Down South

With four Bikram studios in Perth all within an hour or less drive away from my house I don't really have an excuse not to have visited them all. It's taken a while but I finally fulfilled this task. Yesterday I took a trip down to the Bikram Yoga South Perth studio based in Myaree. It's a modern, light & airy studio, with a massive reception and inspirational quotes on the yoga room ceiling. 

My TT buddy Kana was teaching, good excuse for a coffee & catch up after class. After all the studio is an hour drive for me so I scheduled my spa treatment before class and socialising after to get the most out of my journey South. I obviously didn't know a single student there so was nice to just hang out & be anonymous. Just be, just practice, student again. 

I had a lovely class despite being slathered in moisturizing lotion from my spa treatment at Bodhi J Spa. I had a divine Sodashi Purifying Body boost with dry brushing. Major detox session for me! I know it seems a bit backwards going to the spa then yoga, should be the other way round but I figured after this treatment a session in the hot room would be a compliment. It was an added challenge with a very slippy grip and slimy sweat for sure! I had to make sure I drank a lot of water afterwards. The double detox would only work if I flushed it out with plenty of the wet stuff. 

A great way to spend day two of the long weekend. 

Large, airy reception space at BY Perth South.

   

Rough as guts

This post is about three weeks late now but I thought I'd share it anyway. When you've been practicing Bikram for a while & regularly, you forget how hard the practice once was for yourself & still is for others. Part of teacher training is to bring back those memories of feeling awful, being too hot, stressed and nauseous. Oh I did remember, very often, thank you Boss my compassion is now ingrained to my soul. 

I had another reminder of the rough side to Bikram the week after my wisdom tooth surgery. Sensibly I took nine full days off practice & teaching as I didn't want to be near the hot room with a body full of prescription drugs. I returned to my mat for the 4pm Friday class. Good yoga buddy J had joined me, we'd not practiced side by side for over six months so it was very exciting. 

First 25 minutes was great, no drama, mouth felt fine. Then I killed myself in SH2K & it was game over. Ego and fresh hamstrings were the main factors. Once my heart rate got up and my blood pumping I felt my head was going to explode...through the holes in my gums!! I sat out out of the first set of Standing Bow, I was on the floor again after Triangle. Having my mouth on the towel in Locust caused problems and by Spinal Twist I was so nauseous I laid out of that one. Funny as I was on the right side of the room everyone was turn & twisting to see me lying there, eyes screwed shut (major no no as you all know) trying not to loose my lunch. I even contemplated bolting before blowing in firm as I truly believed I was gonna spew. Rough as guts I was.

J even helped me roll up my mat and haul me from from the room the moment the instructor left. I sat in a crumpled sweaty mess in reception. A few of my regular students who knew I'd had surgery came over to offer some support. General consensus was we all agreed pain killers & antibiotics are useful & beneficial at times but they hammer your poor body. Mine just wanted to expel every last milligram out of me in that class.

It was a great reality check & opportunity for me to put my own words into practice. I'm always telling students if they feel sick to just lie still, focus on their breath & try to relax. I feel I was humble enough to know when I needed to sit down & not totally kill myself. Despite closing my eyes when I laid out toward the end, lying still did work. Water was another factor to my sickness, I was swilling it round my mouth as I thought it would help the throbbing in my gums, which is didn't. It just made me feel sicker. Stillness & breathing definitely does work, you just have to give to a chance to work.

Two more days later & I was back in the room & class went so much better. With a few more days for the drugs to get out of my system my body wasn't working so hard to detox. Three weeks later everything is healing nicely, no more horrific mouth throbbing, head exploding feelings!!

Quitting Sugar

I've banging on about this for a while now but this year I will do this. I have done it before & I will do it again. I will quit sugar. Only because I felt great last time I gave up. My days weren't a battle of cravings, followed by the guilt of giving in & of course the side effects - bloating, slumps, more cravings. My muscles loved me for it, my yoga practice was so much stronger when I wasn't battling the energy slumps. 

It's scary where sugar is lurking. The obvious places, chocolates, lollies, fruit etc. is easy to pin point. Sugar is in nearly everything we eat that is pre packaged; sauces, bread, white pasta, honey. This is why I bought a Thermomix so I can make my own sauces, bread etc. from scratch, making it as clean as possible. Like everything I lapsed. I have caught myself dumping a ready made pasta sauce into Thermomix, instead of taking the time (about 1 minute) to whiz up fresh tomatoes from my garden. What!!!?!!!

I need help and I found it via Kat Eden who is turning out to be a constant source recently for nutrition advice. A link on the side if Kat's blog lead me to another Aussie Women Sarah Wilson and her book 'I Quit Sugar.' Within two seconds I'd paid my $15 via pay pal and the e book was mine. Laid out in an easy to follow, no jargon manner Sarah outlines why we need to quit the white stuff, in every form to start with. The eight week program walks the reader through each part step by step. I was even not very environmentally friendly by printing myself out a copy and bound it with a nice protective cover for quick access. (I don't have a Kindle)

This week might be a write off as ice cream is a major feature in my post teeth surgery diet but I've gone three days without chocolate, white rice & pasta. Steadily cutting out sugars is part of week one. Realistically I can ditch the ice cream for soup now, home made in Thermomix.

What I am hoping to achieve by this sugar detox:

1. Get rid of that hideous afternoon slump after lunch when I want a sweet treat. I give in, get a sugar high, then slump again.
2. Bloating, I look pregnant by most evenings and a bloated stomach is hell to practice yoga with, it hurts.
3. I'm feeling podgy round the middle. Muffin top ahoy, I wish it gone. 
4. My teeth do not need drenching in sugar which = decay. 

Forwards we go. I shall kick this habit. Who knows I might even be able to enjoy the odd sweet treat now and again so I can actually appreciate it.