Round 4: Day 67: Yoga

I am a creature of habit. I find comfort in pursuing a daily routine. That routine starts when I wake up at 6:00AM and exercise for an hour. This week, and likely next week, life will be thrown into a bit of turmoil, because my daily schedule is going to change. I'm taking a little time away from the office, which is a good thing, but it generally messes up my workout schedule. For the past year, I've been rather dogmatic about working out. When I miss a workout, I get cranky and try to make it up. Sometimes there's not much to be done about it, such as when I'm out of town (although there are certainly workouts you can do on the road). When I took a week at a cottage last summer, I pencilled down a workout which I pursued outdoors by the lake, without the benefit of DVDs, and it was one of the most challenging and beautiful workouts I've ever done. Alternatively, I've even gone jogging occasionally, although I don't particularly like running. The next 2 weeks pose a different kind of challenge: sleeping in, then finding the motivation to exercise. Today, I was up at 7:00AM, pondering skipping my workout, but finally convinced myself to get up and practice yoga. After all, practice makes perfect.

My body is still sore from Sunday's Upper Plus workout. I might have strained some back muscles, because I feel a slight twinge running vertically up my back, left of my spine. The solution? Yoga. It has been true over the last year that yoga works out my kinks and soreness from daily exercise. In addition, it has helped tremendously in developing the mental toughness that's required to persist with a daily workout regimen. I credit yoga for giving me the flexibility necessary for all the other workouts I pursue. I credit yoga for helping my body mend when the other workouts beat me up. I credit yoga for calming my mind and helping to restore mental balance. I credit yoga for improving my coordination and strength. So, today was no day to skip yoga.

I'm really glad I did this workout. I've been really focussed lately on the basic poses: cresent pose and the warrior poses. That focus is starting to pay off, because I've never been deeper into those poses than today. I also felt really strong during the vinyasa sequences. My flexibility was great. My breathing was deep and regular. My back is no longer bothering me. I feel supple, relaxed, and ready for a great day.

Namaste.