Week 2 Yoga Challenge

Coming from a sports background that often has coaches pushing you to go past your limitations, I find yoga a slightly peculiar workout. I am used to hearing, "do one more rep, see if you can go 10lbs heavier, dig deeper, a little faster, get out of your comfort zone, etc." I found myself in yoga class this week puzzled when instructors said, transition into the next posture when your body is ready, go at your own pace, if it's too much just stop, rest whenever you need to, etc." Amused, I thought, "this would never happen at track practice." I should mention that I went from crossfit to yoga on Monday, and anyone who has ever stepped foot in a crossfit gym knows that no one ever tells you to take a knee.

While I attended mostly Hatha yoga classes this week, I did go to one Vinyasa and one Ashtanga class. I learned something about Hatha these past few days that gave me a greater appreciation for the practice. Hatha means equal and opposite forces. The movements in Hatha are actually counter movements... pulling muscles simultaneously in different directions. I gained a greater understanding of what it feels like to elongate muscles in a stretch. The strain on your body, which last week I incorrectly believed to be very little, comes from this principle of counter movement. It was a lesson that I can see has application in other sports. The idea of balance, of evenly distributing your weight as you move, and of course properly stretching can work to ward off injuries.

I also enjoyed doing a little more core work in my classes this week. I usually find that yoga does not focus enough time on core work. Since most of the difficult and even moderate poses require core strength, I am not sure why it is overlooked.

Summer Yoga Challenge

To challenge myself and give my body a change from my everyday workout program, I am doing 6 weeks of yoga. 42 days straight. My goal is to increase flexibility, body awareness, and basically take a big exhale over the past few emotionally hectic months. I am 1 week into this challenge, and each day I've learned something new.

Monday: Hatha Flow yoga after I downed half of a wheat grass smoothie (not a good idea). First of all wheat grass is nasty, but I am trying to detoxify after vacation gluttony. It was my first experience with Hatha Flow; I have only done Vinyasa. I enjoyed it and found it challenging. My teacher whipped out a guitar and sang during savasana and I actually found that part of class distracting and a nuisance. Tuesday: Hatha yoga, which was different than Hatha Flow was relaxing and allowed for time to clear my mind, but it wasn't physically stressful. My teacher recited a lot of poetry and quotations while we held poses. She also used about 2 minutes to let us dance around and shake our limbs. It was strange, but then again, I dance around my own house to relieve stress, so why not do it with strangers? Wednesday and Thursday: I went back to my Vinyasa roots and really felt the burn in my hips and shoulders. My instructor rang a gong throughout savasana and the sound vibrated through my entire body... I was not a fan, BUT he baked cookies for us (it was his birthday) and had a killer play list... definite bonus. Friday: Ashatanga yoga kicked my butt. I was not familiar with the flow of the series and I was sore from the previous 4 days. Saturday I did Vinyasa at home after travelling.

Anyways that was probably an unnecessary breakdown, but the main take away from the week was I am not stretching enough and I lack focus at times. Hopefully, that will improve in the coming weeks. Hopefully, I can relax my mind and my muscles. If you're looking for a change in your workout routine or need some cross training to balance your lifting and running, try yoga. After this first week, I still believe pilates is a stronger core workout, but my guess is that yoga will provide greater gains in lengthening and releasing muscle tension.

Happy Sweating ;)