Due to yesterday being the 4th of July and all, I figured I could allow myself one day completely away from the lovely glow of my computer screen. So today's entry in another combo entry, but this time I think it works out appropriately.

Yesterday's class was one of two classes the studio held during the holiday, and because of the 30 day challengers it was packed. Feet were in faces, sweaty arms were constantly bumping each other, your neighbors breathing sounded like it was right next to your ear… I LOVE classes like that. Seriously. I always feel like there is so much energy in the room that it has to be a good time, and really no one can take themselves seriously when they're doing chaturanga into someone else's feet. Not to mention you have to get comfortable with one another- your space is going to get invaded and you gotta get comfortable with that, because the plus side is then you get to make friends.

Classes like that also require a lot of focus, which is something I'm not sure I realized until yesterday. The whole point is still to have a breathing/moving meditation with yourself in the company of others, so allowing the presence of the people around you to become secondary and not become a distraction is key. But that's tough when you're constantly worrying if you're going to accidentally hit the person next to you.

Tonight's class on the other hand was HOT- even hotter than the room with 30 or so people in it from yesterday. I haven't been in a room that hot since Bikram LES (or at least that's how I felt!), and surprisingly I totally dug it. There is a whole other challenge that comes up with heat, and it requires full mental control (or release depending on how you look at it) . I found at one point in the class that I really wanted to give up, but when I took a knee I realized I was breaking not because my heart was racing out of control, I couldn't find my breath, or I was feeling nauseous, but because I had literally just thought to myself "No way can I do this right now." But I totally could! The only thing stopping me was that I didn't think I could. So I took a deep breath and refocused. And for the rest of the flow series that's what I concentrated on. No mind, no thoughts, nothing. Just deep, long inhales and exhales. Feeling my heart pounding and feeling myself calming it with every breath and movement. And that's what yoga is about, and it was amazing.

The major lesson I learned between these two classes was a personal one. Yesterday's class I would normally consider rather "easy". It wasn't hot, the flow was relatively moderate, and we were given a pretty fair amount of breaks. However I also don't consider that I personally did "well" in that class. My breathing was uneven, it was hard for me to concentrate, and I definitely didn't push myself as much as I know I could have. 

Tonight's class however, I would definitely consider "hard" but I also feel I personally did really "well" and I believe it was because I was forced to concentrate because of the heat and it was easier because of there were fewer people in the room. Granted we all have our good days and bad days, and yesterday just could have been a bad day, but I also think that when I am given a certain type of challenge I will automatically want to live up to it, while when I'm given another kind of challenge I won't know what to do with it. But each class will present a different of challenge, and it's entirely up to me to face that challenge when it comes and get through it the best way I can, no matter the circumstances. Because that's what life is about, and when you do get through challenges you feel amazing.


So to make a long two days short (not really) that's been my double daily yoga dose. And as for my personal inversion challenge, day 4 and 5 were pinchmayurasana/forearm stand and a standard shoulder stand. The good news is I'm getting much better at my pincha!! Wall shmall, I'll straighten this sucker out in no time ;)