular, and the muscles in the arms, still feeling sore. ( oh yes and pain in the butt 😉 gluteus maximus )
( I remember in particular about 2 years ago, before taking up yoga, that I was experiencing a lot of discomfort in my wrists and elbows.  I remember being quite concerned about it, it was obvious for quite a few months and even just the simplest of every day actions, such as leaning on my elbow or carrying shopping would be very sore. I remember distinctly thinking 'Damn, I'm getting old!!' 👵  and I was not happy about it. ) ( not particularly the getting old side of it, although, to be fair, I'm not happy about that at all, but its inevitable!!!, it is more the ailments that are associated with getting old!  that I object to)
another excellent reason to be as healthy as possible...be the best you.... see previous blogs
I can truthfully say on a day to day basis I do NOT have pain in my wrists, yes, if I have been doing a lot more yoga which particularly uses arms/ wrists/shoulders etc I do experience discomfort, BUT, and for me this is the important bit, it is temporary and reminds me that I am working hard and getting stronger)
so back to this morning....

I put the soreness down to the increased amount of adho mukha svanasana, ( downward facing dog poses) both at home /classes. 
Probably one of the most widely recognised asanas ( moves/postures )
and a very good all in one posture which gives multiple benefits  ( to be revisited in future blogs)

 so continuing my day with some slow and deep inhale/exhale breaths ( see previous post )
before going through my sun salutations ( see previous post ) and now onto several repetitions of adho mukha svanasana to stretch out all those muscles...

onwards and upwards

😉

journal Sun salutation

Up nice and early..and I use the term NICE loosely!
Been doing more classes than usual and really pushing myself and felt very tired when I woke at about 5.45 a.m. to get my son off to work😫
By 5,45 I would of had approximately 6 hours sleep and ordinarily that would be more than enough for me.
But this is not ordinary!!
for the last month I have been doing 6 classes a week ( 1 per day ) which means I have doubled the classes...( usually doing just 3 a week )
These consisted of yoga and body balance, as well as my Yoga at home.
So after dragging myself out of bed feeling, to be honest, quite sore  I had my 1st glass of water and took a few slow deep breaths ..in through the nose and out through the nose ...filling my lungs with oxgen and getting rid of the carbon dioxide....I like to really exhale deeply and as fully as possible...pulling the abdominal muscles in ....an action that I liken to ringing out washing!! 😉
this always puts me in the right frame of mind to start my 1st asana of the day
Today its Sun Salutations.....so here goes
I love this ..it stretches the whole body....and again gives the opportunity to fill my lungs with oxygen...
I  ease myself into each asana...I like to work to my maximum and over the last few years I have noticed that it has really paid off....( I am getting deeper into the asana) still loads of room for improvement...
(Only work to your own limitations...its your practise )
I try to keep a fluid movement ..gracefully moving through the moves ...breathing slowly and gently... feeling the energy spread through the body.
Sun salutation leaves me feeling strong and helps gets rid of the stiffness that has built up due to extra exercise
I do 2/3 rounds today as I have a class later on.
Although I feel tired initially..( I expect this to subside once my body gets used to the extra work load)   I still have loads of energy to take me through the day....and I feel stronger and leaner and more healthy...actually I feel full of sun salutation 😉
A fantastic way to start the day....