Day 1 - The day it begins!

May 1st! The 31 day challenge is officially on.

I wanted the challenge off right, so I set my alarm early and made it to the Carlsbad studio for Lauren Huber's 7am Wake Up Yoga. What a flipping kick! Gentle start, warming up to an invigorating end. It involved a lot of the sequences and poses from the Hot 60A and Hot 60B flows, but with a fun twist being done in a totally new order. It's nice to go away from a set sequence... it kept me present and really listening to her instruction. The final few minutes was spent doing free-style yoga while listening to Adele's Rolling in the Deep. Some people took pigeon. I did a really fun vrksanana/tree pose and toe stand. Maybe by the end of this month I can be totally steady raising both hands up to my heart. We shall see! We ended the class, not in traditional savasana, but by doing some energizing breath work before heading out on our way.

I left the class feeling great, with the slight exception of the strain I've been nursing for a day or two where my upper left hamstring where it meets my tush. Basically, yoga butt. Sounds kind of cool -- like I have a high, tight ass you can bounce a quarter off of. No such luck. It's just a strain or tear where the hamstring meets the ischial tuberosities, aka Sits Bones. It's a very common yoga injury, usually the result of doing too many forward folds incorrectly. I think my strain has stemmed from teaching -- either offering adjustments while hinging at my hips, keeping my legs straight, or from demoing too many poses on my left side only -- which is typically the first side when I'm mirroring the class doing a pose on their right side. Simple overuse without being mindful. Lesson learned. But, fear not! Even in this 31 day challenge, I can work around this. I just need to be gentle, take my forward folds more mindfully and carefully, and honor my edge.

Moving on! I came home. Went to the office. Ended up back at Haute to take Jenna's Restorative class. Really enjoyed the stories and guidance she gave in the class. Had some very nice poses that helped me relax and settle in. My personal favorite involved a seated twist reclining over a bolster. Picture something like this. It was so nice to just hunker down and let go.

So that's it for day one!

In summary:

Day 1

Classes Completed: 2

Wake Up Yoga - 7am - Lauren Huber

Restorative Yoga - 7pm - Jenna Carpenter

Progress Towards Goal: 2/31