Thursday, March 8, 2007

Musclignment...new word

The body just amazes me sometimes. How my arms are not sore this morning will remain a mystery. Yoga last night was fun but WORK oh my God! The instructor (Elizabeth) is an Iyengar(alignment-based) Queen. I think I did about 1,000 Chaturangas. One of the allergy medications I'm taking says a possible side-effect is muscle weakness...no shit! We would hold Chaturanga and move our shoulderblades up and down to notice the difference. I know that the pose isn't all just arm strength but your arms, shoulders, ribs, abs, pelvis but afterwhile I would just plop. I felt like I was in the army. But I know Elizabeth and I know every class is not like this so I'll still go back. The thing with yoga is that it's not all muscle. A good part is where your bones are in relation to the pose. Like is your spine straight when you touch your toes or are you curving it? Does your neck sink into your collarbone? <---I catch myself doing that quite a bit.

Its kind of quiet in the office today so I think I'm gonna sneak out and take a lunchtime class. My studio offers "Quickie" classes 12:30-1:30 so I'm there! My studio is 10 city blocks away from my office which I can walk to in 10 minutes (I've timed it yesterday). Tomorrow is my yoga date with my friend Nicole who is working in the city for the day. We're going to Jivamukti. I can't wait to practice with her, she's so bad-ass with her arm balances (I've see pictures). Most arm balances for me end up with my face on the floor like Wylde E Coyote running off a cliff.

Yoga three times this week? I can't believe it!

2 comments:

Regina said...

Oh, I love chaturangas! That was the pose my new teacher specifically complimented me on! I don't know why I do them so well, but I do! :)
I haven't been to class at all this week- trying to get hubby ready for his big trip across the ocean! Saturday will be just perfect, though, for one.
Wow- I would love to go to Juvamukti! Tell us all about it!

Mary said...

LOL that sounds like a class we had recently. It felt like we were doing them for the whole 75 mins! My arm strength is not that well developed yet either but I tell you what, how strong do you feel after anyway!?

I am really interested in Jivamukti now. Some of the teachers at my studio in Australia have been to New York and trained with Sharon and David. We are now incorporating some of the chanting into our daily classes. I'd love to hear more about your experience!