For The Most Part

It's traditionally a swimming night said my coworker who seldom stops in my office but when she does, stops to chat about injuries or events.

She threw me off because she pounced into the office and I thought it was National Swimmer's Night Out or something and that it was fortuitous that I planned to go swimming on such an occasion. I soon found out, though, that Tuesday is the day that my colleague usually swims. She didn't feel like swimming, hasn't felt like swimming in a while and feels guilty. I told her that she's just more into running now and that, eventually, she will return to the pool and that there is no need to feel guilty.

You've told me that before and I try to think about that... she said but my colleague worries that she will struggle the next time that she hits the pool even though she's been swimming for 25 years.

I, on the other hand, was looking forward to hitting the pool. Hadn't been in two weeks.

Enjoyed my shoestring fix. My suit is starting to deteriorate and one of the straps likes to fall off my shoulder and down my arm. The lifeguard told me that I could use a shoestring for a quick fix and it worked like a charm. No more falling strap. I had a good time. Even the post-swimming sound of water rustling in my ear moved me.

I bundled up and, again, rode home with the windows down to combat the congestion that I've been experiencing and it worked -- for the most part.

Went to kettlebell and there were only three of us which made for a quiet night. I missed Crazy Lats and Paige. Having a lively group makes the workout go by much faster. On tap tonight -- 45 seconds for each maneuver:

High Pull, L/R
Dive Bomber Push-Ups
2 KB Squats
TRX Rows

Planks (to knees)
Slam Ball Squat (with a jump)
Mountain Climbers
V Sit-ups
Heavy Two-Hand Swing (20 kb, I think)

We repeated the circuits and somewhere in between we also did cleans and presses... Feeling the need to pull out Cathe's Stretch Max but, first, the dishes...

Breathe When You Get There or Stuff My Yoga Teachers Say

Soaked!

Gloria told us that we were going to do a gentle practice because it was a full moon and that in Ashtanga...

I didn't need to hear the rest. I was all in Billie Holiday mode: Don't explain. I am down for the gentle cause.

Yesterday, at the end of a remedial yoga class, Alison started taking about breath and gratitude. It was a simple talk but I found it moving and today I find myself grateful. As I walked, I noticed that half of the sky was dark and the other half sunny. Got caught out in the storm tornadic weather. I was soaked from head to toe but pretty lucky that I did not get crushed or impaled.


Stuff My Yoga Teachers Say

Alison:

If something hurts, stop doing it....

This is the second chakra...Your hips are like water (complete with water-like motions)...

Before we start, does anyone have any injuries that I should know about?... Does anyone have any injuries that they want to tell me about? As we get older, we all get injuries...we fall off our bikes...we...

One of my teachers made me stay in Warrior I for 45 minutes. I didn't think that I'd be able to do it but I did...

We opened our hips and now we're going to close them...


Elle:

We take 26,000 breaths a day -- which ones are you present for? Which ones are you making sweeter? 


Gloria:

You make progress on the exhale...

Ride the wave of the breath.

Modify. Be gentle. Be compassionate.

We are not trying to do some extreme yoga posture...


Jim (as he talked us into a high lunge with arms extended skyward):

Breathe when you get there.

Rebecca (during triangle):

There's no weight on that hand; it's an energetic extension of the hand.

Sharon:

Relax the muscle between your eyes. I see some of you during savasana and that area is still all tightened up.

You are so busy thinking about this and that -- what you'll do after class...I'll watch over you...I'll watch the clock.

Take that peace with you and share it with others so that one day we may have peace on earth...

Leaning

Got to work on Wednesday and the building had no water. After returning from my second field trip, we got word that the building would close. One of my coworkers squealed and many smiled. Even though I had to do some work from home, I was happy too. I looked for a yoga class to jump into but the timing didn't work. Hashtag -- can't have everything.

But wait...the water folks wouldn't finish until noon the next day so we reported at 1. It was an unexpected gift that I appreciated tremendously since my reservoir was about depleted.

I slept beautifully, stretched like a cat in the morning then rolled out. I had time to make it to a yoga class and time to stop by Trader Joe's.

Alison had already given me intel on Jim, the yoga teacher. I wrote her back to say that, yes, he is a slow, smooth operator.

During class, I realized how much I like gate pose.

Poses that I remember that I like:

Gate

Fish

Half Moon 

Savasana

I've been reading an old O: The Oprah Magazine (June 2013). In that issue, Oprah interviews Brene Brown who talks about foreboding joy and dress-rehearsing tragedy. Brown mentions this man, married for 40 years, who never got too excited about anything because he didn't want to be disappointed but when he heard that his wife had been killed, he realized that he should have leaned harder into those moments of joy.

Maybe joy is what I was leaning into in gate pose...

Yes, 38 Of Them

The B-day Girl Demoing the B-Bag for a Newbie

It's Marisa's birthday but she wanted to give us a gift.

38

Marisa wasn't sure if she had divided everything up properly but I told her Don't worry. Tiffany is going to take care of any discrepancies or logistics when she arrives.

Jumping Jacks, 38
Two-Hand Swings, 38
Push-ups, 38
Goblet Squats...
Presses, 38
V Sit-ups (Alternating with Med Ball)
Mountain Climbers
Tactical Lunges
Snatches (19 L, 19 R)

Did I mention that I'm digging the kettlebell snatches? They wear me out but I feel powerful when I do them.

After the first circuit, we all reported to a station.

Slam Ball (30 lbs)
Bulgarian Bag, (19 -- each direction)
Battle Ropes, 38
Military-style Push-ups
Step-ups
Triceps Extension on TRX

It was kind of a cool workout because we did it together and counted off reps. Julia told me, in so many words, to slow my roll when I counted of presses and I wanted Tiffany to slow down during tactical lunges. It's cool that we're strong in different areas.

The last official task of the workout was burpees. Yes, 38 of them.

Paige and Jessica Rabbit a. k. a. Crazy Lats and Bowls were clowning. I did a modified version of burpees like I usually do. At some point, I asked Paige where she was at in the count and knew that I was going to stop when she did. I give mad props to Julia who's been working on burpees. It took her a while but she did 38...

Marisa said that she got the sweetest greeting from her brother who said that she looks younger than she did five years ago and that, surely, working out is contributing to her youthful countenance.

Guess what Marisa bought herself? An orange 70 pound kettlebell. I'm sure that it will be featured in a future workout.

Move-mentum...

The Little Bunch

Woke up whimpering this morning which is just about as startling as a dream that seems frighteningly true.

Maybe Sunday (fall) malaise manifested as whimpering...

I was looking forward to yoga. Well, who doesn't? Just kidding... I hadn't been since Monday so it was time to get on the mat.

During lizard pose, Gloria said If your body sends you an invitation, go deeper. Alas, my body wasn't sending out any Evites.

During three-legged down dog, one should be able to use the momentum to get the aerial leg from the back of the mat to the front betwixt your hands. Hasn't happened for me yet though.

I did realize that I dig Ardha Chandrasana (half moon pose). I like playing with this pose even when my balance is off.

My YogaQuote for the day:

Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move. -Osho

Hodgepodge

Rough start to an at home* workout on Monday but I eventually found my groove then went to yoga afterward where I heard someone call my name. As I turned around, I was pleasantly surprised to see Alison's familiar face in the crowded class. As I thought about how I could position my mat near Ali's, this yoga dude made room for me. His gesture is high up on the cool chart.

Donna, the teach, stopped in mid-stride when she noticed that I was on the opposite side of the room. Not that you're territorial or anything, Alison quipped.

Yoga dude turned out to be a beautiful breather -- so much so that his breaths relaxed me and made me strive to be a better breather.

The pool called my name last night. I was bummed out thinking that a dip in the pool might aggravate my allergy to the point of who knows what...

I've been reading up on pool-related congestion and I'm thinking about buying a humidifier but since I haven't had time to get one, I took someone's suggestion and bought Benadryl but didn't take it last night because I wanted to see if something else would work.

I bundled up and rode home with most of the windows down and kept Benadryl and essential oil beside me just in case but "being outside" after swimming helped a lot. I still experienced congestion but it was very mild.

Tonight's kettlebell practice was a serious hodgepodge:

Two-hand Swings
"Around the World" Prisoner Squats
Push-ups
Around The Body with a Catch and Lunge
Russian Twist
Skater Hops

We all got to pick a station. I went with a slam ball. Paige chose the ab wheel. Julia chose the snatch and Princess Tiffany went with a modified pistol squat. I don't remember what else that we did but it's been that kind of day. I barely got out of the house this morning and was late for kettlebell practice. When the Princess commented on my glasses, I wondered why then realized that I normally have on contacts while working out.

The Princess is taking prenatal yoga. She said it's one of the proven activities that shortens labor. About kettlebell, I joked with The Princess that her baby is probably like What in the world is going on out there?

*Mad props to people who exercise at home most of the time.

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...