My usual Thursday morning 7am client is on holiday, so I have to admit that despite my best efforts, I did not get out of bed when David left for his 8am client but snoozed until about 8.30am. Shockingly lazy!
It also meant that I felt quite stiff when I did get up so expected to feel a little awkward as I embarked on Day One of the 108 day challenge, which involves "Cross Training", "HARDcore" and "Meditation". On the cross training DVD, there was an introduction which I thought I ought to watch which outlined some modifications, the nutrition rules (basically, stop eating rubbish) and offered some insights from people who've done, or are currently on, the programme.
The DVDs are definitely not for complete beginners, although I do think that Travis's teaching style is very easy to pick up so even without any experience of his teaching, I would have been able to follow this without too much interruption in flow. I have no idea how long it was (I must find out so I can schedule it in!) but I felt unbelievable at the end. For me, my weakness is ensuring that my breathing remains rhythmical and under control but Travis cues this regularly, along with accentuating "calm" throughout so I was freer in my body and mind as the DVD concluded.
I am not sure how I'm supposed to incorporate the HARDcore section into the day. I did some repetitions of each exercise straight after the "Cross Training", even though it felt wrong to do it having chilled out at the end of the CT DVD. I also did a little of the meditation too, but by that stage I was quite mindful of the time - it was 10.30 already!
At some point, David had returned home and sat at the pc inputting accounts whilst watching and listening. His reaction: "How much time do these people think you have?!" Hmm, I must admit, I was starting to feel 'itchy' rather than relaxed towards the end, but I'm sure once I develop a rhythm and familiarity with the programme, I'll be able to schedule it in more effectively. Apparently, I'll be needing less sleep anyway so that's a bonus!
In my other Travis Eliot DVD, I hadn't noticed that he drags certain words along, stretching them out to encourage you to breathe and even sigh. "Downwards Dooooorrrrrggg" - he squeezes the word out until he runs out of breath and it really makes me want to giggle. There's also a short film about his journey to yoga which I found inspirational but David thought it was a little glossy. The packaging is all part of the product though - it communicates that there's a world of yoga out there and if the DVDs had arrived in clear plastic sleeves, I wouldn't have felt so enveloped by the concept and been so ready to commit.
There's an online community too which I'm about to join - I've been reading some of the posts and it's very friendly and encouraging. People seem to be experiencing great physical benefits but there are also posts on there about clearing out bags and bags of unnecessary clutter. I guess you reach a point in the programme where you feel ready to let go of things.
Looking forward to tomorrow's "Cardio" session :).
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