In The Zone or Year-End Review

Ample Lanes And Non-Arctic Temps

I haven't been swimming in over 10 days. Did you feel the vibration as my body shook from withdrawal?

I looked around at area pools, saw what time the high school team would be practicing at this one center and decided to hit the pool after the school's session. My timing was impeccable. A swimmer was leaving as I put my paraphernalia on the bench.

It's awkward being at a different pool with different people and it took me ten laps just to settle down. I had no intention of swimming a mile and I seldom do. My intention is to first swim for 30 minutes or 10 laps. Once I hit my first goal, I relax. I had time and a lane all to myself. Why not go for a mile? The last ten laps wore me out but I dug deep. I ignored the fact that I drifted to the right of the black line. I stopped wiping away the fog from my goggles. I stopped paying attention to the lifeguards rotating stations seemingly every 20 minutes and I stopped worrying about the people on the observation deck. Guess I got in the zone...

After stepping into my first yoga class in May of 2011, this was definitely the year that I got my yoga groove on. There are things that I could dwell on but I'm not. I moved my body a lot in 2012 and my enjoyment, at my body in motion, was profound.

 The year-end review:

10 Minute Solution: 5 Day Get Fit Mix

Cardio Kickboxing, 17 x's

Power Yoga, 3 x's

10 Minute Solution: cardio hip hop

Hip Hop 101, 1 x

House Party, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Dance Your Body Thin!

Smooth and Sexy Moves, 2 x's

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Boot Camp

Basic Training, 3 x's

10 Minute Solution: KnockOut Body!

KnockOut Body Blast, 1 x

Ultimate Upper Body, 2 x's

10 Minute Solution: Rapid Results fat burner

Power Sports Drill, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones!

Arms & Shoulders, 1 x

10 Minute Stretch, 10 x's

Arc Trainer, 1 x

Backs and Biceps Class (San Diego), 1 x 

Bicycling, 15 x's 

Dance It Off & firm up!, 1 x 

Give Me 10!

Bonus Kettlebell ToneUp, 5 x's

Fat Blaster, 1 x

Yoga Stretch & Flex, 3 x's

Kettlebell Practice, 42 x's 

Kickboxing Class, 5 x's

Latin Cardio Party, 1 x 

Personal Training with Jackie: Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs

Standing Crunch-Free Xtreme Abs

Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training

15-Minute Upper Body Circuit, 6 x's

15-Minute Total Body Circuit, 2 x's

40-Minute Total Body Circuit, 1 x

Pure Barre Class (San Diego), 1 x 

Rock Climbing, 40 x's 

Spinning, 2 x's

StairMaster, 2 x's 

Swimming, 87 x's 

Treadmill, 5 x's 

Walking, 93 x's 

Wii, 11 x's 

willPower & grace, 4 x's 

Yoga, 143 x's

How do you feel about your 2012? Did you find yourself leaning towards one activity more than another?

One More Time

On any given Sunday, there are lots of cars at the gym that belong to yogis. It's an impressive procession for Gloria's 11 a.m. class and she's told us before that the class is not full until there's one hand space between each mat.

After class started, a young man walked in and Gloria told him that there was still room -- ending with I don't know where...

Modeling for us, Gloria moved her mat over and the final yogi joined us for the morning.

I think we all know by now to watch out for our neighbors when extending arms or legs. My yoga neighbor was completely parallel to me and I was totally fine with it. Energy-wise, I'm growing fond of being in proximity to others while practicing.

Gloria started off class by reading excerpts from Yoga Over 50, I think. The first excerpt was about how rejuvenation of the body is totally possible at 50 and beyond. Gloria looked out at the mostly under 50 crowd and said You'll realize this when you're lucky enough to reach that age....A Deepak Chopra passage was next. I don't fully remember it but it was something about spirituality plus your body being your ally...

Last night, I picked up the 'fugee then headed to Asmira's who's also a 'fugee. So, I guess it was an evening with the 'fugees. After dinner, Asmira's husband, Izet, played ping pong with me. I haven't played ping pong in decades and Izet had to give me pointers about which direction to turn the paddle in if I was hitting the ball from the left or right side etc. I was surprised by how fatigued my arm got after a short time but ping pong is so addictive and so much fun. Had I been in the right attire, short-sleeves, and thought to bring water with me, I could have played ping pong all night. As it was I kept saying, One more time. Okay, one more time...one more time...


Also, if you haven't seen it, check out Ping Pong Playa -- cute movie.

Wall-Play

A Few of My Favorite Things

Wall yoga or yoga at the wall is the perfect post-kettlebell Rx. I stretched my back, arms and sidewalls in unimaginable ways and, if the hips are the engine for kettlebell swings, I also did necessary, engine maintenance.

As we did pigeon, Madonna told me that I looked beautiful. I must have thrown her a look because she asked Don't you feel beautiful tonight? Then she directed my gaze toward my classmates and asked me if they looked beautiful. I told her that Yes, they looked gorgeous... You guys crack me up, she said...

I was stunned when Madonna prompted us to prepare for savasana. I could not believe that it was the end of class but almost 90 minutes had gone by.

After we rolled up our mats and put our shoes back on Gail, a classmate, said I could play on the wall for another hour.

The Up and Up

Bell up, Marisa told Andrew when he arrived.

Collectively, we were told many things including to sit down, stand up and double press our kettlebells.

Somewhere in the middle we did burpees, sumo squats, jumping jacks, double cleans and tuck jumps.

In yoga, we do a lunge with a twist and sometimes pigeon with a twist but, with Marisa, it's a reverse lunge with a forward kick.

Marisa always has something interesting up her Nike sleeve so we did Spiderman push-ups, a saw plank and traveling swings and cleans. It's already challenging for me to do kettlebell cleans but cleaning while traveling was even more of a coordination challenge.

At some point, Marisa told us how sore she was and that her workout consisted of running a mile, 100 push-ups and 150 squats plus some other situation. I asked her if she wanted a chocolate chip cookie for her accomplishments. I often attempt to distract Marisa but it seldom works. Plus, she wanted "the cookie."

We ended class with a plank. T up, Marisa said after 30 seconds -- then Hips up. In side plank, it took lots of effort to get my hips up and it took even more to get up off the floor when the Gymboss beeped for the last time.

Sweetness

Crossed the river to attend Cindy's Christmas Eve class which also doubled as a fundraiser for Compassionate Friends.

It was a very sweet class with holiday tunes in the background and props galore. The studio also made the experience special. It's cozy, has inviting colors and just about as many lights (soft) as props.

I think everyone should experience restorative yoga but definitely before major events.

At the end of class we gathered in a circle, put or left hand over our heart and our right hand on the person next to us and sang om three times which inspired  powerful feelings of connectedness, compassion and peace.

Yoga Is

Yoga is gentle but powerful Gloria told us this morning and I often think about that and it was definitely on my mind as I hovered in plank, transitioned to cobra then downward facing dog. My heart, totally resounding in my ears, sounded like a drum major.

And I thought about my new block as Gloria encouraged us to claw our hands to the floor as if we had a softball underneath. I needed a little help bringing the floor to me in low lunge etc.

I've also been thinking about last Sunday’s yoga session. There’s no reason to hold tension in the body Gloria told us when she walked us through body positioning for savasana. I feel like I often hold my body up just as I tried to hold my feet up in savasana instead of letting them flop open.

My new favorite Zen proverb is:

Let go or be dragged.

When I went to a mindfulness workshop last month, the instructor had a tray with quotes – kind of like a spiritual after workshop mint. I picked a Pema Chodron quote.

I like this Chodron excerpt from one of her speeches.

Went for a walk and is it just me or do you see yoga everywhere too?

Reverse Warrior

Warrior One

Lion's Breath

You Wanna Be Starting Something...

Sara Ivanhoe is the instructor of the Weight Watchers‘ Yoga Starter Kit*. I've practiced to Ivanhoe’s DVDs before including Yoga for Dummies and Crunch: Candlelight Yoga. I liked both but really enjoyed the latter.

The starter kit includes the DVD, a strap, block, 10 week exercise tracker and has two segments – get moving and get strong. Get Moving is done mostly standing and Get Strong is done primarily on the floor. In addition, Get Moving is done almost exclusively with a block between your thighs; it took me a minute to get used to it but I loved it. I felt like my alignment was good. In fact, I felt much better about Warrior One than I've ever felt.

Because Ivanhoe’s instructions were straightforward and solid, I felt empowered or, rather, I felt like I knew what I was doing. I was also inspired to email my gym to see if they would get blocks at one particular branch…

After trying the Yoga Starter Kit, I went to Gloria’s class the next day and she talked about blocks and she never talks about blocks but she said:

If you put a block between your thighs, it strengthens the legs and integrates the core. 

Gloria also talked about one of the first yoga teachers, Lilias Folan, who used to be on PBS and, during those televised yoga sessions, the yogis would use rugs for mats and shoe boxes for blocks. Gloria went on to tell us that Folan recently appeared in Yoga Journal and discussed how cancer has been a guru...

The Weight Watchers kit is a great place to start. I totally wish that I had known about a yoga starter when I began practicing. As a "seasoned" yogi, I didn't get bored with it because, one, I like a gentle practice and, two, it has modifications. 

*Disclosure: Kit received without reimbursement...