the last two days has been extra painful as i was stretching muscles and using joints which i’ve not used in a long long time or as regularly.

don’t get me wrong. it’s not a torture chamber. in fact, it got me thinking of how bad my posture has been, and how wrongly i’ve been using my muscles. as a former dancer, i’ve taken all these for granted and have turn to the ‘dark’ side.

it will get better in time, and with practice, it won’t hurt as much anymore. practice makes perfect, increasing confidence and reducing fear.

talking about fear, i had difficulty doing one of the poses cause i was afraid to push my shoulders down and place my chin on the floor. a few times i either plopped and laid flat on my stomach or hit my chin on the mat.

eventually, after about 30 tries, i finally managed it.

here is erin showing us how to do it..

another position that is supposed to be a relaxing position, but still feels like alot of pain for me is the downward dog.

this is not how it should be done.

as u can see, i have my heels up. but with my current flexibility and strength, this is the best i can do. i also have my elbows hyper-extended, where as it should be slightly bent and not locked in.

eventually, my downward dog should look like this. flat foot, rounded elbows & shoulders, with a nice flat & firm tummy..

~namaste~

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 :)