The last two days I avoided the gym, and focused instead on yoga. I have to be honest with you, I’ve had a hard time maintaining yoga on this trip, which has been a surprise and a lesson to me. This is also the first time I’ve been to Tulum where I’ve been working, and where I’ve maintained a regular training split at the gym. Previously, I wasn’t into the gym, if you can believe it…But enough is enough! The last two weeks I’ve been getting increasingly uncomfortable from head-to-toe…I’ve had a nagging feeling that I’m completely twisted through the pelvis, up through my abdominals, and back muscles, and especially through the QL, scapula and neck…It’s gotten so bad I’ve starting doing things with my left hand, and standing on my left leg to try and untwist. For a week I’ve tried to negotiate with myself to do the Bikram CD in the morning before I hit the computer, and then I tried to set up a deal where I would do it by candle-light in the evening, but no…nothing…just 20 backbends, some splits and other static stretching, but no actual class, egads…As Bikram would say, Good luck with your Life!
I’ve maintained an almost daily practice since Bikram Teacher Training in 2003, so going through this resistance was a real lesson, and I think I finally figured out what needed to give. I had to give up training at the gym to get myself to do a class. I actually promised myself to roll it back on training this trip to heal up and get re-energized for the winter, but the most I’ve been able to do is cut down training times from my usual 70 minutes to about 35-40…It’s been so hard to give up! It had really taken over, like a new lover, but I was ignoring yoga to my peril. Verging on 42, (my birthday is in November), I can’t afford to skip my yoga practice. I always tell other women that yoga has been my fountain of youth, that it helps regulate my hormones by increasing blood-flow to my glands, it tones and stretches the entire system of connective tissue in my body, and maintains an even exchange between blood supply and the joints and organs…SO WHAT WAS I DOING SKIPPING OUT ON IT?? It also helps me stay calm and balanced, both necessary traits as I have a lot on my plate these days.
That’s how the monkey mind works, though, and that’s why we have a support system in place, to maintain our perspective, both when we’re high, and when we’re low. My support system comes from inside, and it took years to develop. Seriously, if you could only hear the conversations that go on in my head when I’m coaching myself through a good habit and out of a bad one. It’s like parenting a small child at times, but I really do think that’s our reality.
I think that to be successful day-in-and-day-out with yourself, you have to learn to guide yourself through those tricky moments. Through experience, you just know when you’re most likely to get tripped up, and you watch out for it..you create a system to take care of yourself. I was just talking with another coach, who was having to go through some tough talks with athletes, and we both had to shake our heads at what bodybuilding competition can do to our minds, even the best of us! We get so focused on the minutiae of our physiques, that in 1 hour we can go from feeling flat, to feeling ripped, to feeling bloated. It’s a coaches nightmare if you don’t have a strategy to deal with this very normal thought process close to a show.
So what did I do to get myself back in the yoga game? I realized that I needed to switch gears, take out the training aspect for a couple of days, and refocus on the yoga, how great the series makes me feel, and how much I need it, mentally, physically and emotionally. I did coin the phrase, Balance is the New Extreme, afterall! So now I’m two days into a regular practice, my back already feels better, as does the look on my face, (relaxed and happy), the bounce in my step, (Tigger is back) and my whole outlook on life and feeling centered and peaceful. My BIG GOAL for the next week is to share the week evenly between yoga and the gym. One day for Yoga, and the next day for IRON. This is supposed to be “off-season” after-all…
Namaste!
