Yoga Experiment Day 5

I think this is actually day 6. Pretty sure there's another day lost in there somewhere, because I remember one night I was going to skip the session (it was late, I was tired), but then I heard Gary's calm voice in my head and I saw Eliver's slightly self-conscious but still content smile, and I knew I had to spend my hour with them.

Ok, so it was about midnight (bad habit), so I piked out half way through, but I still enjoyed our brief time together.

This morning, I was fortunate enough to wake up at 5:30am. It was tempting to just get ready and do other things, but I told myself that I had time for this, that I had to make time, and it'd be worth it in the end. I was right. My biggest problem was getting myself to concentrate and to allow myself to stay in the present and focus on my breath and the movements. I got better, but my mind is still like a child let loose in the playground.

I was tempted to quit halfway through again, but I didn't want to send my body the message that my mind can wander and I can become distracted during yoga. Once you're in, you're in. Yoga is an hour and that's the time I'm going to take.

The other thing I like about the DVD is the pause button. Sometimes I want to hold the stretch longer. General rules say about 30 seconds per stretch, Gary hold it for about 15, but really, just see how long your body wants you to hold it for--wait for the muscles to release a bit. Hold it for as long as it feels nice, basically. My shoulders are super tight. Some of the stretches help. Even still, I've booked in for a massage on Chrissy Eve. Can't be going on 8 hour flights with tight muscles.

When I started the session today I was quite stiff. By the time I finished I felt much looser.

BTW, eating chocolate cookie batter late last night was definitely a bad idea. I felt it this morning as though I'd only just eaten those few generous spoonfuls. Green tea helped make me feel like less of a pig.

Final note, even after less than a week, I've discovered that I can do a few of the stretches further than I could on the first day. I'm still rubbish at the floor exercise, but my hands can twist round a bit more on the Cleansing Heart and Lungs move.

Oh, and sugar makes me break out, so I'll have to have less of that. More veggies, I reckon.