Close to the end

Less than two weeks till I finish the challenge. I know I wasn't going to count but it's close to the end so did a count. I had a quick scan of the challenge board yesterday and I could see a lot of people hit the same road block in weeks 6/7 as I did. Their ticks stopped as they pulled out the challenge. A few people I know have gotten sick. This is normal, with the intensity of the challenge and the natural detoxing effect of the series it often comes on in flu/cold type symptoms. It's winter here too, sickness season. Others, like me, real life just caught up with them. At least they tried, they gave it a go, that can be commended. 

My outlook shifted dramatically last week. I went from angry to normal and chilled out in a day. I can't say I had a great revelation or anything, I just sucked it up and put up. 

I even did a double yesterday, Saturday. Madness I know. Even BYSB's director was a bit alarmed when I told him afterward. Everyone is worried we'll burn out before training. So I am. However I set some rules yesterday before I committed. If I had a good morning class and didn't kill myself but tried hard I'd do a double. If I came out the 9:30am feeling wacked and woozy I would not do the 2pm. I came out feeling good. I took a huge savasana, nearly ten minutes. I had nothing to do that day but concentrate on yoga so the conditions were all right. I'd had nine hours solid sleep, a good breakfast and a clear head.

We had a great posture clinic with our directors Mum who helped us with our verbatim. I delivered the whole of the standing series straight up from the top. One side, one set of each posture. Took about 25/30 minutes. JJ did a stellar effort of being a great body demo. I was a crap one, I feel bad, I kept falling and coming out early. JJ is only two behind, she'll be on Tree next week. Go team BJY!!

I had a full hour and a half before the next class. I headed down the Scarborough studio with my esky packed with snacks and water. Sat on the beach, took in some sea air and scanned my dialogue over. There are a few set ups I'm mixing up between the postures. Mainly the feet on the line or at the line bits. I'm tending to say the same 'feet together nicely toes and heels touching' through out. This is not a worry, at TT just before I go up to present I'll make sure I do a final check to make sure I get it right. The 'meat' of the posture is juicy and solid just the bread either side is a bit soggy in parts!

Second class went well. No one was on the front row, hardly anyone on the second. Everyone, including me were squished up on row 3/4. It was good practice for me to be aware of my neighbors being so close. 'You can touch your neighbor but no feeling!' 

The point of my double madness. I can take today, Sunday, off. I'm staying at home, resting, catching up on personal admin, getting some well deserved me time at home. I may not even get dressed today. The Man is cooking a roast for lunch and we'll kick back and do normal Sunday stuff without me having to dash off to yoga.

Doing a double

After I vented yesterday all "wow is me" I did feel guilty to come home (at 9:30pm mind) to a clean, sparkly kitchen and food in the oven. If this happened every night it would be bliss but I will count my blessings it happened this one time. 

The reason I was home late was because I decided to bust out a double aka to non yogi's I did two classes in one day. This is what training will be like, two classes a day. I'm a stickler for rules and regulations and I believe a challenge should be kept within the rules or where's the challenge. The rules at my studio say you can have one official day off a week and one more day if you do a double. This will only be tolerated once a week. In an attempt to keep the peace in my life & not burn out I decided I needed to do this double so I can take Friday off from yoga as well as today, Wednesday. 

Here's why. I like taking Wednesday's off, it's hump day in the working week. There is no 5:45am, if I did the 6pm I'd have to leave work early which is okay now & again I just don't like doing it every week. Easy choice. I will now take Friday off as well because I'm up on the podium tomorrow at the 5:30pm to deliver half moon again. I will have to leave work 45 minutes early but that's cool, I'll go in early instead. Practicing in the evening is so much better for my body. I'm more more flexible, the room is the temperature is should be and there's a lot more people. 

The only problem with evening practice is I get home late and then having to get up for the 5:45am the next morning is brutal. Last night was a breeze, I got home late but I knew I could stay in bed till 6am, not drag myself up at 4:30am. But why not just practice every day in the evening then I don't have to get up early...that would mean I'm never home & wouldn't see The Man. Also if the unexpected happens at work or on the road/trains I'm at a higher risk of missing the evening class. A morning class there's less risk and I have it done and dusted for the day.

After the ropey morning class where I feel I was slacking off & not paying attention to detail, I had a GREAT 7pm at the Scarborough studio. It was packed. Mat to mat, drippy, juicy and lots of fun. Canadian Adam was teaching. Some people don't like his style but I think it's kooky. He tells bizarre, usually yoga related stories here & there & cracks out some funny comments. One funny comment I got was, "turn your toes back, turn your toes back, I know you can turn your toes back, save the curled toes for the bedroom." Not in everyone's humor tastes but it made me laugh & consequently fall out of SH2K. It lightens the mood to have jolly classes now and again.

Just a quick side note for future TT's, check out this awesome post by new TT graduate Danielle. Lot's of helpful hints & tips on what to pack, what's useful and a little of what to expect from the yoga bubble.