Don't Be Afraid

Climbing, moving and Zumba created the perfect storm for my quadriceps.

Attempted bridge pose in Gloria's class and had to quickly come down. My sore quads weren't having it.

Ear-catcher from Gloria's class:

Don't be afraid to take your foot off the gas pedal and coast.

Went from Gloria's class, along with Alison and Tammy (First Lady of the First Couple of Yoga) and went to a meditative flow class.

Rosie, one of my colleagues and sometime yoga buddy, was also there. Yoga is all about your mat and what you and only you are doing on your mat but it was nice to have Rosie to my left, Alison to my right and Tammy behind me.

Yoga is really good but yoga with friends is extra special.

Ear-catcher from Joy's class as we went into a forward fold:

There is nothing to prove. There is nothing to obtain...

We were all pretty mellow after class. Later on, went for a walk since the weather is so nice. Didn't cook anything so went to Crazy Bowls and Wraps. Looked and looked at the description of the Mediterranean wrap and didn't remember olives being in the mix. Looked again and realized that the falafel is no longer part of the sandwich. Crazy Bowls was one of the few places that sold baked falafel. No more...

Fall Slump

Slept in late yesterday and expected to bounce out of bed this morning but it didn't happen. It was okay though because Gloria woke me up with a flowy class.

Tammy and Mike, the first couple of yoga, walked in as I was walking out and Tammy invited me to stay for round two. No, thanks, I responded, Had enough during round one. It was true. The sweat rolled by the time we got to chair pose with a twist and all of that flowing from cobra to downward facing dog to plank, was enough for me.

I had a smile on my face at the end of class so everything was all good.

Felt sleepy close to three and told myself that it was okay to lie down for a while. A while ended up being a two-hour "nap." At some point, I kicked the phone off the bed among other things. Wasn't quite sure what I had done with my glasses but I did realize that Birds of the Rainforest should come off my relaxation playlist; the birds screech too much.

After yoga, went for a walk -- all I've wanted to do lately. The foliage and sun have been amazing.

Checked out the happenings on Twitter and someone that I follow retweeted something from the twitter.com/itssylviaplath account:

Each day demands we create our whole world over, disguising the constant horror in a coat of many-colored fictions.

That passage stopped me in my tracks and also made me go in search of a book a poetry by Henry Dumas which I couldn't find but I know that I didn't give it away...

Take The Time To Squeeze It

On tap for today's cardio portion of the program was a 7:00 p.m. selection of Step Interval.

Hmmmm, I don't think evening exercise is for me. First, I watched the news dominated, of course, by events in Haiti, ate and threw a load of clothes in the laundry. I was ultra-relaxed and having second thoughts about Step Interval which is why I normally head straight to the gym after work. Nevertheless, I took my less sore glutei (wording especially for Yum Yucky and purple_moonflower123) and worked them out some more.

The woman who taught the class was named The Squat Mistress Toni. Good God! She believed in squats and reminded us to take the the time to squeeze it i.e. our butts when we came up. I was also introduced to the chair. Hold it. Hold it.



We held the chair long enough for me to get vocal and amuse the woman next to me. Toni actually used peer pressure to keep us in the chair pose -- saying that we would not finish until everyone crouched down and went into a holding pattern.

Tammy (another instructor) jumped into the class while it was in session. I took Tammy's Drills To Make You Sweat Class. Tammy has the oddest most business-like expression on her face and she actually unnerves me a bit. She certainly kicked my butt when I took her class. I think I'm going to start referring to Tammy as Léon: The Professional...

Has anyone ever done the bridge before? Well, I hadn't. Toni was like place your mat at the edge of your step, put your butt as close to the step as you can get it then place your feet on the step. We also had weights to play with while we were doing the bridge. I was hurtin' for certain. For the record, I would not attempt a bridge on a fitness ball because London Bridge would definitely fall down.



While we were doing some routine on the step, I could not get the choreography down. I was so embarrassed but I got over it.

A Perverse Push-Up & A Reverse Embrace

I'm going to have to give Tammy an honorable mention in the bringing the pain category.

I went to the Drills To Make You Sweat class at my gym and, fifteen minutes in, I was sweating as advertised.

In addition to jumping jacks and squats, I see that instructors like the grapevine move as well.

To add a degree of difficulty, we did jumping jacks with a weight. Later on, the same weight stayed in the crook of our knees while we did leg lifts. We then lifted our legs to the side and kicked them out too. Torture, I tell you. Holding a squat was tortuous as well.

There was also a slow motion burpee-like move that we did with weights. Walk your hands out. Plank. Walk your hands up. Holla...

We did push-ups, got up and balanced on one arm. Push-up then balanced on the left arm. It was like doing a synchronized moved and a reverse embrace of each side of the room. We collectively faltered and that's when Tammy said, Come on ladies. I hate exercising by myself. In addition to some gorgeous black and white Nike shoes, apparently, Tammy's got stamina as well.

We also did a perverse push-up on the step. First, we lunged and pulsed then placed our hands at the corners of the step. Push-up. Followed by a one hand push-up.

Of course, of course. We did the obligatory ab work.

Football jog. Drop. Push-up. Repeat.

We bicycled while moving a weight through our bicycling legs.

By the time we did the the superman, I was not feeling like much of a hero at all. I just wanted to transition to child's pose or splay out like a starfish. I wasn't picky at that point.

Oh, how Tammy brought the pain. My legs were like jelly afterwards and I could hardly walk to my car. It would be nice to have taxi service after working out.



I also need to remember to put in my contacts when I participate in a class because my glasses were wet, foggy or sliding on my face during segments of class. And who needs to be distracted with adjusting one's glasses while trying to keep up with Tammy?