Celebrating!

With my sixtieth class in thirty days officially on the books, you can imagine I am a little excited (and tired), as are my family and friends.  Two of my sisters are in town, along with my two nieces, and they leave early in the morning, so we have spent the evening celebrating and hanging out.  For those reasons, tonight's post is going to be extremely brief.

Jill and me in triangle pose.

I did want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far in this journey, instructors, students, family and friends.  You all made this experience a genuine pleasure, rough times were made easier, and good times were made great.  I really did not expect the outpouring of love and support that I have received this month.  This was something that I started alone, but I was quickly adopted into a caring and supportive community who quickly made me feel welcome, and have ensured that not a day went by this month that I didn't genuinely smile.

I really can not say thank you enough.  Tomorrow I will write more about my journey, but tonight I am going to spend just a little more time with my family before they disperse back across the country tomorrow.

Namaste.

Guest Post: Amy Robertson

My evening was such a whirlwind after this afternoon's class I didn't even realize that if I had just checked my email, I wouldn't have even had to write a blog post tonight at all.  I had asked a few teachers at the studio if they would also like to write guest posts for my blog, and more are forthcoming, but I just saw that Amy had sent hers to me earlier today, and I thought I would do a bonus post tonight to share it with you all.

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Preston, I can't believe you are 2 classes away from completing your goal of 60 classes in 30 days! I didn't even know you 30 days ago and now you have become somebody who is regularly on my mind. I wonder how you are doing, what you are feeling and what you might share in your next blog post. When I met you about 26 days or so ago you had just taken my 6am class and I learned about your challenge. I remember thinking, "Whoa, that's pretty aggressive especially considering that this guy doesn't even have a consistent yoga practice. He's a little bit crazy and this might be a bit intense!" I remember telling you to have no expectations and that this goal is a lofty one. I also remember saying something about being kind to yourself and that if you find this to be too much and you stop before 30 days that you will not be considered a failure. I mean, heck, even we teachers take Sundays off at Teacher Training!!

You were not to be denied. You have diligently stuck to your schedule of 6AM and 4:30PM classes to accomplish this amazing goal. You even did a back to back double this weekend without missing a beat. You have become a bit of a celebrity around the studio and you even started this blog (a candid one I might add) due to the request of another student. Before I became a teacher I remember thinking that one of the main reasons why I wanted to become a teacher was to "give" others the gift of Bikram Yoga as other teachers were giving to me. I wanted to give back because the yoga has become such an important part of my life. What I didn't realize was how much our students were going to "give" me upon becoming a teacher. I am so inspired by everyone that first steps into the HOT room. It truly is no small feat. Preston, not only do you inspire in the HOT room but you remind us that we are all human and that each one of us is always just trying to do the best that we can each and every day.

You have said that on day 31 you will do yoga like all of the other days before it but what I hope for you is that you are able to find a balance not just in the yoga room and with your practice but also with the other aspects of your life that will allow you to take time off with the confidence that it's "just a day off" or it's "just a sweet or fattening food that I am going to choose to enjoy" because I can and because I know that I will get back to what makes me feel good at the next meal or the next day in class. In the words of the amazing yogi Emmy Cleaves (Bikram's most senior teacher) "More of anything, even the best thing in the world, is not necessarily more. You need balance."

Thank you for being such a great motivator to others and an inspiration to me. I hope you follow in your sister's footsteps and become a teacher because I think you would have a great story to tell and you, too, would provide a tremendous gift to others. Congratulations on your accomplishment!!

Namaste,
Amy

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Thank you so much, Amy.  You are a huge part of the atmosphere and community that has made this endeavor the success and honest pleasure that it has been.  I appreciate your words of encouragement, and I look forward to many, many more classes with you in the future.

Namaste.

Surprises

My awesome older sister, who has been mentioned so often in this blog, surprised me by flying into town today so that she could join me for my last day of the challenge.  Did I mention I have a super awesome older sister?

On the subject of surprises, I had a few good ones today.  Dara, one of my favorite instructors, let me know she wasn't going to be able to teach my last class tomorrow, but that she was teaching the 4 o'clock class in Happy Valley, so I kicked it out there so that I could get in one last class of my sixty with Dara.  When I got there she handed me a stack of chocolate with a card, which I am not supposed to open until tomorrow after my last class.  Did I mention I have really awesome instructors?

Also surprising, was how my afternoon class went today.  After having a pretty killer class this morning, I expected to be a little worn out for the afternoon class, but for the first time in awhile I was able to power through the entire class and make serious attempts at all the postures.  I got deeper into several postures than I had before, and I can safely say that my hypothesis about sleeping on my side has been confirmed, because my elbow is making incredible improvements, and I was able to get really deep into the standing bow pulling posture this afternoon.

I am excited to see what tomorrow brings.  I think it is awesome that my older sister flew up to support me for the last two classes.  If you happen to have the time tomorrow, and want to come join me for either of my last two classes, I will be at Bikram Studio West Linn for both the 6 am and the 4:30 pm classes.

Namaste.

Small Adjustments

Small adjustments might seem like a no brainer.  Small adjustments have helped me get my triangle pose looking fantastic, and I am very proud to say I have an unbroken string of 86 sets of triangle pose without falling out (two on the 7th, and four per day since April 8th).  And, triangle posture isn't the only pose that small adjustments have helped, I have been rocking the balancing stick lately, as well several other postures that have gradually come a long way from where I started at the first of the month.

Today I made a small adjustment outside of class that has had a huge impact on my practice.  If you have been following along, you may remember my mentioning that I was having a little problem with my elbow.  For the last several days I have had to sit out of the standing bow pulling pose and locust pose, and other postures had been effected as well.

The answer seems so obvious now, but I woke up this morning and realized as I lay there on my side that my arm was a little numb.  You know, because I had been laying on it for the last several hours as I slept on my side...  Sleeping on my side had never been an issue before these last couple of weeks, and it is how I have always slept, but apparently when your body is trying to recover from several hours of yoga on a daily basis, it likes to have unrestricted blood flow.

This morning's class went well, though I still sat out the same postures, but when I crashed after class I made it a point to sleep on my back instead of my side.  I don't know if you have ever tried to change the way you sleep, but my body felt awkward, and fought me every step of the way.  I was tired enough that I won out, and successfully slept on my back.

My afternoon class was a huge improvement.  Just those few hours of sleep seemed to do the trick, and with only some residual soreness, I was able to rejoin the postures that I had been sitting out for several days.

Hopefully tonight I will be equally successful in forcing my body to sleep in manner it is not (yet) accustomed to, so that tomorrow I can test my hypothesis again and see if this small adjustment is going to be the fix I needed.

I am otherwise still going strong.  Since finding my base again after the middle portion of this challenge, I have continued to improve.  Just two more days, and I am only getting stronger!

Namaste.

Let It Go

Having my nieces in town has been highly entertaining.  They are adorable, so full of energy, curious, and smart.

Yesterday I got relationship advice from the five year old, which was entertaining.  She had asked if I was married yet, and I told her that I used to be married, but that I wasn't married anymore.  I should have expected the "why not?" that quickly followed, or the "is she dead?" she added before I could answer.

"No, she isn't dead," I told her.  "We just aren't together anymore."

"Why not?"

"Well...," I started, not expecting to be having a conversation with my five year old niece about my divorce from before she was born.  What do you even tell a kid whose world is princesses and happily ever afters about divorce?  I kept it simple by saying, "we had problems."

"Oh, well if you have problems you should talk to your parents," she started.  Not bad advice at all, really.  I found out later from her mother, my sister, that this was what she was told if she ever had problems with her little sister, rather than screaming and fighting.

"And you should go to her house and say you're sorry," she added.  "And bring her flowers.  Red ones.  You should bring her red roses, and go to her house, and say that you're sorry."

It sounds so easy when you put it that way...  So, if you have any problems, my five year old niece gives some pretty sage advice, though, fair warning, she will likely refer you to your parents.

A sketch of my nieces and nephew as faerie children.

The two year old inadvertently gives some pretty good advice too.  It is the same advice that I hear from almost all of the instructors at the yoga studio: "Let it go."

Of course, when the two year old says it, she's belting it out repeatedly and with surprising volume.

It took me a bit to figure out what she was saying, as I hadn't yet seen the recently released Frozen, which is apparently very popular with the two to five year old girl demographic.  She isn't so much singing it, as much is she is shouting it repeatedly and with enthusiasm, adorable and full of energy.

"Let it go" has helped me a lot with my practice recently.  Not carrying my day into the class.  Not carrying how I did in one posture into the next.  Taking anything that bubbles to the surface during camel pose and just letting it go.  "Let it go" is right up there with "just focus on your breathing" and "don't panic."

I have just three more days of this challenge, and I am feeling strong.  My classes are going well, and I was able to take the back to back double yesterday in stride.  More and more lately I have had people mention to me how much different I look, both in my body composition and in my postures.  It is something that is gradual, so I don't really think about it until I take a step back, but the benefits of this challenge have been bountiful.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has followed along on my journey.  I really do appreciate the support, the encouragement, and the kind words.  I really love this community.  You are all wonderful.  Thank you.

Namaste.

Three and a Half Hours

This morning went exceptionally well, all things considered.  I started my first class at 7 AM and walked out of my second class 10:30 AM, three and a half hours later.  I really was expecting the second of the back to back classes this morning to be excruciatingly difficult.  Conversely, I somehow felt energized after the second class.

Writer's block: That's a thing.

Namaste.

Fifty

This blog post is going to be short and sweet, because it is 11:37 PM, which gives me 22 minutes to get a post up for the blog today.

While Fridays are typically when I go dancing, if you have been keeping track, tonight I had a lovely date instead.   We had a fantastic dinner at Dick's Kitchen, which I would highly reccomend, then on to Vie de Boheme to listen to the Ken DeRouchie Band perform, which is always a treat.  Even though I didn't go dancing, I feel like I had the energy to dance if I had gone, which still astounds me after more than three weeks into three hours a day of yoga.

This afternoon was my fiftieth class, and it feels like a milestone.  I felt really good in both classes, and I don't expect that I could be any more ready and prepared for tomorrow's back to back double in the morning.  That doesn't mean that I think that this back to back is going to be easy.  In fact, I expect it will be somewhat grueling, but I didn't start this endeavor because I wanted to try something easy.

As well as my morning class went, I was still exhausted afterward.  After breakfast I tried to take a quick nap with my hat down over my eyes, but my littlest niece decided it was time to steal my hat and take selfies instead.

Tomorrow I should have pictures from the coast, assuming I can still move my body to drive there after the back to back classes in the morning.  Wish me luck.

Namaste.