Saturday, June 25, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Hamstring Horrors
Yoga in the torture chamber (aka hot room) has taught me all kinds of cool things about my body... chief among them: what it sounds like when you injure your hamstring. And what sound is that, you ask? A very crunchy pop!
The first time I heard the telltale pop was a year ago, in one of my first Yin classes. I was doing Winged Dragon pose with my left leg forward and tilted out, forearms on the ground, probably pushing myself too far, when I heard a springlike "boing!" from underneath my left leg, high up near my glutes. It was accompanied by a sizzling sensation. The injury wasn't debilitating, but that hamstring was sore for the better part of six months. I kept going to class regularly and stretching it out and eventually it healed into a nice, big, shapely, body-builder-esque hamstring. It is much better looking than my tiny right hamstring. Like I said, yoga makes you notice all kinds of cool things about your body.
Yesterday morning in Bikram, I heard the pop again, this time in one of my favorite poses: Standing Separate Leg Stretching. I leaned forward onto my toes, relaxed my pelvic floor, tightened up my quads (ostensibly to help release my hamstrings), and pulled my forehead toward the mat with my biceps.
Pop! From the underside of my right leg, way up under my glutes, in the middle of a very quiet class... there was that same spring-like "boing!" noise and some sizzling pain. Probably pushing myself too far, too fast again. This injury is not debilitating either, but it is tender even while sitting at my desk. Fingers crossed, I hope it heals into the same kind of freak monster muscle as its left side twin!
The first time I heard the telltale pop was a year ago, in one of my first Yin classes. I was doing Winged Dragon pose with my left leg forward and tilted out, forearms on the ground, probably pushing myself too far, when I heard a springlike "boing!" from underneath my left leg, high up near my glutes. It was accompanied by a sizzling sensation. The injury wasn't debilitating, but that hamstring was sore for the better part of six months. I kept going to class regularly and stretching it out and eventually it healed into a nice, big, shapely, body-builder-esque hamstring. It is much better looking than my tiny right hamstring. Like I said, yoga makes you notice all kinds of cool things about your body.
Yesterday morning in Bikram, I heard the pop again, this time in one of my favorite poses: Standing Separate Leg Stretching. I leaned forward onto my toes, relaxed my pelvic floor, tightened up my quads (ostensibly to help release my hamstrings), and pulled my forehead toward the mat with my biceps.
Pop! From the underside of my right leg, way up under my glutes, in the middle of a very quiet class... there was that same spring-like "boing!" noise and some sizzling pain. Probably pushing myself too far, too fast again. This injury is not debilitating either, but it is tender even while sitting at my desk. Fingers crossed, I hope it heals into the same kind of freak monster muscle as its left side twin!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Things That Make Hot Yoga Easier
1. Hydration. Not just the day of class, but as a constant in life. The more water, the better. Drink up.
2. Getting a lot of sleep. I found this out kind of by accident. During the week I average 7 hours of sleep per night, and 9 on weekends. I'd long suspected the correlation between getting plenty of rest and doing better in yoga class, based on the general theory that maintaining a healthy lifestyle will benefit most strenuous physical activities. But one weekend earlier this year, I crashed and slept for 12 hours on accident, then woke up and went to a Bikram class. It felt like the room was a miraculous 75 degrees F instead of 105! So easy, I just sailed through. Lesson learned.
3. Proper attire. I like Lululemon, because their stuff is durable and comfy, and they have an outlet about an hour from my house where everything is 25-40% off. It's still quite an investment, but a good one.
4. An absorbent mat towel. Regular bath towels will not prevent you from sliding. I have a Kulae yoga towel for Bikram, and a Yogitoes towel for hot power Vinyasa, plus a few off-brand ones that I keep on hand for Yin.
5. Nutrition. I learned this the hard way. I began practicing hot yoga eight months after my father died, and right after I had transitioned from a very stressful position with long hours to a much more reasonable one. At the time, I was completely drained and depleted on a lot of levels. I hadn't been making good food choices, I'd been drinking a lot of beer and wine, and my heart was broken. Yoga helped me rebuild my mental and physical health, but first I fell apart. I caught all manner of colds, and had my lymph nodes swell up mysteriously, off and on, for months. Once I resumed my longstanding habit of proper food intake plus supplements (pushed aside for lack of time while my father was ailing and I was working that insane job) and scaled back my beverages slightly, hot yoga got a lot easier. When I started replenishing my electrolytes, it got easier still. And so on and so forth.
2. Getting a lot of sleep. I found this out kind of by accident. During the week I average 7 hours of sleep per night, and 9 on weekends. I'd long suspected the correlation between getting plenty of rest and doing better in yoga class, based on the general theory that maintaining a healthy lifestyle will benefit most strenuous physical activities. But one weekend earlier this year, I crashed and slept for 12 hours on accident, then woke up and went to a Bikram class. It felt like the room was a miraculous 75 degrees F instead of 105! So easy, I just sailed through. Lesson learned.
3. Proper attire. I like Lululemon, because their stuff is durable and comfy, and they have an outlet about an hour from my house where everything is 25-40% off. It's still quite an investment, but a good one.
4. An absorbent mat towel. Regular bath towels will not prevent you from sliding. I have a Kulae yoga towel for Bikram, and a Yogitoes towel for hot power Vinyasa, plus a few off-brand ones that I keep on hand for Yin.
5. Nutrition. I learned this the hard way. I began practicing hot yoga eight months after my father died, and right after I had transitioned from a very stressful position with long hours to a much more reasonable one. At the time, I was completely drained and depleted on a lot of levels. I hadn't been making good food choices, I'd been drinking a lot of beer and wine, and my heart was broken. Yoga helped me rebuild my mental and physical health, but first I fell apart. I caught all manner of colds, and had my lymph nodes swell up mysteriously, off and on, for months. Once I resumed my longstanding habit of proper food intake plus supplements (pushed aside for lack of time while my father was ailing and I was working that insane job) and scaled back my beverages slightly, hot yoga got a lot easier. When I started replenishing my electrolytes, it got easier still. And so on and so forth.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
What Lies Within
"Yoga never demands the sacrifice of our reason. It only bids us: use it a thousand times more. Yoga does not require us to give up our active lives. It says simply: act, but know how to act. Yoga does not by any means wish us to push our understanding aside. It only tells us: discriminate correctly and act fearlessly. Yoga does not expect us to flee from the world and to retire into the Himalayas. It assures us: the refuge you seek you will never find in the outside world. It is within you. Leave the stormy world of the senses behind you, raise your consciousness to the central point of your being and realize that here alone is the force, here alone is the peace and here alone the refuge you are seeking. Yoga teaches us: do not condemn the world. Deify the world by your deeds, purify the world by your utterances and ennoble the world by your presence."
- Selvarajan Yesudian (from Yoga Gems, edited by Georg Feuerstein)
- Selvarajan Yesudian (from Yoga Gems, edited by Georg Feuerstein)
Friday, June 3, 2011
Hot child in the city
Upon my return from Spain, I discovered that my air conditioner is dead and will cost $600 to replace. How long can I go Euro? A little Bikram goes a long way to ease my fussy discomfort in the heat!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Pet Peeves
Here is a short list of things that I've seen in hot yoga class, and would prefer to never see again.
1. The inflexible body builder (think Rocky Balboa) who spent most of class grunting, sweating, exhaling loudly, and leaning on the front mirror for support... then left a big, streaky, sweaty mess on the mirror at the end of class. And no, he didn't bother to wipe it off with his towel.
2. Ladies who do not wash their eye makeup off before stepping into the torture chamber (i.e. hot yoga studio). By the end of class, they look like extras in a Marilyn Manson video, except healthier.
3. The newbie on the mat next to me who didn't bring a towel and thus spent the entire class sweating, slipping around, and loudly clearing his sinuses into his hand and wiping them... on his shorts.
PS - To the skater dude in my class last night who had epic sideburns and "sinner" tattooed in script sideways up his ribcage... homeboy, you are in the right place!
1. The inflexible body builder (think Rocky Balboa) who spent most of class grunting, sweating, exhaling loudly, and leaning on the front mirror for support... then left a big, streaky, sweaty mess on the mirror at the end of class. And no, he didn't bother to wipe it off with his towel.
2. Ladies who do not wash their eye makeup off before stepping into the torture chamber (i.e. hot yoga studio). By the end of class, they look like extras in a Marilyn Manson video, except healthier.
3. The newbie on the mat next to me who didn't bring a towel and thus spent the entire class sweating, slipping around, and loudly clearing his sinuses into his hand and wiping them... on his shorts.
PS - To the skater dude in my class last night who had epic sideburns and "sinner" tattooed in script sideways up his ribcage... homeboy, you are in the right place!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
DOWNsides to flexibility?
...RIP Diesel FANKER jeans....ripped the crotch out of my pants on my way to work being a little too precocious when hiking my leg up to tie a shoe. Pigeon...I blame you...
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