The New Year Resolution – 6 weeks on.
January 6th 2013
I feel awesome. I have just completed a four day Ashtanga Intensive Yoga block; 8 very intense hours that pushed my body further than I thought possible. For those of you who only associate Yoga with gentle stretching and meditation – this couldn’t be further from the truth.
I’ve been doing Yoga classes weekly for about a year. They are the perfect exercise fit for me. I leave most classes feeling
re-energised, relaxed – and just the right amount of sore. I’ve often promised myself that I’ll do a yoga DVD at home 
during the week as well, but this rarely happens. My will-power is not the best, so I need an instructor pushing me. It’s too difficult for me to attend more than one class a week, although I really wish I could. So when I saw an add at the Yoga studio offering the four day intensive course, promising too; ‘start the year with a strong Yoga focus. Strengthen and tone the body. Shed the Christmas kilos,’ I thought it sounded amazing. It was perfect timing as my husband was on holidays so could stay with the kids.
The first morning my alarm went off at 5am (for the 6am start) and despite the uncivilized hour, I felt pumped up; excited for the challenge ahead. During the 15 minute warm-up, I found myself thinking this was going to be a breeze. But then the Ashtanga practice began – Oh my God! Ashtanga style yoga is typically a 90 minute continuous dynamic flow of Yoga postures. There are no rests for throbbing muscles, it’s go, go, go. 10 minutes in and I thought I’d pass out soon. But then all of a sudden I got a kind of rush, I felt strong enough to do anything. My mind switched back and forth between these two feelings throughout the 90 minutes. And then, just when I thought my wobbling legs would fail me, it was over and time for the well deserved meditation. I almost floated out of the room.
But then my alarm went off the next morning… And the next. My relatively un-fit body was truly struggling with such intense working. My legs and stomach were particularly sore. But during each class, I continued to get those bursts of energy, those moments of strength. By the fourth day I wasn’t sure I’d make it. But the afternoon before I’d treated myself to a new Yoga outfit (I’ve never had one before). And this may be shallow, but that outfit was enough to get my sore body out the door for that last session.
I can’t describe the euphoria I felt during the final meditation. I felt so empowered by what I’d achieved. What I’d noticed in the mirror after only four days was quite unbelievable – everything was tighter and for the first time in years, my love handles fairly smooth. I vowed that I would continue to practice Yoga every day for the rest of the year. With results like these I’d be insane not to.
February 12th 2013
Well, six weeks on and I wouldn’t say I’ve failed, but I haven’t been completely successful either. The first week, I kept my promise, completing a Yoga DVD at home every day and managing to attend two classes. But then I got sick and only managed one class the following week. Then the kids got sick; no yoga at all for that week… Same old story. But this time I don’t feel as though I’ve failed. I’m still proud of what my body managed to get through and I now know for a fact that hard work pays off; I’ve seen and felt the results. I’m much better at fitting in some sporadic exercise when I can – some simple leg strengthening postures while watching the kids in the bath, or a few abdominal moves during the adds of an evening TV show. I loved pushing my body to the limit for the first time and am going to continue to find challenges for myself. I’ve enrolled in a ‘Yogalates’ course for March and can’t wait. Exercise for me has to be enjoyable, challenging and for now flexible enough to fit in to a busy lifestyle. Luckily, I’ve found this in Yoga.