Get Your Ommm On

Bent out of shape about the whole summer ending thing?  Don't be.  September is Yoga Month and there are lots of fun ways to celebrate.

Head to yogamonth.org to get a pass for a free week at a yoga studio you've never been to before.  There are lots of participating.

There are also tons of special events around the city.  Pure Yoga is hosting a day of free classes on the 12th.  On the 20th, Boomerang Yoga is having a Sun Salute-a-Thon at the Equinox in Soho to raise money for charity.

Now, as many of you know, yoga's not my thing.  Even savasana hurts me.  In honor of Yoga Month, however, I will be making a concerted effort to work more asanas into my routine.  I've already got my free pass printed out and I'm making my schedule.  Will I really stick to it this time?  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Great Expectations

After a review session for an upcoming Japanese final my freshman year of college, three classmates and I decided to blow off some steam at the rope swing. Basically, you'd climb up a tree, swing out on the rope and jump into the Connecticut River. For obvious reasons, the rope swing no longer exists.

As we cheered each other on, we borrowed (and butchered) a Japanese expression: hazu. As we understood it, hazu had a strong meaning. If you said something was hazu, it meant that that thing was so expected that it was almost as if it had already been accomplished. "You're hazu there" we cried, and just as expected, we each took our turns despite any fears we may have harbored.

My return to Bikram this past week has me thinking about hazu. When I took my first Bikram class in over two years just a week and half ago, it was great. Only after class was over did it strike me that it had gone better that it ever had before. I credited my newfound ability to get into certain postures not only with increased fitness, but also with the fact that I had simply forgotten what I had been unable to do before. I had forgotten my mental blocks.

Perhaps not surprisingly, in remembering my former demons, I resuscitated them. I remembered that certain poses, Padangustasana (toe stand) and Ustrasana (camel), in particular, make me truly anxious. Getting into toe stand requires falling forward and camel requires bending backwards in a position that leaves the front of your body very vulnerable.

It would be one thing if I couldn't accomplish these postures, but I know I can do them (maybe not well, but still). I did them not even two weeks ago. This week, though, my old habits resurfaced. I allowed myself to panic and, ultimately, fail.

It may be easier said than done, but if I'm going to get this right, I need to stop hazuing failure and expect success.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Now That Was Hot

For those outside NYC, lately it's like Forks without the cute vampires, and the daily rain is seriously putting a damper on my running the park. I needed something else to commit to to get myself out of bed this morning. Early morning classes (meaning 6, 6:15 or 6:30) are surprisingly lacking on the upper east. I have serious respect for people who can take a 7:30 class and get to work by 9:00 or 9:30. I just can't. I have a dog. I need to flatiron. It's not possible.

I remembered that Bikram Yoga NYC on 83rd offers 6am classes a few times a week, including Wednesdays. At 11 last night, this sounded like an awesome idea. I signed up.

I did a Bikram stint in '06 when a good friend got really into it. I went about twice a week for a few months. Then one day, a couple of hours after class, I came down with a fever. While I never officially blamed the class for the bug, I also never went back. It may also have had to do with this guy who I had briefly dated who I didn't want to run into in class. Regardless, I fell out of the routine.

I was only the second person to sign up last night, so I was surprised to walk into a packed room this morning. Luckily, the back corner spot was open. In most classes, I like to be right up front. With yoga though, and especially Bikram, the chances of me falling down or otherwise embarrassing myself are high enough that I prefer to hide.

The class was awesome. Enough of the poses came back to me that I didn't feel like a total newbie, even after the two and half year hiatus. In fact, two and half years was enough time for me to forget that I'd had hangups about some of the positions, so I was just able to get into them this morning. The spot I chose ended up working out well because it was by the window - but I didn't manage to hide. The instructor was the girl who had checked me in at the reception desk, and she'd learned my name. She was fantastic and literally talked me into a position I'd never gotten into before.

Could this become part of my routine again? I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-