Glutes Against The Wall

Monday

I've had my eye on another yoga class and decided to take my post-triathlon sore hips et al. to a nighttime session.

We did inversions on the wall since we were a small group.

The only wall inversion that I've done is one with my butt against the wall -- legs up.

Well, we also did the reverse. Hands on the mat while walking our feet up and down the wall. It was intense but felt really good.

At one point, we achieved an amazing calf stretch by extending our leg and curling our toes under.

As we got to the end of the practice, my newest teacher asked us if we wanted an eye bag. I've been up for all kinds of new activities lately so I said yes to an eye bag for savasana.

I put my woodsy smelling bag in place and the guiding started:

Relax your feet.

Relax your calves.

Breathe into every vertebrae in your spine.

Relax the space between your fingers.

I've heard a similar litany before. I liked it then and liked it last night...

Relax your earlobes.

Relax your eyebrows.

Relax your eyelids.

Relax your eyeballs.

Just. Let. It. Go.

Postscript: Slept wonderfully and considerably less sore Tuesday morning.


Tuesday

Got to take it to the wall again.

When it was time for the wall, my yoga teacher instructed us to put our right hip against it then put our legs up. We were also told to make sure that our glutes were against the wall. It always feels good to have my legs up on the wall and even better to extend my arms backwards while the legs are up; it's a great stretch.

It also felt good to do the butterfly pose against the wall -- the perfect Rx for my sore hips.


We did this situation

too and my yoga teacher stopped to tell me that my posture was excellent. It's a challenging pose but I like it.


Tuesday Bonus Round

Nighttime swimming, 10 laps...

Conclusion: I am definitely a p.m. exerciser.