(This makes me laugh EVERY time.)
So with that as a disclaimer, here are some correlations that I have noticed between things that happen inside the yoga room and outside the yoga room. (Some of these are less profound than others.)
I might have a not-so-good class after:
I wake up at 8am, practice at noon, and having nothing to eat in that time frame except grapefruit juice and cheddar cheese flavored Chex Mix. (That one is painfully fresh in my memory.)
I have had a really unproductive day or week of research.
I stay up really late for no apparent reason.
I don't see the sun for a long time.
I spend all day in lab and get nothing done.
The weather gets warm and I'm not ready for it.
I have a great class the day before and become overconfident.
I have a terrible class the day before and totally lose confidence.
I might have a ROCK STAR class after:
I go to Staples, buy a new file folder, and organize my life! (I did this yesterday and had a KILLER class last night.)
I have lots of good meetings at work that make me feel productive and optimistic about my research.
I spend all day in lab and get SOMETHING done.
I talk to someone else about yoga and get them excited about it. (Always makes me more excited, too.)
I stay up really late seeing a new band or looking at the stars and having fun with friends.
The weather gets warm and I drink tons of nice juices and water so I am TOTALLY ready for it.
I have a lousy class the day before and decide to overcome it.
I have a rock star class the day before and decide that today will be even better!
~~~~~~~
The main thing that I notice as I try to write this list is that it's not so much the events in my day that determine my state of mind. It's my response to those events that always makes the difference! Or to quote Gandalf from Lord of the Rings (omg GEEK!!!): "[The time you live in] is not for you to decide. All that you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." Very nice, I love Tolkein. Now I'd better go and make the most of the end of my week so I can have a great yoga class tonight! Maybe I can get ahead of the curve before next week... that'd be great....
What about you guys? Any surprising life-to-yoga correlations that you've noticed? (The yoga-to-life correlations will have to be the subject of a WHOLE other post. Or book.)
16 comments:
Is this post in opposition of your last one? Seems like a lot of explaining going on. . . ;)
LOL! Didn't even think about that. I guess it would be explaining if I said that these factors CAUSED classes to go one way or the other. Correlation is different. Now I'm just looking at interesting patterns. :)
The only thing I've noticed for sure is that I will get a bad class if I go in expecting a good one. The reasons don't matter.
I've been lurking about your blog for a long time, but I just thought about this today, as I had an effing fantastic class, so I feel compelled to comment for the first time.
So - I see a relationship between my practice and fun. If I have some unfun the day before (or earlier in the day of), I seem to have unfun in class. Kind of like you said.
Also, if I can get to a place where I'm physically sore the day after a practice, I find it improves my practice the day after.
Anyway - I totally heart your blog. And your bendyness. Your pictures are flippin' sweet. You're my inspiration for standing bow.
I love this one you wrote...I talk to someone else about yoga and get them excited about it. (Always makes me more excited, too".. I always find myself bringing up Bikram to random people. From the Barista at Starbucks (who I found out practices) to the candidate I am interviewing (I'm a Corp, Recruiter)to fellow co-workers. Just love sharing with others how good it really is!
LOL, I thought the same as Jennifer when I read your post :-)
I usually have good classes, some may be harder and more painful due to old injuries. The last time I had a really bad class I just wanted to leave the room I realized the same applied to my work I just wanted to leave my work. So I guess when my life outside the yoga-room is messy the classes tend to be bad.
Duffy - HAH. I hear you. But what if you go in PLANNING to have a good class? That is different from expecting, right? I find that the former works much better than the latter.
Dorothy - Thanks for writing me! :) That is a REALLY good point about being sore. I've noticed the same thing, too. There's a certain "sweet" spot where you're not so sore that you can't do the practice, but you're sore enough that it makes you really aware of every part of your body! I learn soooo much in those classes.
tracik - Don't you just LOVE it when you're talking to some random stranger and it turns out that they do Bikram? Instantaneous connection!! We are like the coolest secret club ever (but not in a snobby way.)
cristina - YEAH, that is kind of where I was going with this. So much of what you go through in the yoga room is just the reflection of the struggles you have in your job or personal life. Sometimes this really helps me discover the changes that I need to make in my life!
Yes, the personal life just always reflects in the yoga room. This particular class the teacher ended with "Sometimes it's just enough to stay in the room" and that got me thinking and about work that the latest days I had surfed the whole internet and not really done anything productive, leaving early and so on and just had a hard time staying by my desk.
I sent out a thought to the Universe that I if it is the best for me I am open for a move in my work life. It took 2 weeks for that new suggestion to come. :-)
Tjoho! thanks for adding me to your list of yogiblogs!
I tend to have my best classes when I am totally stressed. My real job can totally get the best of me, and take me to this crazy-stressed level. I walk in the studio all revved up, looking forward to forgetting it all. I crave them so much because I KNOW that after the first set of Half Moon with hands to Feet, nothing else matters. Only me, in the hot room.
I feel like my bad classes are pretty random with no apparent reason. But I think I will record them and see... I'm sure there are conncetions!
You're welcome Cristina!!
Nice, Danielle. That is the best, when you can do that. And yeah, a lot of the time there is not much rhyme or reason to these things. That's one of the reasons I kept a daily yoga log for a long time (I just wrote it on the T after class in Boston), cause it let me go back and pick out patterns that I would have COMPLETELY missed otherwise. I just find it fun. :)
I love it when you think you are going to have a bad class (stayed out too late, ate or drank too much) and you rock it out anyway. That always surprises the heck out of me. On the flipside, when you do everything "right" that day to prepare and have a crappy class it's disappointing! I guess the point is we just never know. I always try to go in with no expectations. **try** anyway. :)
"The yoga-to-life correlations will have to be the subject of a WHOLE other post. Or book."
Ummm, YES. Indeed!!! I think you and I could be quite the co-authoring pair... :)
Funny in class last night...Doing standing separate leg stretching pose and I can get my head to touch the ground no problem. The instructor kept saying roll forward on your toes...so that I did! In fact I rolled forward so much I went right into a forward roll! At least it was graceful and the instructor had a good laugh at it. so funny. Sometimes Yoga is just funny.
I'm going to think about all of this for a while to see if I can find a causal link.
Michelle - YES, NO EXPECTATIONS. That ended up all in caps because I thought those were all equally important words.
Hannah - Omg. Can you imagine?!? I think that'd turn into an internet sensation, for starters...
tracik - You are SO cute. Yes, yoga is hilarious sometimes. I always say that it's way too important to be taken seriously. As long as you can laugh at yourself every time something goes wrong, you know you're in good shape.
Charlieeeee - Good luck! You will give yourself a headache... I've tried it... at some point you've just gotta chalk it up to alchemy. ;)
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