A Day of Firsts

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It all began on a Tuesday; this Tuesday, in fact.

Today was the first day of 21.5.800. So far, so good. I stayed up until midnight last night working on Monday's to-do list, which I was determined not to let spill into today. As a result, I had to drag myself onto my yoga mat, but I got there. After three rounds each of Surya Namaskar A and B, I worked my way through the standing poses at the beginning of the primary series, which is as far as I am going until my annoyingly tight hamstrings decide to let go a bit. I realize I could add more asanas while continuing to work on the trouble-makers, but what I'm doing feels like enough for now.

Even after I made it to bed last night I didn't sleep well, so I spent most of the day fighting the tired feeling. I really would have liked to join my classes in Savasana, but who'd wake us up? Despite the fatigue, I did the grocery shopping and squeezed in a run after my Lake Placid class.

The "run" was actually a walk-run-walk. It was the first workout in my new half-marathon training plan which, counting backwards 16 weeks from the September race, started today. When else would it start? (Remember what I said in my previous post about synchronicity?)

It was fun walking and running in Lake Placid. I got to tap into that Ironman-training energy. That's probably how I made it back to Schroon Lake without falling asleep at the wheel. (Just don't ask me how I got my yoga pants on over my running shorts while driving 55 miles per hour down Route 73. Hey, I was running late.)

Back to 21.5.800. While my son was doing his homework, I sat down at the kitchen table with my laptop and wrote about hiking. I did 814 words. 814 disjointed, random words. If this writing thing is going to result in anything coherent, I think I need a plan. Or an outline.

That would be a first.

I should be committed

I'm getting my yoga mojo back. I had another good practice this morning, despite some pain in my hip joints that always comes when I eat lots of wheat before a hard workout. (I don't know why this is, but it is.) I taught 4 yoga classes today, spent some time on the phone adding another location to my teaching schedule and did a bunch of laundry, and I still have energy to sit here and write. Which is a good thing, considering what I just jumped into.

My life is full of synchronicity. I'll mention someone I haven't heard from in awhile and they'll call me the next day. I'll come across something I forgot I had and find myself needing just that thing shortly thereafter. And I'll blog about making a new commitment to my yoga practice and needing to get some writing done and, the next thing I know, I come across a yoga and writing challenge that starts - get this - tomorrow.

Bindu Wiles, a writer who I never heard of before today (but whose blog I will now be reading regularly), put together the 21.5.800 challenge. All the participants have to do is, for 21 days, practice yoga 5 days a week and write 800 words a day. That's right, all I'd have to do is keep up my yoga practice.....and squeeze 800 words into my day.

I looked at that and thought, "There's no way I can write that much every day."

So, of course, I immediately signed up.

(If anyone is questioning my sanity, you can stop. There is no question. I jumped off the sane train years ago.)

Yoga gave me the kick in the butt I needed for triathlon training. Can it give that same kick to my writing?

I'll find out tomorrow when I figure out how to squeeze in 800 words between another 4 yoga classes, a run, grocery shopping, and tackling the pile of paperwork on my desk that's so high it's threatening to fall over and bury my laptop. Then we'll see if I'm really ready to be committed.

Get on Your Mat! No Excuses!

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When I was in yoga teacher training, I did a research project on Sadhana. Sadhana is discipline. It is systemized spiritual practice with the intended goal of attaining some higher realization. A yoga practice, if done in a regular, disciplined way, can be Sadhana.

At the time I wrote my teacher training essay, I was struggling with my personal practice. Balancing family, work and teacher training homework was challenging and, thinking there was no time to practice, I left my mat rolled up day after day.

There are three aspects of Sadhana: choice, commitment and aspiration. We choose what we want our practice to be. It can be as simple as spending one minute a day in child's pose (Balasana), and still our minds will come up with reasons not to. Commitment is how we overcome our minds' excuses. Commitment is just sticking to the schedule.

Of course, doing the same thing on a regular schedule doesn't make it a spiritual practice, otherwise we'd all reach enlightenment by brushing our teeth every day. Aspiration is the thing that changes routine into Sadhana. Aspiration is the conscious intention behind our practice.

Why, you ask, am I revisiting my Sadhana essay now?

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I've been struggling with triathlon training of late. I couldn't get into the rhythm of my training plan. I had lots of excuses. At the end of May, with only a month until my first triathlon of the season, I panicked - and did nothing. I told myself it's only a sprint, so I could muddle through at the back of the pack (again). I was in serious need of a kick in the butt.

Not surprisingly, my personal yoga practice wasn't getting any attention either. I had lots of excuses for that, too. But yoga, being what it is, always calls me back to my mat when I need it the most. Inspired by a session teaching power yoga to a good friend, I picked up the Ashtanga book I've had for years but had never really used. There was one dog-eared page - the page with the beginners' practice schedule. Perhaps I knew my future self would need it one day. The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:45 a.m. for 15 minutes on my mat. The day after that I was back on my mat again. After four days I had to get up at 5:30 because I was adding more poses and needed the extra time. I've gone 14 days without missing a day.

(Which is 7 days longer than I kept it up while I was working on my Sadhana essay.)

It only took a day or two for the yoga practice to affect the rest of my day. With just 15 minutes on my mat my energy level went up. I was getting much more accomplished during the day, was more alert and present when I was teaching and, lo and behold, I suddenly wanted to train. Not only did I want to train, but I made time for it. Even through the crazy holiday weekend when it seemed like my calendar was booked solid, I did all my scheduled workouts.

After waking up at 5:00 a.m. this morning feeling refreshed and ready to get moving, I had a good session on my mat then went out in the pouring rain and ran 9 miles. And I felt great afterward.

Sadhana. Yoga's kick-in-the-butt. No excuses.