Day 95 - Some countryside therapy

Dragged myself out of bed today.  My immune system is in overdrive.  I can feel germs 'lurking' in my body but it refuses to give in!

Strength was tough.  It is still one of my favourites though.  After yoga, I got ready to head out of London to visit my parents.  The journey was pretty tedious as there are so many roadworks and the cats (who I carry on my lap - David drives) started getting agitated.

However, it's always lovely to drive into the village I grew up in and spend time there with my family.  Just Mum and Dad as my sister was working.  David helped my dad out in the garden and I sat in the sunshine listening to the silence and chatting with my mum.  I love how quiet it is in the village.  It makes you realize how relentlessly noisy London is.  The pace is so much slower too.  It's like therapy!

No meditation I'm afraid.  I need to get my act together for my final two weeks!

Day 94 - Fighting a cold

Feeling like I'm fighting a cold, so just went for a walk (rather than run) and then did Cross Train.  It went quite well, still very wobbly on my right leg.

Had a bit of a nap in the afternoon and then went to get dinner...hardCORE when I got back.

Not much to report (and I'm behind in my blogging so I can't remember any details!).

Namaste!

Day 93 - I still like Mountain Pose!

Still liking Mountain Pose!  I've been doing some extra shoulder mobility work and I now actually enjoy doing MP rather than just feeling awkward.  It really seems to even me up - when I begin, I feel wonky and have more weight on one foot than the other but feel more centred and grounded at the end.  I think I'll keep doing this one when the 108 is up.

I did Pranayama but was running out of time so thought I'd get to meditation later.  Went for a swim which was pretty good, apart from everyone in my lane having to accommodate the show off who thought he owned it.  There's always one!

I then had my mammoth eye check up which always takes forever.  My eyes are fine though, which is always good news.  I have to travel to the very south of London for it - Croydon, for those who know it.  Not the nicest place but the contact lens lady is so good and I've been going there for ages, so don't want to change to somewhere more local.  If you find someone good at their job, stick with them I say.  I owned up to still taking a nap sometimes in my lenses - she's written in my notes, "DO NOT TAKE NAPS IN YOUR LENSES!". :)

I had a session with a client when I got back and then did a whole four minutes of meditation!  I have to say, I'm much better at getting 'in the zone' so four mins did have an effect.  I'll try and do more tomorrow.  David came home from training his MMA guys with news of a possible running project - we'll see what happens with that...

Day 92 - Better day!

Today began with Vitality at 4.50am.  This is what I've been missing lately: my early morning practice.  There's just something about it that feels 'right' - moving through the poses on my mat while the world is asleep.  I also still feel slightly tired at this time, so my mind isn't entirely awake and therefore doesn't interfere with what I'm doing.  It was nice to have that feeling again.

I had a series of clients today, all very different and all very interesting and wonderful.  I love my job!

I have yet to do my meditation.  I also really need to catch up properly on what everyone else in the facebook 'team' has been doing.  I think I'll have time to get to this tomorrow.  I'm planning to do MP and Pranayama first thing, before a swim.  I then have the annoying, yet essential, trip to the Opticians to have a contact lens check and sight test.  I will get told off as usual for sometimes having a nap with my lenses in...

I have a client in the evening and then it's the weekend.  Yoga on both days of course, maybe a little run on Saturday, then a visit to my parent's (to the village where I grew up) for some chill out time and gossiping.  Ah, love escaping London :).

Day 91 - Mixed day!

Bit of a weird day.  Had planned to get up and work while having breakfast, then go running in the middle of the day.  However, David returned early after his client didn't show up (the downside of our job - it happens sometimes). 

We ended up going to Clapham to run, earlier than planned.  I don't know - I just don't run so well if I've eaten.  I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that, if I was living in a natural environment, I would have to exercise first thing in order to get my food and water.  That seems to be how my body works best.  As it was, my right foot was niggly and we stopped early.

Cardio was enjoyable as usual though.  I did that as soon as I got back.  I then did pc work and threw in hardCORE somewhere in the afternoon (felt good because I hadn't done it in a while) and then headed out to clients.  Didn't get home until 10.30pm so dinner was late and bedtime was even later!

I did manage 14 minutes of meditation.  I say "manage", which implies it was difficult but in fact, it felt natural and very enjoyable.  I am learning!

Day 90 - Didn't want Yin but needed it!

I was out and about for much of today so didn't get to Yin until around 6pm.  I've never done it this late before and it felt good, especially as the light faded as I was doing the class and by the end, it was dark with just the glow from the TV.  Perfect timing!

I hadn't been looking forward to Yin.  When I overdo (or get close to overdoing) the training, I get quite fidgety and feel like I want to do more cardio.  Well, hello, that means that Yin is exactly what I need.  Sure enough, it chilled me out and felt pretty good.  The only one I don't like is the deep hip flexor/hip stretch.  Travis says something like, "Just sink down onto your elbows", but for me, there's no blissful sinking.  Rather an awkward sort of side-bending and then trying to hold the pose propped on one elbow.  It's more like the Strength DVD at that point. 

I didn't feel like doing hardCORE today.  I felt quite rebellious actually - I didn't do it because I didn't want to, so there!

I will try and do it tomorrow because I won't get to it on Thursday.  Thursday will start at 5am (with Vitality) and finish at 10pm.  My client has cancelled tomorrow, so I won't have to be up at 5am then as well.  Planning a run as well as Cardio and then clients later.  Loads of pc work to do as well - boooo.

Can't believe I'm on day 90.  It feels weird.  I haven't achieved as much as I thought I would but have certainly learned a lot and the massive thing I'm grateful for is the beginnings of a changed outlook on life.  The detachment message that Travis puts across is golden.  Sometimes - most of the time - things don't matter as much as you think they do.  I'm beginning to develop a less worried approach, slowly but surely.  Funnily enough, I felt this the most in the very first phase and have lost it slightly.  Meditation, meditation, meditation...

Day 89 - Tired muscles = no balance!

Up at 6am for my client.  Came back and did some emailing/admin bits and then went swimming.  Pretty quiet in the pool and people swimming at a good pace, so did my mile non-stop.  Definitely getting better at swimming - practice always makes perfect eh?

Food and more admin when I got back, plus running some errands, then I decided to do Balance.  Well, I can safely say that my muscles were feeling the last few days of quite intense exercise so my balance wasn't great.  I decided to use the block for the half moon pose/dancer sequence which felt better.  More controlled, less strain.  I almost, ALMOST did the arm balance thing on both sides - I'd say I held it for half a second!  I'll get there! 

I doubt I'll get to hardCORE today.  No point pushing it - I can't think I'll get much benefit and only have Yin tomorrow, so I'll do hardCORE before that. 

I shall try to get to some meditation later on but really feeling sleepy so may nod off!