Everybody Says Hello

The last time that I took Madonna's class she emphasized the importance of having a home yoga practice so instead of going to a studio yesterday, I opened the Simply Yoga ap on my iPod and practiced for twenty minutes. I'm sure the carpet was far from pristine but I'll live and I felt pretty good after twenty minutes of practice that included Child's Pose, Warrior I and Upward Facing Dog.

Next time that I travel I will put my yoga strap on my packing list since my IT Band is giving me feedback...

Tried Tai Chi for about five minutes during an energy workshop that I attended and decided to try an entire class today. OMG, everyone introduces themselves in Florida...

During the first part of class, my arms felt the burn as we repeated various exercises 21 times. Oh, Tai Chi looks gentle but don't let the smooth taste fool you.

One of the exercises that I really liked was "knee rubbing." You put both hands on a  knee in a particular stance then you rub your knee in one direction then the other. Next, you rub the knee with your fingertips then cup the kneecap and move almost in a lunge-like matter.

About halfway through the class, the teacher took us rookies to the back to show basic moves then rejoined the more experienced bunch. The experienced rookies showed us beginners the moves again so that we could familiarize ourselves.

I don't think that I'll do Tai Chi on a regular basis but I'm glad that I tried it. The room that we practiced Tai Chi in had a wonderful view.

The Room

Fingernail Grooves in the Ceiling

Had ambivalence about a class being offered but signed up for it anyway. Attending class meant that I would miss Zumba, swimming and yoga and, you know, parts of the Slug Festival. Saturday's 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. session left me completely drained and whiny. I contemplated quitting and not showing up for the second part on Sunday but I don't like to give up. Plus, if the instructors-in-training could be present (on the sidelines) for observation purposes, who was I to throw in the towel?

The first item on today's agenda was self-care -- one hour and 15 beautiful minutes of it. We connected our chakras, did Tai Chi and yoga. I kind of groaned with longing at the mention of yoga.

As we stretched our sides, the teacher said that her yoga instructor likes to say Energetically, you're creating fingernail grooves in the ceiling.

Regarding chakras, I now see why we do so many spinal twists in yoga and why Sara Calabro thinks that Downward Facing Dog is so important.

During class, we had to break off into pairs a lot. At one point, I got paired with the sole massage therapist in class. Guess who got a totally awesome hand massage?