30 Day Challenge

Namaste - on the last week of the 30 Day Challenge

November 26th, 2009 by Aw Li-Ann

unfortunately, this week, i’ve not been able to share much of my experience due to my work schedule.

not making it for the morning class, i try my best to make it for the evenings. i realised that the evening classes are much more packed than the morning class. and honestly, i prefer doing yoga in the morning as it truly gives the day a great energy boost!

there is one class which its experience i would like share. for me this class was special. special not because it was a morning class, but it was a class which i went straight from work to. yes, i worked till 7.30am from the morning before and went into class the morning after.

as i already lack oxygen going up to the head due to lack of sleep, through the poses where i had to bow forward or down, i had blood rushing up (or should i say down) to my head. coming up from those poses gave me a high, a nice dizzy spin like you’ve just had a couple of glasses of wine.. relaxation after class was bliss.. the muscles truly feeling used and well spent.

however, i would not recommend anyone to do this. it was incredibly dangerous for me when i was driving back after class, as i was feeling numbness (the mild pins and needles type) to my arms and feet, and had to concentrate extra hard to keep my wheels in check.

there’s another 4 more days to go. i hope to be able to complete them without missing anymore, despite the fact that i’m also working through the public holiday and weekend.

wish me luck~!!

Namaste - Day 14,15,16,17 & 18

November 18th, 2009 by Aw Li-Ann

honestly, i feel really guilty for not being able to update this diary as often during the last 5 days. there is a perfectly good reason for that. my work has been super duper hectic, plus i haven’t been sitting in front of my computer much as well.

also, during the last few days, silly old me, mistaking the pain on my arms and shoulders as using my muscles during sun salutation, i pulled it instead. rendering both my arms kinda useless after, and not able to do the other poses which uses the arms as well. this is not such an innocent mistake. it is a very common and taken for granted mistake. the lack of preparation and warm-up.

so while my arms are healing, and using more of my legs, i’m going to take this pretty painful lesson as a good smacking for not having good common sense. one of the most important lessons in yoga, good warm-up and awareness of the body.

———————

i didn’t make it for the morning class, but made it for the evening one. indra had already made my meal in the morning and saved it for me, so i went to pick it up during lunch.

Veggie Kebab

Veggie Kebab

Namaste - Day 11,12 & 13

November 13th, 2009 by Aw Li-Ann

and again i was super late on Wed & Thurs.

i realised why i’ve been so tired & exhausted the last 2-3 days. it’s a monthly thing. my body starts to breakdown a day or two before my cycle starts. and because my body is still getting used to doing yoga for the last two weeks, i got extra tired. i just couldn’t get out of bed this morning, despite already being half awake.

my body is telling me not to push it any further. i’ve not done any form of real exercise in months (maybe even years), and i’m no spring chicken either.

i used to lie to myself that, yeah, i am exercising what.. i’m dancing in clubs.. counts rite :p
no, dancing in a club does not count for exercise. its not as intense as dancing in a real class for 2-3 hours straight. it can’t even compare to my 1 hour of yoga every morning. so therefore, it definitely doesn’t count.

no worries, i’ll be back and bouncing again in another 2 days..

———————————

meals for the last 2 days :)

we had chickpeas & olive salad and wheatberries & fruits salad

this was really yummy on its own..

but i couldn’t help making it into a wrap.
a chickpea & salad with yogurt dressing chapati wrap..
*drooling while thinking about it*

annnnddd my wheatberries & fruit salad
was supposed to wrap this too, but i didn’t have time this morning

as i didn’t get to go to class this morning, my dearest cousin, who’s also in the challenge together with me, dropped it off at my house. thanks yvonne! :)

Namaste - Day 7,8,9 & 10

November 10th, 2009 by Aw Li-Ann

the last few days has rendered me physically & mentally exhausted. so exhausted that i couldn’t wake up this morning in time, and was super late for class.

i missed the sun salutations, with both regret and relief. regret that i didn’t get to do it ritually every morning, but a relief as i don’t think i could have sustain the rest of the class if i did.

indra said that it is possible that my body has reached its limit. well, its not time to give up yet. though i was late, it is definitely better than not showing up at all.

————————

today’s meal :)

Salsa Hummus Wrap
absolutely yummy!! *slurp*

Namaste - Day 1 & 2

November 2nd, 2009 by Aw Li-Ann

when i first did yoga with 3sa years ago, yoga for me was more of a stretching exercise class than anything. that was years ago.

yesterday, as i filled in my registration form for the 30-day yoga challenge, the guy who took my registration look at me with a cautious eye and told me that i’ve got quite alot of injuries. here’s the list :
a) old injuries (all on right side) - sprained / twisted ankle, sprained hip, broken cartilage @ knee, broken collar bone, deformed shoulder blade, broken wrist. all healed but can’t be stressed so much on without protection

b) back problems - recovering from major whiplash on upper back (both shoulders) due to a car accident last year & sprained lower back due to stupidity manual labor 5 years ago.

after yesterday’s re-introduction class, i was bursting with energy the whole day and by 10.30pm at nite, my energy was well spent and called it a night.

today’s class, however, left me feeling lethargic about 3 hours after i entered work. or maybe i’m just having a much busier morning than usual without a chance to actually reflect.

when 3sa and i first spoke about this challenge, she mentioned that i would be going in with alot more physical challenges. she also said that while yoga is about the body & mind, i would be more mentally affected than physical. at this point, until i can calm my mind while doing the poses instead of thinking “breathe, breathe, breathe” or “stretch! ouch! pain!” its physical..

the only message i’m getting mentally is, “don’t give up!” and “don’t fall from / lose hope!”.

i realise i need yoga. i need it so i can recover, so i can stretch and be more flexible again, so i can lose weight and most importantly, so i can dance again without worries. “no pain, no gain” they say..

giving starbucks a run for their money :)

giving starbucks a run for their money :)