16

Yeah so I might have over done it a little tonight, or maybe I didnt. Its rare that I come out of the place with a pinch. But I pretty much bent myself right in half in the 'I'm flying!' one. I will live and go back Monday and fix it. I did pretty well tonight. I stood behind the super serious, but really good lady. I decided it was up to me to help her not be so serious and enjoy her yoga more. I had an awkward moment when I first got there, and I chose a new place to be, more in the middle of the room, about four spaces away from the side and in the third of four rows back from the front. I was expecting a capacity class, so I unrolled my mat fairly near to this other serious guy. He's the guy who gets there super early and does a practice before practice. I usually just fuff him in my head, and lay still and try to not notice him as I use the pre time to relax into the floor and get loose and calm and ready. Well he stopped what he was doing and watched me unroll. When I walked to the back to hang my pants over the barre, he picked up his kit and moved up to the front. I decided right then to confront him after class and kill 'eem wid kindness, brah. But I felt weird for awhile and had a harder time relaxing. Was I wrong to want to prepare for a crowd, so I could lay still until class started and relax without feeling space hoggy, and having to do the shuffle shuffle every time another person was trying to wedge themselves in? No I wasn't. But I am new. The etiquette is beyond me still.

Class went well. Ended up only being 3 rows. I moved my mat up a bit, and over, so I was staggered in between serious 1 and serious 2 in the mirror. New guy beside me, 2 newbies behind me. One of whom, I overheard feeling a little cocky about manning through the heat of class, cos "I was in Afganistan". Well, that made me eager to see if he would make it, didn't it? Schadenfreude, here I come!

Great class. I worked really hard. I had to. In front I had the seriouso's and behind I had people falling all over the place. Focus and struggle. I shook, and was so glad I wore a tank top. Last time I shook like that I was all jello in the tum and it made me want to barf and then eat and then barf, etc. Not really, but when you stand in front of a mirror behind someone who measures and weighs and portion controls like serious 1 and 2 quite obviously must, you get to feel a bit jiggledy, even when you look as rad as I do!

I cheered myself on, and smiled alot, and laughed and listened to the instructor's cheesy jokes, and sometimes very cool things to remember to tell myself, like "this is yoga practice, not yoga perfect". I stuck my butt out further in awkward 1. I see people that think they are awesome get super low, but lean way forward. Well, I could do that, but it is so much harder if I don't.Worked on form. I am starting to loathe triangles and also at the end where you hold your toes and pull. I might have tried too hard. Hence the current back owes. Oh well. I'm starving. I could go on. I was so present hat I actually remember it all. Important for me to remember:

-Engage abdominal muscles on all forward bends. It is nearly impossible for me to keep it tight, so thats one thing to work on, and it will remove the back owes. Too much strength in back, not enough in front is what is causing the mayhem.

- Fuckin' BREATHE! When I have to choke my throat, I dont want to cos it feels gross, but I must.

-Lock knee. Keep trying. It hurts, still. It shakes, and bounces itself out. It doesn't like to be locked, it tells me it hurts. Keep trying. I did it for a few moments in a few of the postures and felt an immediate difference in the strength and groundedness in the posture, it was like a concrete lightning bolt shot down my leg for about five seconds, and nothing could have moved me.

-keep smiling. It is helping.