Day 12

Yesterday was day 12 of my 30 day Bikram yoga challenge. I woke up very early, well I say woke up what I actually mean is - I gave up trying to sleep and got out of the bed. I was awake for what seems like most of the night, as my throat was increasingly beginning to burn and I got so congested overnight that I was struggling to breathe. Once up I assessed the situation- I felt like hell - blocked nose, painful throat, coughs and sneezes, headache and joint ache. Sh*t. Thankfully no temperature. Small mercies. 
Even though I was ambushed by this overnight I was not remotely surprised, as both my daughter and even their nanny had it over the last two weeks or so. My first though was how am I going to get through the day, as all I wanted to do was go back to bed. My second thought was Bikram - no way!
As the day went on I read on line about practicing when ill, and it seems like a lot of the advice suggests to stay at home if you've got a fever and if you're during the first days until the infectious stage passes. Ok, so I do not have a fever and I am doing this challenge thing, so I can't exactly pick and choose which days to go and which not. The other advice I found was: if it's above neck go, if it's below neck stay home. My mind was beginning to tell me that I should really give it a go but my body was aching in terror! Bikram Choudhury in his orange yoga book actually suggests to only do standing series if suffering from cold and flu. With that in mind I very very reluctantly drove off to studio in late afternoon. I made sure I washed my hands before entering the studio, took loads of tissues which i carefully placed between my towel and yoga mat, and finally i tried to choose a spot in a less busy corner of the room. I decided to begin, not push myself at all and see how it goes. I can aways do just the standing series, and spend the rest of the class in Savasana, right? So we started, and I took it really easy. After the first 10 minutes my nose was unblocked and breathing was easy, there were also no coughs or sneezes. Once we got to the end of the standing series I decided to give the floor series a go. In the floor series I skipped the Locust Pose as that one usually requires me to exert myself, so I didn't want to push it. Over all a manageable class but I do have to say that I was operating at 50% of capacity. Amazing thing is I didn't mind heat at all, the studio felt quite cool to me. Strange.

Before going to class I drank a lot, A LOT of liquid. I also self medicated with some food. Blueberry, banana, almond milk and chia seed smoothies for breakfast with my toast. Ate oranges throughout of day and downed copious amounts of various teas with manuka honey. However, my favourite thing I take in times like this has to be bee pollen. When I was I child, my mother used to get this for my brother and me, so a couple of months ago I was ecstatic when I accidentally stumbled upon it in one of the local stores. I love the taste of it, and usually just take it off the spoon but it can also be added to your smoothies or other food. It contains approximately 22 amino acids, 25 minerals, 18 vitamins, 11 enzymes or co enzymes, 14 fatty acids, 11 carbohydrates and is cca 25% protein. A terrific source of B complex vitamins. Amongst other benefits it is enhances energy, boosts the immune system and apparently has an anti-inflammatory effect on the respiratory system. Just what is needed!