Day Fifty-five

I revived an old habit of mine this morning: yoga.

In my junior and senior years of high school, I was a work-out fiend. I'd wake up at about 5 am so I could break a good sweat, shower, eat a big breakfast (a habit I never lost), and go off to school. At some point in there, doing to elliptical machine was just too much (easy as I found it, it becomes tiresome to just stare at the wall... plus, you're just moving around in the same way all the time, so my legs started to get cramps), so I turned on the fitness channel that came with the new tv package we were getting. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the program, or even the woman who ran it (I really think it was "Sarah Ivanhoe" but the woman I get when I search that isn't the same...). It was a wonderful program; the lady had a perfect voice, it went at a good pace, and it showed variety in both practitioners (young and old, men and women, etc) and in poses. I greatly appreciated that it didn't feel rushed or over-sexed wrt casting.

Unfortunately, after I moved out I didn't get that channel and couldn't find, say, a DVD or VHS or something of this program. So I gradually fell out of the habit... Since a lot of other yoga instructors I find to be too abrasive, or fast, or they don't focus hardly at all on breathing, or whenever I'd look up to see what my posture should be like, I'd get a close up of the instructor's - well, you get the idea.



I've had, for a while, on DVD I thought was pretty good - Yoga Shakti with Shiva Rea. She moves a bit fast, but the exercises were good and the chapters could be ordered around so you can sort of "customize" the routine. I hadn't been doing it for various reasons - not enough space in my apartment, and my dogs would get in the way, and eventually (after I moved to a new apartment with more space) I had just forgotten about it. Until now!

I have to say, I always found yoga to help me wake up in the morning, and feel more energetic throughout the day, and most importantly, help me focus - it sort of leaves you with a sense of clarity in your mind, and the ability to concentrate (I reckon this comes from the complete awareness in yoga that you have to have of your body, and your breath).