written by Alanna · 04.06.10
I found a yoga studio near my new house and tried out their prenatal class yesterday for the first time. The class is 90 minutes instead of the 1 hour I’m used to. It was intense! There were some poses my body just can’t do at all right now. There were lots of poses that focused on stretching out the shoulders and mid back. I’ve got a bad rib, a floater rib that was displaced a few years ago, it make my whole mid back stiff, so I felt like a big loser trying to keep up with all those limber pregnant ladies. Still it was a great class and I felt all blissed out afterward. I’ll keep going to the class and hopefully my back will limber up a bit. They offer two prenatal yoga classes a week. I haven’t been going to weekend yoga classes because mornings are always doggy time around our house. But my husband Tom says he’ll drop me off for the Saturday class, take the dog to the park, and come get me afterward. We may even sneak in some post yoga brunch at a cute place next door.
I had some bad news from my midwives this morning. I had higher than normal levels of glucose. It was a major wake-up call. Moving to a new house has payed a toll on my diet and I haven’t been diligent at all. I have to start today. For me it’s grains, vegetables, and protein. No more biscuits with jam, no more ice cream sandwiches, I’m not even going to touch a soda can. I’d been allowing myself a soda every once in a while, knowing I shouldn’t, but thinking I was doing so good, one little soda wouldn’t hurt. But it was obviously hurting me, so it’s time to knock it off. I’ll be keeping a daily food journal from here on out.
High glucose levels also means it’s more important than ever for me to get regular exercise every day. This yoga practice is even more important to me now. The TV and DVD are set up in the basement of our new house now, so I have something to follow along with a keep me motivated. I don’t push myself when I’m flying solo.
written by Alanna · 03.29.10
I borrowed some books from the library and took them with me on a weekend getaway to Mt. Hood last weekend. One book is called Yoga For Pregnancy and Birth by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli. It’s been a great read for better understanding how each pose in the book benefits my pregnancy and labor. It comes with a CD that includes 4 different breathing methods plus a couple of meditations. The illustrations in the book aren’t that great but the descriptions are good. Each pose suggests counter poses and the front of the book has suggested sequences that focus on different areas of the body and mind. Historically my yoga practice has been as a casual participant. I’m loving learning about poses that target specific trouble areas.
My baby is kicking up a storm these days. I think she’s more into kick boxing than yoga!
written by Ali · 03.27.10
Ahhhh! Yoga90 flop.We’re all off the Y90 wagon. Hard to get back on once you’re off.
Anyhow… things keep changing for the worse (or so it may seem) as far as my practice goes. My morning classes were canceled for good last week, and the owner of the studio is giving the afternoon classes one more month. I think she’ll keep Karuna’s two classes, cause they fill. But the others admitedly are dead. Not to US, but so it seems. There are only on average about 4 of us who show regularly to the other classes. As I’ve said before, Karuna’s classes are by far the most excitng and challenging.
Hmmmm….. my kundalini community needs to band together and create a dedicated space.
written by Alanna · 03.22.10
I too am guilty of falling off the yoga wagon. The move and the unpacking proved too physically difficult for me. I found a whole new definition of exhaustion. I knew moving while pregnant would be hard… and it was harder than I could have imagined. I’ve been trying to tell myself I’ve been doing “unpacking yoga” so that I don’t feel as bad about missing my practice. I’m back on the yoga train now though and easing my way back into a daily practice with gentle yoga. I’m at the halfway mark in my pregnancy now, 20 weeks. My body is getting bigger and I’m much more tired. I know that keeping my practice up now is more important than ever, I worry about tieing my shoelaces. Today I discovered that I had no desire whatsoever to plug my phone into the outlet near the floor.
I’m settling into my new house, looking for the best place to do my yoga. The sun has been out lately so I may try the backyard today. My little office is still full of boxes. So far I’ve only found Saturday morning classes in my new neighborhood so I may try to keep up with the class at my gym during the week, with some modifications to poses like plank and cobra. I’m starting to loose my balance lately too. Might have to show up early so I can get a spot by the wall.
Don’t worry Alison, sometimes we all just need a break. What really matters is our ability to keep trying.
written by Ali · 03.19.10
Yep… It happened. The doomed, tragic news that I hate to admit: I haven’t done yoga since I’ve been in Bozeman, Montana. Basically this whole week. I broke my Y90.That’s why I haven’t been on to blog… I’ve felt a bit like a lamo.
OK… so enough with the guilt already!
I’m happy to have completed one Y90, but I guess the 2nd go-round was too much for me, in some sense. I’m totally psyched to get back home and get back to kundalini. Can’t wait. I just had NO desire to do my morning sadhana, and even less desire to crack open Gurmukh’s DVD.
With the first round, I had more determination, more gumshun. This time, it’s less and less. But fortunately, my enthusiasm for kundalini has not diminished. I just needed a break from it all.
Hope everyone else is going strong!
written by Meg · 03.13.10
yo yo yoga 90 homies!!!!
finally home and back into the time zone. it was hard being out of touch without a computer to write on! i’m excited to be back on track and joining in another yoga 90 session with so many fellow yogis! yippeee! yahooo!
finishing off my 90 days of yoga in Los Angeles was profound. all i can say is……. music and tears. thanks, clay!!!! if you are ever in LA check him out…. www.claykyleyoga.com
welcome, Alanna! and all the other friends out there doing yoga 90. it’s so great that the Y90 fever is spreading! let’s keep it going…..could you imagine if the whole world were doing yoga everyday? wow.
i hope to be a better blogger. however, if i have to choose between sitting with my lil girls for a moment to stop and breathe, i will probably choose the fam……but always know, y90 friends, that i’m with you in spirit and in downward dog!
namaste,
meg
written by Alanna · 03.12.10
I have a 2 year old Border Collie/Labrador mix. She wants… no, needs to be at the center of all activity, all the time. When I try to do yoga at my house I have one of two options; I can either lock myself in my office and listen to her whining at my door for an hour, or I can try to do yoga with her in the living room. When I am in sitting positions, she wants to be on my lap. When I am in standing positions, she jumps up and puts her paws on my belly (baby doesn’t like this). When in downward dog or side angle stretches, she’s underneath me. Yesterday I tried giving her a Kong with a spoonful of peanut butter in it. She was much easier to do yoga around. She still wanted to be underneath me with her Kong as I did my downward facing dog, but she was more interested in her Kong than in disrupting my practice. Looks like yoga time at home will now become peanut butter Kong time for her. I’m sure she’s thrilled.
Wednesday might have been the last prenatal yoga class with Camille for a while. We move tomorrow and we’ll be quite a bit further from the studio. It’s going to be harder to get over there. Looks like I’ll be trying out new studios in the North Portland area for the next few weeks. My yoga mat is one of the few things in my house that isn’t in a box.
written by Ali · 03.10.10
We danced around today in yoga, “as if we had just been chosen for the cast of God Spell.” That happens sometimes in kundalini yoga. In fact, you never really know what will happen.
I’ve had this teacher a couple other times. I can describe him in a few words, but I won’t. Actually, I did there, but I deleted it. I’m working very hard on not gossiping or saying things about other people behind their backs that I wouldn’t feel proud of if they knew I were saying it.
I can say this though: I’m getting used to his energy. His classes are actually very nice. I love how he spritzes everyone with rose water and that he plays real gongs for shivasana.
I just got my Kundalini Yoga DVD with Gurmukh. I got it cause we’re going to Bozeman Montana next week and I highly doubt I’ll be able to find any kundalini teachers there. Maybe… but doubtful. So Gurmukh is in the house for me all next week.
written by Alanna · 03.09.10
It is nothing short of a miracle that I did yoga yesterday. We’re in the middle of moving this week. I am exhausted and sore. But last night, after a nice bath, I closed myself in my office and just did some gentle yoga. I asked what my body wanted and I delivered. I managed to give my tailbone a little adjustment that was badly needed. Ever since our hike, my tailbone has been locked up and it’s been painful. Your tailbone actually shifts position when you are pregnant to help accommodate your shifting center of gravity. As you can imagine, tailbone issues are common during pregnancy. Last night I did lots of tailor sitting and rocking back and forth. I then straightened my legs to stretch my hamstrings and pop, my tailbone released. It felt better instantly. I have to remind myself that during these 90 days, I can do whatever yoga my body needs at the time. Yesterday was definitely not the day to push myself with active poses. I focused on stretching poses and it really helped.
written by Ali · 03.07.10
I’ve been debating doing the immersion 27-day teacher training at the kundalini center in New Mexico. But I all but decided against it after miserably failing (not really, but was pretty wiped) at the weekend class with Karuna a few weekends ago. I couldn’t help envisioning me trapped there for 27 days, exhausted. The schedule is supposedly very hard – up at 3:30 each morning, cold showers, sadhana at 4am, bed at 10pm. Ouch. The work sounds beautiful and transformative, but I’m unsure my adrenals can handle that kind of pressure.
What’s the dealio with the Eastern “beating the shit out of your ego and break it down” mentality anyways? It may not be like that, but sometimes that’s the impression I get. I’ve sat many 10-day meditation retreats and one 30-day. Somtimes that’s the vibe I get from the Eastern masculine lineages. Maybe men need to beat the crap out of themselves, but is that the feminine way? Cold showers?
That said, kundalini yoga is a very feminine form, compared to many. It uses a lot of movement and breath. And there’s always music. I always feel very feminine coming out of a class. Energy moves.