Victorious Breath Day

Today marks the beginning of a new year in my life. The only thing that I planned to do was roll out of the bed and attend Gloria’s 9 a.m. yoga class; everything else was gravy.


We had perfect music at the perfect volume for class. A new pose for me was dragon and I totally felt like one while striking that pose. I didn’t, however, have the wherewithal to be a fire-breathing dragon. Maybe next time.

There was a guy in class that I tweeted about. I called him a champion breather and Cindy tweeted back that no wonder I had a champ in class because Ujjayi breathing translates to victorious breath. I can believe that since I often feel victorious after practicing yoga...

Gloria usually starts her class with that mantra …may all beings be happy and free and she often reads a poem during savasana. She also ends class with a mantra; I never catch all of it but today I caught: may you experience the warmth of love...

From my uncle who texted me at 5:47 a.m. to my friends and family that joined me for a dinner organized at the last minute, I did feel all kinds of warmth. And, bonus, my aunts and mother found something to their liking at the cafe that I chose even though they looked over the menus for a really long time...

By The Numbers

Yoga
27 – Approximate Number of People in Class

20 – Approximate Number of Times We Rocked Back into Downward Facing Dog

3 – Persons of Color

3 – Number of Persons Who Came Late

1 – Male Yogi

1 – Pregnant Yogi

1 – Time that Anna said “Let’s Take a Vinyasa Down” pre-savasana

Primary Soundtrack: Sade

Rock Climbing
6.5 - Number of Routes Climbed...

.5 - The Route That Owned Me...

Other than attending a great yoga class and checking my tenacity level with climbing, I've watched good movies lately. Wanderlust was way funnier than I thought it would be and Monsieur Lazhar was great.

I have a penchant for watching reality TV and I finally know what I need to do in a post-apocalyptic world-- thanks to Discovery's The Colony -- make friends with engineers and at least one mechanic.

After watching The Colony, I needed another reality fix. I know, I know -- my life should provide enough fodder. Still, I found I Shouldn't Be Alive on Netflix.

The first episode of I Shouldn't... is about Danelle Ballengee, a professional endurance athlete who was training in the Moab desert with her dog when she fell and fractured her pelvis. Pretty much split in two, she manages to survive until help arrives. As the narrator says: the only thing that kept her alive was her extraordinary physical condition.

In another I Shouldn't story, a man is able to survive a bear attack because of someone else's strength. Bram Schaffer had a lot of good fortune but initially the man who carried him was particularly instrumental. The man who carried Schaffer said: I was strong...a painter...doing a lot of stuff that required strength.

Have I mentioned this before? I love having a strong body.

Give Your Face A Total Break

Unrolled my mat but didn't see Gloria among the yogis but that’s because Rebecca subbed for Gloria. We were about 40 strong -- impressive attendance, to me, sans group coupon or yoga studio...

As we were on our backs, I heard the door open again and again and again. Must have been 10 people who came in after class started. As you hear people come in, just let that sound wash right over you, said Rebecca. Timely words as I got distracted each time the open door let in the sound of treadmills and the clanking of weights.

After turning over, Rebecca had us move the way I imagine people move inside of a dragon at a Chinese New Year celebration. We undulated our way to warmer muscles. We let out audible breaths. We got jiggy with it.

As we did crescent, Rebecca itched to correct bodies but said that there was a no touching policy so she just walked around and gave cues.

It was a rigorous class as we “rested” often in downward facing dog.

As savasana started, Rebecca told the people with glasses to take them off. Give your face a total break. She was right. My face felt much better without the weight of glasses. It reminded me of the time that I waited on a massage therapist to finish up with a client. There was a kitchen area and an area with sofas. I sat in the kitchen area and when she found me she said, I can’t believe that you chose to sit on a hard chair.

Who wears glasses during savasana? It’s like choosing to sit on a hard chair when there are sofas around. I love adding different techniques to my self-care trove.

During savasana, Rebecca read an excerpt from a Marianne Williamson book that she attributed to a Nelson Mandela speech.

This part moved me the most:

Your playing small does not serve the world…

A Stronger Version of You

I forget about the resources that I have -- a book on a barstool, a piece of paper in the couch fold that has a 30-minute kettlebell routine or a basketball pump in a basket with wrist weights and a yoga strap.

I picked up You Are Your Own Gym again and looked at the pages that I had folded back. I still like this passage:

There are hundreds of benefits to regularly following an effective physical training program, but one that is often overlooked is your improved ability to serve others. It will not only make you strong and lean, but it will strengthen your resolve. Your friends, loved ones, and coworkers will get a stronger version of you. Take the time to serve yourself, so that you can better serve others. That, above all, is beautiful. (41)

And I do feel like  'Drea 5.0 -- a much better version of me...

The One With The Warped Sense of Humor

Turned in a group coupon voucher (near expiration) that I bought sometime in May for kettlebell and kickboxing classes. When I walked into the studio I recognized Melissa, a woman from the now closed studio that we used to attend. Melissa has been training with another kb-er at home but, apparently, they hadn't been doing a good enough job because Melissa's been pretty sore since working out with a trainer again.

I don't know how we got on the topic but Melissa said that she didn't start exercising until she hit her 40's and the catalyst was the death of a friend. My colleague, who accompanied me, stopped smoking six months ago but found another addiction and, therefore, feels the need to incorporate exercise into her life again...

We warmed up with the Turkish Get-Up which I had tons of fun with because, due to the parking situation, I left my 22 pounder in the car and decided to use a loaner. The studio didn't have any 10kg's and I should have bumped up the weight to 25 instead of going for the 20 pound one.

We did a lot of stuff that I'm familiar with: plank jacks, goblet squats, pullovers, push-ups and windmills.

Kirsten did incorporate the pistol swing which I hadn't heard of and didn't get the hang of either. As we were on our backs doing abs, Kirsten asked if I was having fun yet. I managed to get out Loads... but she didn't hear me. My classmate on the right filled her in and Kirsten said I love it; you're already lying to me. Kirsten, by the way, has a warped sense of humor...

Addendum: I see what Melissa meant. Two days later, my lats and quads are still alive with soreness.

On the Fifth Day of Yoga

Fell in line and waited for Zumba class to end.

Gloria started off class by reading a yoga poem about letting go.

During tree pose, she told us let it be effortless; it's okay to sway...

I took my hot yoga towel and it helped to keep my feet and hands stable during downward facing dog and also doubled as a blanket during savasana, which was super-sized. By the end of the final pose, my breathing was, well, effortless.


I have done so much yoga in the last five days that I barely blinked during sun salutations.

Screaming and Intractability

Rolled out of bed and wasn’t hungry which was a good thing since I really didn’t have time to eat. As I headed to yoga, I thought about one studio’s list of etiquette – arrive early and put away stuff like cell phones even if they aren’t on because they serve as reminders of our hectic lifestyles. And, yeah, I don’t usually observe the no eating two to three hours before yoga recommendation.


I got in the door right as class was about to start and the teacher, Pure Yoga, was reading something. I did hear her say that yoga has brought her a lot of joy and she hopes that we have the same experience. I felt so uncomfortable sliding in the door at the last minute but, of course, I was not the last person to enter and this one woman even verbalized her shock as she entered the full class.

When we did a lunge with a twist it made me think of James Bond flick for some reason. My quads surprised me as I attempted bow; they screamed and were intractable. Usually, it’s my hamstrings that do all of the screaming.

Later on I went swimming with, mostly, seniors since they tend to populate the pool earlier in the day.

After completing a lap, this man said Young lady, where’d you learn to swim? You gotta nice stroke. I told him that I learned to swim at the Y and he told me that the Y is a nice place and he learned to swim there when he was seven. I love seeing the seniors especially after I've spied a cane or two on the bleachers...

I realized something today as I took off in 11 feet of the water attempting to do the sidestroke. Not only has my water competency grown but my water confidence has grown. I didn’t hesitate to take off. I experimented with leg and arm movements and not once did I think that my awkward left sidestroke would sink my battleship.