Check, check, and check

18Jan11, 8:30pm: Body pump with Anna (new teacher, liked her!)

19Jan11, 7am: Hot yoga with Shirley Wong

So today, Thursday... was a great day!!! Fitness, check! Food, check! Water, check! I did 4 water bottles, which I haven't consciously done in a couple weeks.

Plus, it was quiet in my office, I got a lot of work done on something that is taking me so long and is AGONIZING!

Yoga was fantastic this morning too. I had two "asanas of the day" including standing bow pose (dancer's pose) or Dandayamana-Dhanurasana. I've mentioned this one before and posted many images, as it is one of my favourites. Rather than posting an image this time, I've hyperlinked above. The linked-image is, again not me, but where that woman is wither her asana is where I am right now too (when right leg is supporting). It was so good today. My foot was so high above my head, and my leg was only barely bent. I like Shirley Wong a lot because she will come and help you get to a posture if you need it. For this one, she came and just watched. And then she stood there and complimented me for a moment after the posture was finished. She said she really liked how I went for it and the energy. Wow, that felt amazing!

She did help me today with my bow pose (Dhanurasana), which is a posture I've never liked. There are supposedly so many benefits to this posture. I'm not sure how much is substantiated, however. There are suggestions that during bow pose, the liver and abdomen are massaged, which helps digestion and balances the secretions of the pancreas and adrenal glands. The bow pose is also thought to decrease the amount of fat that tends to accumulate around the waist. Hmmm.... getting interesting! Specialists also believe that the bow pose helps alleviate gastrointestinal disorders, dyspepsia, sluggishness of the liver and chronic constipation. On top of all those benefits, this asana is supposedly recommended for people with diabetes, menstrual disorders, incontinence and colitis. Finally, because it is thought to improve blood flow and helps to realign the spine, it can also relieve asthma and improve breathing. It sounds like the magic asana, really! REALLY?

I would love to love this asana, and I'm starting to, slowly. But, I think that the reason I may not like it is because I eat breakfast before yoga. Granted, I eat my breakfast at about 5:40am for my 7am yoga mornings. That's about the earliest I can make it, but I have to eat! Every yoga book and website recommend not doing this asana sooner than 3 hours after you've eaten. Hmm.... that would put me doing it no sooner than 8:40am. By that time I'm drying my hair and off to work. That could explain a lot. All things aside, today I liked it. I've been working on it over the past few weeks, knowing fully that it wasn't my favourite, but today was the best it has ever been! I knew this, but Shirley also reminded me that it was "very well done" too, which helped!

What a day! Well, the only other thing I try to accomplish is getting to bed around midnight, and it's about 25 min. past... good night friends!