A Hot Sweaty Mess

This past weekend I tried something new. Bikram Yoga. Eeek! It’s an intense yoga done in a very hot room. Now I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for the past ten years. Mostly Hatha and Sivananda. Those two practices did not prepare me for Bikram. I sat in the hot room before class to get myself acclimated to the heat. I made the mistake of not bringing a water bottle in with me. I also made the mistake of not drinking much water before I took the class. The teacher who taught said at the beginning of the class for all the newbies to stay in the room even if you felt dizzy. Hmmm. Now for those of you who know me well, I’m a bit on the heavy side and being overly hot isn’t my favorite thing, but I thought I would try this type of yoga to help my very tight muscles loosen up a bit. We, humans, are not meant to sit at a desk for 8.5 hours a day without our bodies tightening up. So I bought this month long voucher back in January. I meant to go. I really did but my chattering monkey brain got in the way. I talked myself out of going to yoga because I was anticipating a class full of hard bodies while I tried to slog through the poses. Hehehe. I know now that I was just getting in my own way. I finally went Saturday morning full of vim and vigor. I seem to be telling this story in a circular way.

I went through the most intensive 90 minute yoga class in my life. Every inch of my body was covered in sweat. It was not a pretty sight but everyone in that room looked the same on that count. I did have to take a few sitting breaks from time to time because the heat and the poses made me cramp up or made me want to throw up. And yes, I did feel faint a few times. * note to self – bring a water bottle next time. Essentially this particular class focused on standing / balancing poses. I have one bad knee that had me all out of whack…but I hung in there. I think this type of yoga will be beneficial to my crazy bad knees because they focus on strengthening the quad muscles. And good lord, mine have atrophied since I blew out my knee, so I spent a good deal of time shaking through my poses trying to get my quad muscle to fire up and hold still. When I came out of class I was trembling probably from dehydration but mostly from the effort. I stayed in the class the whole time, I did not pass out, I tried for the poses and even when I definitely didn’t have the flexibility or the stamina for them I did my best and I’m really proud of that fact.

After class, I bought a ridiculously overpriced coconut water which help with the dehydration. Then I went to get a mani/pedi ‘cause the one thing I noticed while doing those poses was the fact that my feet were jacked up. So yes, pedicure was needed. I bought myself a fruit blend made from bananas, strawberry and apple and headed for a little pampering. Then I went straight home where my body was naturally detoxing. I took a long hot shower and gradually a migraine started to bloom. I went to lie down for a short nap and 12 hours later I awoke. My intention was go to another morning class on Sunday but my body was on fire. I was very sore…there are part of my body that I never knew could get sore, like the muscles around my rib cage. Who knew? Anyway, I opted to do an hour long session of Sivananda yoga instead. The gentle approach helped break up some of the crazy soreness I was feeling and afterwards I treated myself to some berries and cereal. Yay!!
All for now,
L~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Tegan & Sara - Now I'm All Messed Up

I’m still wiggling in the world of being uncomfortable right now. I dreamt last night that I was invited to live with my sister and my three nieces in Soho and I was scrubbing her apartment clean before I would consider moving in. Hehehe. She has two little ones that make keeping a clean apt. almost impossible. She begs to differ.

This morning on my way through the apartment complex Crow flew straight across my line of vision and called out. My first good omen of the day. When I got to Times Square, someone had drawn purple hearts in chalk across a few sidewalks. Awww how sweet is that!! It totally made me go all mush.
I’ve been in such a foul mood all week that it’s cool to allow a little ray of sunlight in.

Okay, I've been on such a Tegan & Sara kick that I'm putting up "Now I'm All Messed Up."  I love Sara's high pleading voice in this tune. If I've put this audio up once before...oh well...you're going to have to ride along on my Tegan & Sara trip.  Sweet!! 

Peace, L~ All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Iyeoka--Simply Falling

It’s a wet slushy Tuesday and I just realized this morning that I have a hole in my snow boots. So side stepping one slushy crater I accidently stepped into another puddle only to have water seep into my boot. Booooooo!! I didn’t let that deter me since I was running late this morning. Then I raced up the escalators to try to catch my train only to have the doors close right before I got there. * grumble, grumble * Missing the train is usually not a big deal, but today there were signal problems so the next train sat in the station for 20 minutes. * sigh * When we finally got moving, my express train turned local. * ergh * By this time, I was wishing I had taken the day off. No such luck. I thought as long as the train is moving, we’re good right? We made it to 125th street where I decided to transfer over to an actual express train. Managed to make it onto the train but we were packed in like sardines. I only had three stops surely I could manage tight quarters for three express stops. The lady behind me with three large totes made it difficult to stand up right because she kept pushing around to make room for herself and her carry on luggage (I mean purses). Fine. She won that round but with each new stop as more people crowded in I was holding down the panic that was starting to rise. I really hate being squished in. Twelve minutes of that confined space was all I could manage, thank goodness my stop came up before I lost my damned mind. I could barely squeeze out of the train, it was so packed and the people who wanted to get on were blocking my way out. I did what any self-respecting New Yorker could do, I pushed hard out of the train. It was like a re-birthing exercise. Hahaha! Once out, I could breathe again and I walked to catch the shuttle cross town (I was already so late) and the shuttle was just as bad. Tight as sardines. Ergh!! I really hate my morning commute today. I decided to go get some breakfast, there is no way that I am going to rush up to the office without getting my favorite ham and egg sandwich and a large tea with milk. Yum!! After all that trying to race in, I just stopped caring after the shuttle train. Now I am sitting at my desk unable to get my day started.

Anyway, I came across this singer just now and loved her vibe. I know one or two people out there will dig her voice. Iyeoka-Simply Falling

 

Enjoy!!

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2013 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.