Day 21 Is it the sunshine?
- At March 06, 2011
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Life, Roxanne Writes On
- 0
Were the stars all aligned just right? Did I have the perfect balance of carbs, protein and caffeine in my system, with the correct amount of digestion time prior to class?
I don’t know, but my practice was a breeze today. Balance was good, I almost got my frickin’ right knee straight in Standing Head to Knee, Camel was no problem and there was less snap-crackle-pop in my joints than usual.
I’m two-thirds through the 30 day challenge, and I can see the end of the tunnel. I haven’t lost an ounce probably because, well, you know… pie. But I’m so ripped I should be on the cover of some muscle magazine. You know, the one for middle-aged mothers with delusions of grandeur.
So I went home afterwards and got out the pick-ax, spade, rake, secateurs and gloves, and went to work on my 5-years-and-counting, take-no-prisoners landscaping project. The dogs and I enjoyed a couple of hours of sweaty outdoors time.
I’m such an idiot. I wasn’t sore from yoga. But now I’m sore from gardening.
Day 20 Consider Yourself Warned
I’ve reached that stage in an exercise program where my body has reached a plateau, neither improving (as far as I can tell) nor leaving me in a limp puddle of humiliation after a class.
Now, they tell me, it becomes a mental challenge.
NOW it becomes mentally challenging?? I don’t know what that means, exactly. From day one, it’s been a mental challenge to stay in posture when my hamstrings are screaming. It’s a mental challenge just to get to class every day. It’s a social situation, which automatically makes it mental challenging for me. And NOW it’s getting started??
I’m scared.
But I have noticed one thing, and maybe this is what they’re talking about. I’m pretty damn proud of myself. Yessiree, bob, I’ve made it 20 days in a row. Yup, lotta sweat. Lotta laundry.
And I’m not afraid to talk about it. To wear yoga clothes all day, every day, to be make-up free and proud, to casually practice postures while waiting in bank line-ups. (All part of the social challenge referenced above.)
“You run marathons,” I might comment at a cocktail party. “How nice for you. I,” pause for effect, “do yoga. Bikram yoga. The hot kind. Here, feel my abs. FEEL THEM!”
If I’ve had a glass of wine, it can quickly devolve into an anatomy lesson, a sort of reverse sexual assault. Which you’d think would make me popular at parties, but no. Apparently I do something weird with my eyes that frightens people.
Mental challenge, pshaw. It’s a mental challenge every day, just to be me. Bring it on, I say. BRING IT ON!
Day 12 Just Let Me Sleep
On the plus side: my jeans are fitting nicer.
On the minus side: I can’t walk.