Advanced Yoga

Yesterday was a day of yoga firsts for me:

1. First time I did a double take (back to back class)
2. First advanced yoga class


A double take isn't really a bad idea as long as you have the energy to do it. And I had the energy to... well, I merely psyched myself for it so I don't really know how to make sure if you have the energy for it.It was early in the morning and I think it was a good move that I didn't take an evening yoga class the previous day. Good job, good job! Choooo! =)

So after I took the regular class, I took the advanced one 30 minutes later. Ryan, our advanced class instructor, did tell me that doing just that would help because you're already warmed up and flexible by the next class. And that was exactly what happened.

So how exactly was my first advanced class?

It was AWESOME!

It's a lot faster, therefore you don't really have much time to prepare for poses like in regular classes. And there are more repetitions.. so instead of say, doing the camel pose twice, we do it four times...and instead of your hands being on your feet, it's our heads that are touching our feet. Just to give you an illustration of what the hell I'm talking about..


Regular class... done twice.

Advanced class... done 3-4 times

 Well, something like that but you have to push your hips forward more than that. You get the idea.

I used to kid around that yoga class is like paying someone to make you into a human pretzel. I was wrong... it's advanced class that LITERALLY turns you into a human pretzel.

Since it was my first time, I had to see how they do things first.. they'd get into the position first, I'd watch ... and before I even do the pose, I'd end up saying "interesting" first.. because really.. it IS interesting. Just how interesting?

To be perfectly honest, those are really easier than they look. 

This one's a pretzel... oddly enough it's called "Sleep of the yogi" in english.


(Photos soured from marylandyoga.com)

That's just to give you an idea. there are more interesting poses that I got to learn from advanced class, I just don't have the patience to find a photo. These are pretty simple already compared to the others. But as far as being a human pretzel, well, that pretty much suffices as an example. =)

There are a few poses, though, that I have to be honest made me really pissed at myself. And I mean PISSED to the point I kept cussing in silence. I got pissed because these are poses I could do, I was able to do them before, granted that was during highschool and early college days but still! I guess it pissed me off because I realized that I'm not THAT flexible anymore. Yeah, I'm being too hard on myself. I miss my highschool days that way. These were my classic stunts and now I can't do them anymore. Dommage.
Later on I thought, hell, if I was able to train myself to do that before, I can very well do it again now. Which is frankly my goal before even being able to do a head stand. hehe! =)

This one's one of my favorites, but then you'll have to bend back further than that. At this rate, I can bend back more than 90 degrees but I still can't straighten my legs... which defeats the purpose. Wenk! It figures, my back is stronger than my legs and arms. Shheht.

That's the only low point of my advanced class experience: realizing that I've gotten rough on the stunts that I used to be able to do in half a second which freaks people out. But the good thing about yoga is this: you're not supposed to quit. Your determination is more important than your flexibility. Which is perfect for someone who can be hard on herself as I am. Channel all that self-competitiveness on yoga much, huh? =)

After yoga class I had to storm out to go to my afternoon meeting. Ryan had warned me about sore muscles but which I totally ignored because, hello, I'm off to my meeting. During the meeting, I honestly couldn't sit any other way but straight. My back will kill me if I slouched (more than it would when I was just taking regular classes). My legs were sore but actually, being in heels made things easier for me to recover from. ACHE! Holy shit right? But it's just like any exercise that you've just started and put your 110% effort on. It only means one thing:

You have to do it again!

Which I will, definitely. But given my work schedule i can only do it once a week, which is fine really. I at least know that I can practice the advanced moves (at least the last 3 poses I posted) at home. I was able to do it before outside the context of a hot room, I can do it again. No , I WILL do it again.

It's not so bad the experience. In fact it wasn't bad at all. At least every Thursday I now look forward to a double take.

But this I have to say: if you're not a determined person, if you're not willing to give your 110% in every pose, and if you don't have the capacity to let go, you will really have a hard time in yoga, especially in advanced yoga. One of the things I learned from yoga is letting go. I'm already determined and I'm able to give 100% already sans yoga (meaning I had to add that 10% only for classes), but letting go wasn't my strongest suit.

I can safely say now that it's becoming one my strongest traits. Yoga is a practice. And not only are you practicing the physical battery of poses, you're also practicing the way of thinking it hones. Balance. FOCUS. Patience. Determination. And yes, most importantly, letting go. Because really, if you don't know how to let go, your entire practice will be screwed up. So even if you totally tanked a posture, you have to let it go right away once you're on still mode or else you won't be able to do the 2nd round nor the next poses. Much like in life, you have to let go of what has passed in order to move on to the next. And the best part of yoga is this: you have the chance to do it again if not on the 2nd or 3rd round, the next class. granted in life we don't always get chances, but that's where the 110% effort comes in. You have to give it your all, you have to "make up your mind to give it your 110% effort" and just friggin' do it!

It's the reason why I practice yoga. And for the people whom I interact with or speak to everyday, they do see how greatly it has affected my way of life. And I love it! I love myself more and more now. So I don't really think it's bullshit when people say that yoga can actually change your life because it can. Especially to people who psychologize everything the way I do. Hehe! =)

So that's advanced yoga day 1 for you. Hell, this blog may as well be a yogi's journal. Hehe!

It's Valentine's weekend and Chinese New year!!! Kung Hei Fat Choi everyone!!! Ooh, and if anyone's going to the Hot Air Balloon festival this weekend, let's meet up! Yahooo!!! =)


Have an AWESOME weekend everyone! My weekend starts right....NOW!

Toodles! =)

AMDG.


Beyond all logic, against all odds, of all that seems impossible: I BELIEVE.