30 Day Challenge Bloggers: Lena, Post #7

I felt successful doing yoga on the beach at Cannon Beach and having my sister photograph me doing it. Before this challenge I would never have done any yoga in public. I had my mind on the goal of posting the photos later, so I didn’t think about being self conscious. It felt so nice to be doing yoga on the hard packed sand. I loved having the sunshine on my body as I did it. My sister seemed to enjoy her role of photographer.

I struggled with getting any yoga into my home practice at all while I had company; even just the company of my sister. I also wasn’t able to attend my regular exercise and yoga classes because we were doing other things. My sister had no interest in joining me for any exercise classes, except for NIA on Sunday. I left her at home just once, last Saturday to go to Amy’s class, and I am so glad I did that at least!

The yoga I did do at home was often just Sadie Nardini’s yoga for sleep. I like it a lot and I was able to get in my ten minutes a day at home thanks to her. Sometimes it was almost midnight before I could even squeeze that in, but I did, because of the accountability of doing this challenge. I had promised to do at least ten minutes of yoga at home every day and I was able to keep my promise.

I had thought I would spend more time working on poses that are difficult for me, like side plank, but I haven’t done nearly as much of that as I would have liked. I’ve worked in more balance poses like tree and warrior poses. They are easier to do quickly, while standing.

I would like to continue doing Sadie Nardini’s “Yoga for Sleep” each night as part of my bedtime routine before I take a shower. I would also like to continue to sprinkle in poses that I’d like to work on, such as tree and side plank, poses that I need extra practice doing, so that I can improve.

I’ve reconfirmed something I’ve really learned clearly about myself in the last six years since I retired and moved here—I am not much of a self-starter. It seems to work so much better for me to take a class with someone twenty or thirty years younger, who can push me much harder than I would push myself. I like to turn my brain off and have someone like Amy talk me through it. I also push myself better in a class environment. I am not competing with my classmates, since all of us are good at some poses and not as good at others. It is different with each person and is a result of their own lifetime pattern of flexibility and strength. I get energy from being in a group where everyone is working at doing their own best yoga. This energy helps me do a better job myself.
This challenge has made me pay attention to my yoga practice and think about it quite a lot. I’ve journaled about it and tried to incorporate more yoga into my day. I hope to continue doing so. I am so grateful to have been a part of this community of yogis.