Miss Sniffleypants

I have the sniffles right now, and a sore throat.

But other than that, I am a happy camper. I’m reading this fascinating book called “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John J. Ratey. It explores the connection between exercise and the brain—and how exercise helps with not only cognitive functions of the brain, but it can also prevent/treat anxiety, depression, ADD, addictions, aggression, and even Alzheimer's disease.

So far it is sooo interesting and very motivating to me.

I’ve exercised both in the morning and at night every day this week. I went to yoga class last night, and I’m also signed up for a yoga class tomorrow and on Saturday morning. Whoo hoo me! The Saturday class I’m signed up for is called “Music Yoga Flow.” The website says that the class is “set to great music, including rock, reggae, hip hop, blues and world beats.” That should be interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever done yoga to hip hop music before! The idea makes me giggle, but I’m really looking forward to the experience.

So hey, I’m living up to my name and acting like Miss Healthypants, after all.

Except for this damn sore throat and sniffles.

Dammit.

Crow!

Tonight at yoga class, our teacher challenged us to try the pose called “Crow.”

Crow is a crazy-intimidating pose wherein one tries to actually balance their knees upon their upper arms. Impossible? Apparently not; I’ve seen people do it. Here’s a picture:



Anyway, my yoga buddies and I normally scoff at the very notion of doing that pose, while we make some weak-ass attempts at it, just for show. But tonight, one of us actually did it!

And it certainly wasn’t me. As my friend Rhyan balanced herself on her upper arms, she exclaimed,

“I did it! In your FACE!”

We all started cracking up. No, apparently yoga isn’t always just about peace and stress relief.

Sometimes it’s about accomplishing something with your body that you’ve never been able to do before…and then boasting about it to your friends.

And now my competitive side has been challenged. Even though I know yoga is all about knowing your body and trusting what it can or can’t do on any given day, I still want to be the next one of us to do the pose. Mark my words, one day I will do the Crow.

In Your Face!!

Up Early! Why?

This morning, I did something completely out of character for me: I woke up early (7 a.m.) on a Saturday morning.

Now before you try to tell me that 7 a.m. is not really that early, let me tell you that normally on a weekend, I sleep in until 10:30/11 a.m. So yes, 7 a.m. is quite early for me!

So what prompted this change in sleeping habits for one Miss Healthypants?

Free outdoor yoga!

Every Saturday morning in the late spring & summer, the city of Chicago, and McDonalds sponsor free exercise classes in Millennium Park, which is like three blocks from my apartment building. The schedule is:

7 AM - Tai Chi
8 AM - Yoga
9 AM - Pilates
10 AM - Dance Aerobics

They offered free exercise classes last year, as well, but I was always too lazy to get my butt out of bed on Saturday mornings to work out…but not any more! Miss Healthypants is committed to starting her summer Saturdays off in a healthy way.

Anyway, I met a couple of friends there, and we participated in a 45-minute outdoor yoga class on Millennium Park’s Great Lawn. The weather was cloudy, warm, and humid, with just a slight mist of rain during the whole class—which I actually found quite refreshing.

And the class itself was good—not way too challenging, but just challenging enough—a good moderate workout for a Saturday morning—appropriate for almost any fitness level.

But my favorite part of the class was actually doing yoga outside, in the park. It was so lovely to close my eyes and come into Ujjayi breathing (a type of breathing used in yoga practice), and hear the birds chirping away in the trees around me.

And then there was the moment when we all did “tree pose" (see picture below). It was just so cool to look around the park and see the trees and then see all of us humans in tree pose. What a beautiful moment!

Tree Pose - photo courtesy of www.yogatic.com.



So I would say it’s safe to assume that I will be coming back to Saturday morning yoga in the park. Hell, maybe next time I’ll even stick around for Pilates!

Later, after class, I stopped in at McDonald’s for breakfast. And as I chomped my way through a breakfast burrito, I realized the irony—that the same corporation that had just helped me out by co-sponsoring a free exercise class, was now helping me to deliver fat and cholesterol into my body. When it comes to my health, I guess McDonald’s giveth, and it also taketh away!

Still, one of the central themes of yoga is keeping balance in your life. Just as I balanced in tree pose, I also balanced out my unhealthy breakfast burrito with some healthy fruit and orange juice.

And speaking of keeping balance, I will be mostly away from the internet and will not be blog-posting for probably a good week or so. So just in case you stop back here and think that I’m being a lazy-ass for not posting, just remember that I’m taking a hiatus to restore mental balance in my life. And yes, I’m also being a lazy-ass.

Medium Yoga and a Large Cry

I woke up this morning with a sore back and a headache, and feeling down in the dumps.

Right now, my back and my head feel great, and I am feeling supremely relaxed and happy.

Would you believe that all this happened from one yoga class? (Okay, I suppose it doesn’t hurt that it’s Friday night, too!)

Anyway, in yoga class today (at my job, we get a free hour-long yoga class every week), the teacher taught us a new kind of yoga that I’d never tried before. I can’t remember what it was called (I REALLY wish I could remember what it was called), but it was a more meditative type of yoga, where the poses aren’t super-difficult, but you hold each pose for at least 2-3 minutes while really focusing on your breathing.

Although it wasn’t necessarily an easy yoga class, it felt WONDERFUL.

Honestly, it felt like the kind of yoga that was perfect for me. I feel like I literally felt myself opening up, and my negative energy draining away.

And the hour went by extremely fast. I was so surprised when she told us it was time to go into the final relaxation pose. Usually by that time, I am pretty much ready to punch the teacher in order to get her to end the class. But today, even though I was sweaty and my heart was pounding, I know I could have gone on even longer.

And then something amazing happened. As I lay in relaxation pose, I suddenly felt myself completely let go of EVERYTHING that had been bothering me this past week…and as my body sunk into the floor, I felt my emotions also beginning to let go…

And as we sat up and ended the class with our usual bow and said “Namaste,” I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.

The teacher said, “Don’t be surprised if you feel emotional at times, off and on throughout the day. This kind of practice tends to do that to people sometimes.”

No kidding!

I looked over at one of my coworkers, and I may be wrong, but I think I saw that her eyes were red, too.

Slowly, I rolled up my mat and gathered up my things, and I went into the bathroom to change. And then…I just let go.

I cried and cried—and it felt so wonderful! I felt like every part of me just completely let go.

For those of you who don’t know what it’s like to have a good cry—well, you just don’t know what you’re missing! It can be an absolutely beautiful experience.

And no, there’s nothing really terrible happening in my life right now. Sometimes I just bottle lots of little things up, and a good cry is all I need to feel all better again.

Later this afternoon, my coworker remarked that she felt like “mush.”

I know exactly what she meant. Feeling like mush is pretty freakin’ awesome.