I attended yoga this morning at my office. A coworker is a trained instructor in Kripalu yoga, which I think is an Indian word meaning, “Kick Chris’s Ass.” Everything seemed like it would be okay, but I found myself dying at the strangest points. Downward facing dog, for one. This is where you are folded up like a tipped over “L,” with your hands on the floor and your feet on the floor, and your butt in the air. My shoulders were KILLING me.
And then there was this youchy pigeon pose business:
And I’m sweating my head off. There’s three guys and five girls, and one of the guys must’ve been a secret yoga junkie, because he looks just like our instructor in how he’s doing things. One of the other guys looks more like me, wondering just how the hell we should be able to do this. The girls? They were flexible as all get out.
Anyhow, I came away feeling like it didn’t matter a lick, all my weightlifting. That yoga stuff is killer. It proved that you can do all the strength and power training in the world, but when it comes to holding a position where you’re supporting your body weight for a length of time, you’re still doomed.
That’s really it, I think. When you lift weights, you move a bunch of metal for a certain amount of time, and then you release. In this yoga stuff, you hold things for much longer. What a DIFFERENCE. And which might be more realistic? I don’t know. What if you’re helping someone move? Won’t you have to hold whatever you’re holding for much longer than, say, eight reps?
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In other news, I attended a lecture by a local personal trainer who wrote a fitness and nutrition book. I’d read her book a few weeks before, so I thought it’d be neat to listen to her presentation. The book had lots of good information, and I didn’t disagree with any of what she wrote. I felt her presentation was a little off considering the audience, but that was mostly a matter of her probably needing to keep sharpening her presentation skills. The book itself was good. Her message when given live just needed toning.
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Thanks for everyone’s kind words yesterday. Today’s much better, and Kat helped make yesterday a better day than it started out to be. I never really mind the down days, but it’s important to throw them into my journal with the good, to show that no one is 100% on their game at all times. It’s what you do when you’re down that matters.
Are you satisfied with how you make it through your bad days? What are your little tricks and tips for getting through?
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