Yoga

Last summer, the yoga studio did 30 Days of Sweat in June (where you go to yoga every single day in the month of June). I was particularly excited about this because I was the one who made the suggestion in the first place, and they decided to go with it. But then, I injured my back and my chances of participating in that went up in flames. I was devastated.

So this summer, I was bound and determined to participate.  Because they gave me the shirt anyway, and I really wanted to be able to wear it. Only… they decided not to do it again. 😓 But, I decided, no matter! I could go every day in June on my own! So I set out to do just that.

My first day back was actually right at the end of May, and I went as many times as I could between then and June 1, knowing that going from nothing to sweating like that every single morning was going to be rough on my body. I started on June 1. At the end of the first week, I saw a flaw in my plan. I was leaving town all day Saturday, so there was no way I was going to be able to yoga on Saturday. I thought, no big deal, I'll just skip. Looking ahead to Sunday, I realized they had changed the schedule to include only one class on Sunday, which was at 11 AM. I'm at church from 7 to 12:30, so that wasn't going to work. So I therefore determined to go to yoga every single week day and as many Saturdays as I possibly could. As it turned out, in the month of June, I yogaed 23 times out of 30. I feel pretty good about that number considering the fact that my back is hating this. Steadily, my back has been getting worse and worse. The pain used to be concentrated in my lower back on the left-hand side, and it used to be very steady. Now, it's on both sides and it is starting to creep up into my middle back and gets gnarly anytime I bend from the waist. There were at least two days where the night before I was in so much pain that I decided to give myself a break the next day and skip out. It's gotten bad enough, that I have called my doctor back to try to see if she has any more ideas, because everything I've tried so far has not helped.

I went this morning for the first time in July, and I tried to really take it easy on my back. I really do love going. I love feeling strong and like I can do hard things. I love the heat (definitely something I never thought I'd say), and I love how I feel when it's all over. I love that I can see my body undergoing changes… poses or moves that were really hard in the beginning are much easier now. I really like the instructors and the environment. I am not a fan of the price, but as I hate all other forms of exercise, I feel it's a worthy investment to do something I actually look forward to AND exercise at the same time. I am planning to continue to go as often as possible, but I do think I will start skipping on Wednesday. I think that will be best to give my back a little break mid-week. (It's also the hottest class of the week!)

I've also been able to snag a few walks here and there. I can't exactly throw the kids in the double stroller anymore, but I have been able to sneak a few in after dinner. I think I need a Fitbit to help me out with walks!