Day 11: Living on a Prayer

Alright, a little true confession time...last night I went out to dinner with a friend and since it was a celebration, we shared a bottle of wine. Half a bottle of wine is significantly more than I usually drink and just enough to get me to the main gate of what my gals call "Tipsy Village." The point of this confession is to share that I didn't get a good night's sleep, so I was a little sluggish today and concerned about how my practice might go. I was kind of dragging and there was an unexplained twinge in my left hip.

But the practice was really good. My mind was pretty focused, probably too tired to do more than pay attention to me not falling on my face! One of the main things I've noticed the past few days is that my body, when my mind gets out of the way, is doing better and better at what instructors call "moving with the breath." The style of Yoga I practice, Vinyasa, is all about connecting breath to movement. Vinyasa is sometimes also called "flow" because of the movement from pose to pose that is distinctive to this style--and its the main thing that I like about it. "Taking a Vinyasa" happens frequently during class--this is when you move from downward facing dog, into plank, then down chatarunga (full chatarungas tonight!), to up dog--all in two breaths. Anyway, I've been working on strengthening my up dog so that my lower back isn't crunched and I'm definitely making progress.

The next three days will bring an exciting new experience to my practice--friends! I haven't practiced Yoga with a friend for a long, long time and a few friends have said they would be eager to join. Look for the next three days to feature my adventures with Precious, Sabrina, and Kathryn.

And by the way, dinner was fantastic--if you find yourself in my old 'hood of Silver Spring, MD be sure to check out 8407 kitchen bar.