Day 16

Before I begun this challenge I had made an appointment with my osteopath to come and see him once I'm half way through to check my alignment and possibly treat any injuries, back pain etc... Fortunately, I've had no injuries and the only pain I've experienced so far was the aching muscles especially during the first week but that's now almost completely gone. So it turns out yesterday, unlike on some of my previous visits, that my hips are level and my alignment is all good. The thing that really surprised me was how lose my spine was. For the first time ever, there was no need for him to do a spinal manipulation treatment and click my spine in different places to release the pressure built up. It just wasn't there. Amazing. Day 16 session was an late afternoon one. I'm working at a steady pace now but am beginning to feel the strain on my body. Getting tired. I wonder it this is me coming to a wall that one of the instructors told me about before I embarked on this. Apparently most people doing this challenge reach the low point, or hit the wall around day 19 but once one pulls through that things get a lot easier. I wonder if that's the case. Pretty sure this lingering cold that I've been having over the past week is not making things easier. The effects of these last 15 days have by now pretty much penetrated all the areas of my life, and since yesterday even my dreams. Last night I actually had a dream about doing the Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose......

Day 15

Today I reached a big milestone - 15 days - half way through my challenge! Looking back over the last two weeks I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait for what is yet to come. It's a journey, some days are tough, some are funny, some hurt, some are surprisingly easy. The thing is, you can't really tell what it's going to be like until you're in that hot room. Makes you think; I guess it's like most of things in life. In such pensive mood this morning I decided to go to the 8 am class so that I can make the most of the sunny weather and the day that was ahead. This is the second time when I've been to the late class on the night before and then went straight in again first thing the following morning. It seems to be that my body needs more time to recover, well at least a bit more than twelve hours... Just like during the previous early class, today my body was stiff and my muscles were really tight. My Standing Separate Leg Stretching posture hasn't progressed much since yesterday, in fact I think it's regressed a little bit. But, hey - it's ok. I'm taking it one day at the time. One day my forehead will be on the floor. I also noticed one funny thing today - I am getting friction, probably more accurate to call them towel burns on the arches on top of my feet. The first time I noticed this was today during the Fixed Firm Posture, as my skin was burning in those spots as I was trying to arch my back. I am guessing these are mainly the result of Fixed Firm, Camel and Half Tortoise. I also have slight bruising to my skin at my hipbones, need to thank the Full Locust and Bow pose for those ones. Overall a good practice. It was still early when I left the studio so I had the rest of the day to spend with my daughters. Watching them play in park today, holding hands and wandering away from me these famous lines came to my mind:

'Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.'
(Khalil Gibran; The Prophet, 1923)

Something every parent should be reminded of every now and then. Namaste!

Day 14

Late class today. Feeling much better than past two days, cold definitely shifting. Considering I've took it easy on Friday and Saturday I decided to take a spot in the front row and push myself more. Whenever I practice in the front row in front of the mirror I feel that I work harder as my focus is firm and considering you can see yourself perfectly you are able to track those tiny adjustments in your body that make all the difference. I am becoming slightly obsessed with the Standing Separate Leg Stretching posture. It seems like I've reached some sort of ceiling that I need to break through, just not sure how yet. The advice that I've heard is to make a large step and then instead of keeping your arms up to try putting them on the hips and relax your torso down to make it sink into the crotch. This is supposed to push your buttocks backwards. Once that is done you can lift your arms back up and reassume the pose. Lower down, knees locked, grab on your heels and pull. One correction that I have made and that seems to be making some difference is to place more of the body weight into the heels. So far I think I've been placing my weight too much forward. However, even with all of that my head is just inches above the ground and simply won't go down further and touch the floor. Beginning to think it's my lower back - too tight. Something to work on. 

Day 13

Weekends are always busy in our family and this one was no exception. The weather here in UK has been very good and we've been trying to make the most of it. This also means that along trying to fit about 3 hours per day to accommodate my practice I've had very little free time to sit down and write new posts here. It should be daily,  that was the intention, but I am not beating myself up over it. As long as I get to studio every day and do my yoga - I'm happy. Getting to studio on Day 13 - Saturday was a bit of a challenge considering the cold that came down on me on Friday but having had a solid 8 hour sleep the night before I felt already a lot better. Once in studio I took it easy again, I pushed myself a little bit more than the previous day, I'd say to about 70% of my capacity and sailed through the class. Just a steady practice. Although the previous day I'd felt so bad that I considered dropping out, I am now contended and happy that I pushed myself to persevere. Being in hot room is doing wonders to reduce the effects of cold, no blocked nose, no congestion, I seem to be recovering a lot quicker than I normally do. I guess it's true "you are never too sick...". Mind over matter. Namaste

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!