20-21.02.10 Exercises

20.02.10 Assisting Time: 1.5 hr; personal practice day off
Today I took the day off from yoga, as I've been doing on Saturdays, and I took most of the day off from cardio. I sat on a stationary bike for 30 minutes, but it wasn't very vigorous. It was more of an exercise in killing time than cardiovascular exercise. I thought I'd assist Martine's yoga class and see how I felt afterward. I had brought a swimsuit with me so that if I felt like I needed to, I could go swimming on the way home. But after class, I noticed that I felt tired. I've been sleeping enough for the past week, but my body felt physically tired. I think it is all the hobbling, crutching, and healing that my body has been doing this week.

I decided to listen to my body: something I've been getting a little better at over the past few months. I went home and had lunch, did some work on a journal article for several hours, and then invented a recipe for dinner. I found myself being creative and productive. I was really proud of all that I accomplished. If I had gone swimming, I wouldn't have had as much time for those things, and I would've been more tired and wouldn't have been able to get much done in the time I did dedicate to working. An exercise in listening to my body: lesson learned.


21.02.10 Assisting Time: 1 hr; meditation time: 30 mins
Today I was feeling unsure for the first half of my assisting time. Martine was moving through poses rather quickly, breathing in and out of things, leaving little time for me to correct people in their poses. She always moves a lot at the beginning of class, but I felt a little overwhelmed in this large room packed with people. I tried to keep an eye out for people who looked like they were having trouble or who were new to class. Everyone looked fairly comfortable and fairly correct, and I was a slow mover on my hobbling foot, so I felt awkward trying to quietly and gracefully move around them as they were practicing. So I observed for a little while. Then, as she started to slow down, I felt more comfortable moving around the room and providing tweaks and assistance. I was able to provide assistance to about half the room (Martine got the other half), and I felt really confident about all of the assists that I made. I talked to Martine afterward about how to manage such a large room when moving through vinyasa. She suggested walking up and down the aisle and providing little assists here and there while looking for beginners to work with a little more. I'll try that next week.

After the class, I participated in the guided meditation. I really enjoyed practicing a guided meditation without leading it myself. I've done meditations on my own, but sometimes I get anxious in them, wondering how long it's been since I started, or my mind wanders to think about what the next part of the meditation is. It was really nice to participate in one without expectations and without having to focus on anything but the meditation. I thought Martine would provide more direction, but she only focused me on my breath. I kept my focus there the entire time, and the half hour seemed to fly by. I didn't experience any breakthroughs, but I did feel relaxed and ready (for whatever) at the end.