St. Emma of the Chemicals

Raviana's Journey Through the Chakras is definitely one worth taking. I could feel the energy rising up my spine, and now I feel refreshed, radiant and ready to take on anything that comes my way.

It's this feeling that keeps me coming back to the mat even on those days when I don't want to do yoga, or much of anything, really. I think it's becoming an addiction.

I suppose there are worse addictions out there.

Cardio. Kundalini yoga. Most days I like to keep them separate. Compartmentalized. But some days I like to mix them together. Today was one of those days.

I feel so good now, there are no words.

Today I did the basic spinal series and the five (highly modified) Tibetans. If there's one thing I've learned from this latest (and most likely permanent) bout of wrist problems, it's that there's absolutely nothing wrong with modifying when necessary. It helped when I stopped thinking of it as "dumbing down the workout" and started thinking of it as "customization."

Perspective is everything.

The "Raise Yourself Up" segment of Raviana's Total Tune-Up has a lot of good thyroid work without being too demanding. It felt a bit weird to do it in isolation, out of context from the surrounding exercises, but I only had time for 15 minutes of yoga today, and something is better than nothing. Especially when it makes me feel like this.

I did the Quick Spirit Lift premix from Raviana's Body Electric. One of the kriyas involved a long arm hold, combined with holding the breath out. Long arm holds tend to make me angsty and jittery. Holding the breath out tends to make me nervous and angry. And yet, somehow, I found this particular kriya soothing. Why? I do not know. Apparently the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Also, I got to chant "Narayan hari," which always makes me feel happy.

"Ringing the Bells of Heaven" is rather like having your arms pulled off and being beaten with them. In a serene, yogic way, of course.

Ow.

After a week of fighting with a terrible chest cold, I finally felt well enough to do yoga. You know it's bad when you can't even cobble together enough energy to do a few rounds of alternate nostril breathing. At any rate, I eased back into things with Maya's Detox & Destress practice, which is one of my favourites. It's just challenging enough to give me post-yoga buzz, without ever being intimidating. I desperately needed to not be intimidated by my yoga today. I needed it to feel like the movement equivalent of a warm, fuzzy sweater, and that's what it was to me.

Today, I was in need of restoration. I can do something more strenuous tomorrow, or the next day, or the next.

I crawled out of bed barely able to move, as I often do. (It takes my system a while to come online after sleep.) I had just enough coordination to throw myself onto a yoga mat and do the AM set from AM-PM Yoga, with the prosperity and chakra balancing meditations.

It was like the yogic version of a triple espresso. I am raring to go. I do not rare. Ever.

I like this!

I dropped effortlessly off to sleep last night, which was something, but woke after about four hours, which was less than optimal. I'm not entirely convinced that the "Sleep Easy" set is going to be anything approximating a miracle cure, here, but some improvement does seem better than none at all.

Today I dug out a classic, Raviana's Total Tune-Up, and did it in its entirety. I noticed increased flexibility and endurance, in my hips and thighs especially, but also in my arms, and I only really had to modify once, for my wrist. I also found myself smiling as I was doing this practice. I've been catching myself doing that a lot lately - no matter how difficult or frustrating these practices may be at times, I'm somehow perceiving them as fun.

It's weird to think of exercise as fun. Weird but kind of enjoyable.

For various reasons, I've been a little stressed lately, so I've drastically increased the amount of kundalini yoga I've been doing. For the last few weeks, I've been alternating my regular workouts with kundalini yoga. My stress levels are down. My sleep patterns are slowly renormalizing. And I have never looked forward to working out more than when I have kundalini yoga pencilled in to my schedule.

Thanks to the enabling of one fitness-related support group, I'm going to attempt a daily practice. It won't always be long, but hopefully it will always be something. Thanks to the encouragement of another fitness-related support group, I've decided to blog about my experiences. This is an experiment of sorts; I want detailed notes.

Today I did one of the new Raviana's, Body Electric. It definitely lives up to its name. I had to modify in places and take occasional rest breaks, but I loved every second of what I did do. When I finished the practice, my body was humming with that lovely post-yoga energy and my mind was tranquil.

As much as I hate mornings, there is a lot to be said for doing yoga right when I wake up. I started my day feeling like I'd already accomplished something major, so I could clearly handle anything. Even the sudden appearance of snow could not rattle my equanimity. That's so rare, and powerful. I want it more often.