Tell Them to Make a Note or Stuff Massage Therapists Say

One of my friends told me that massage is a luxury and, to a certain extent, it is. Even though I go back and forth about whether or not I’m being decadent, I do know what stress has done to my body and I know what it’s capable of doing. It’s been a crazy, seemingly never-ending week and, if I could, I’d head straight to a massage therapist. At any rate, I wanted to share some of things that massage therapists have said to me…

Compared to the right, the left side of your back felt tight and your hamstrings...What have you been doing to your body?

Me: Were you on automatic?



MT: I tune out. I mean that I tune out in order to tune in...I'm listening to the music etc.



Explanation to me after foot was massaged, an area that I usually have avoided...

Me: It (calf) smarts when I put pressure on it.


MT: Then, I apologize in advance for what I'm about to do.

When you call, tell them to make a note to warm the oil...

Your shoulders look good...

Oh, that's good; that's deep into the muscles.



Response when I said that my armpits were sore

I can see the tension. When I told MT about tweaked neck…

Me: You certainly are chipper today.



MT: I've been massaging all day. It's kind of like the feeling you get working out at the gym.

You're tight today so let me know if I go too deep…

Your deltoids are popping...

Are you doing something like CrossFit?

It's the regular "waa waa" music...

Take off your earrings...

Take as much time as you need...

Be good to yourself...

Standing the Heat or Month-End Review, October

Wanted to commemorate Cindy’s last day teaching hot yoga by attending her class. I haven’t practiced hot yoga in almost five months and, boy, did my mind start talking to me. Would I be able to withstand the heat? Would I be able to stay in the room for 90 minutes?

I also thought about all of the poses that I’d rather not do.


My mind was still noisy when I saw Cindy mention an article, Top Five Yoga Pet Peeves, on Twitter. The article spoke to me, made me laugh and relax and I decided to relax into my practice by trying eagle pose which I’ve never done before in hot yoga.

While we did our final major pose, seated forward bend, Cindy told us that it was a symbolic ending pose to kind of close up after doing so many opening poses. Kind of like a hibiscus, I guess, that opens up then closes then opens up again…

Afterwards, Cindy and I talked about eagle pose and I told her that my body just didn’t wrap like that to which she said I’m sure that it wraps in other wonderful ways…Namaste...

October totals:

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones!

10 Minute Stretch, 2 x's

Bicycling, 2 x's

Climbing, 4 x's

Kettlebell, 4 x's

Swimming, 7 x's

Treadmill, 1 x

Walking, 12 x's

Yoga, 13 x's

The Savasana Fairy

Classmate Looking Livelier After Practicing Yoga

Rhonna told us ahead of time that she would conduct a very special Halloween class. There were several people dressed in costumes and there was candlelight but first things first…


Is anyone new to yoga? Rhonna asked. Then…Does anyone have a medical condition that I should be aware of?

I’m dead said one yogi.

Several of us howled with laughter. Appropriate don’t you think?

We got in touch with our spooky ujayii breathing, dangled our Frankenstein arms and dived into a witch’s brew/forward fold.

We even got a treat while in savasana...

At one point, we had our arms out and head leaning to the side. It took everything in me not to break out and start doing the Thriller routine.

Five Rounds, Five Reps

Double Your Pleasure

Sounds easy, right? Five rounds, five reps and two kettlebells…


We warmed up as usual then jumped right in:

Double Kettlebell Cleans, 5

Presses, 5

Squats, 5

Push Presses, 5

Swings, 5

30 Jumping Jacks

Rest for 90 seconds

Repeat

Double Kettlebell Cleans, 5

Presses, 5

Squats, 5

Push Presses, 5

Swings, 5

30 Jumping Jacks

Rest for 90 seconds

After five rounds of this situation, we did body weight exercises including a squat series:

Squats

Squat Jumps

Pulsing Squats

Static Squat

I don’t know what was harder – that five round series or the squats.

After swinging and squatting, Marisa said Thanks for working so hard. I know that was a tough workout...An interesting and, as I'm sure Marisa intended, motivating thing to hear...

...To Lay A Tablecloth on Your Back

Roy DeCarava's Catsup Bottles, Table and Coat

Still basking in the glow of swimming a mile. I think this is about my fifth or sixth time. Hopefully, I’ll make that milestone more often and the novelty will wear off.


I don’t get to swim on Saturday often but several climbing buddies were out of town and another, Patti, decided she wanted to unclutter -- a perfect opportunity to squeeze swimming into the schedule. At lap 25, I was slated to leave but 25 is so close to 32.5 that I couldn’t pass it up. I had to fight for the last five laps but I did it.

Missed yoga last Sunday because of the Rock ‘n’Roll Marathon gridlock but made sure that I got out of the house with enough time to spare since this class averages about 40 people.

It was the best of classes and the worst of classes.

People tend to arrive as late as 15 minutes for this super-packed class. This woman who came in late put her mat directly in front me which wouldn’t have been a big deal if there hadn’t been more space around her.
Who am I? The main character is Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man? When people do stuff like that it makes me want to kick them and I’m pretty sure that you should feel less like kicking while you’re practicing yoga…

We had a sub. I think her name is Sandy.

Sandy is very soft-spoken and she told us that from the get-go. She said that if anyone was new to yoga, they should move closer to the front. Otherwise, if we couldn’t necessarily hear her, seasoned yogis could pick up on visual cues.

Sandy was all about pulling in the core then taking a deep breath and, in general, taking breaths during asanas and between them.

It was, by far, one of the quietest yoga classes that I’ve attended but there was no need for Sandy to raise her voice. It’s kind of hard to explain but Sandy cast a calm spell over us and she did an excellent job of holding space and, for the matter, guiding.

When we were in table top, she told us that if she were to place a tablecloth on our back, it would just lay there or when we balanced our spine with one leg and arm extended she said Imagine that someone is tugging at your fingers and toes.

Before class started Sandy asked, very nicely, for everyone to turn their electronic devices off as opposed to on vibrate etc. and before savasana, she asked that if people had to leave, to do it quietly. I guess you can say that Sandy is good at setting the table.

Because I Look Like a Badass or Stuff People Say to Me

Erin

Send that picture to me because I look like a badass.

Erin, The Badass

Janine

I don't know what your level of clutter is...

Katie

I'm a bit of a hedonist.

I'm like a dog. I'll get anything you need and I don't mind doing that...

We want to live in the woods and eat vegetables.

As I was reading The Sun -- trying to get ideas about becoming the better person that I want to be…

Lori

I'm assuming you're aware of that....

Lori to me about the Yoga for Foodies event



My Brother

Because I don’t have any tofu…

Sarah

S: I went to school in a castle.

Me: What?


S: It was an old castle. I think that's what it was called -- the old castle.

I just converted my weight to kilos (55) and now I'm depressed. Seriously, I used to be smaller…

Your arms are bigger than my thighs. You're gonna have trouble finding shirts for the winter...

After Sarah squeezed my triceps

I just love breakfast. There’s nothing better -- bread, butter and jam. Those are some of my best memories – having “breakfast dinner.” My mother would buy a big loaf of bread and we’d have coffee….

I miss myself... The one who used to be efficient...

I had some chocolate that was so good. You know that I love hazelnuts and the hazelnuts are caramelized and when you bite into the chocolate, you can tell there’s something different.

May I paint them?

After spotting my uncharacteristically long fingernails.

Don't Tell Marisa

Because of various conflicts, I hadn't been to yoga in a week and decided to try a new, to me, yoga teacher at my gym.

More than anything, I knew that my body needed yoga since I'm still sore from Monday's kettlebell encounter.

I really like Rhonna. She noticed that there were new people in class, asked if anyone was new to yoga, encouraged us to use blocks, straps, blankets and modifications, if needed.

I found myself laughing while in wide-legged forward fold when Rhonna said Say hello to your hamstrings; they thank you for coming.

When she told us to pay attention to our shoulders to make sure they weren't eating our ears, it was an image that I could hold onto.

I felt like I had the best of two worlds -- laughter and yoga.

In fact, Rhonna told us that she liked it when we laughed because she knew that we were breathing. And I liked it when Rhonna told us that yoga is about you and I ruminated on that concept: yoga is about you...yoga is about you...

As I think about how sore I am and how I need to immerse myself in a salt bath, I have a certain amount of gratitude for being pushed hard by Marisa. Having pushed my limits in kettlebell class, other tasks felt and feel much easier. And feeling like you can tackle just about anything? Priceless. But please don't tell Marisa about the gratitude thing or she might give me more opportunities to have that feeling.