Monday, March 29, 2010

Round 5: Day 50: Yoga

I always enter Recovery Week with mixed feelings. Part of me is relieved to forego the crazy lifting and jumping for a week; part of me worries that giving up the crazy lifting and jumping for a week will lead to a weaker body. You'd think that by now, I would have learned that Recovery Week is inserted into the program for a reason: to allow the tiny micro-tears in the muscle fibres to mend, and to give your body a bit of a break after the pounding, pushing, lifting, pulling, jumping, squatting and leaping that its been doing for three weeks in a row. As I've heard many times before: "trust the program".

Today's workout was straightforward: yoga. It's easier to get into the proper frame of mind for yoga when yoga occurs on a Sunday, as it's possible to wake up a little later, more relaxed and ready for a good stretch. The pressures of work are still one day away, and the pleasure of being with the family for an entire day is still ahead of you. It's a good time for some deep breathing and to stare at your kneecaps.

I did One On One's Patience "Hummingbird" yoga today, which is the shortest of the three yoga routines I own. I like this workout because of the calming music and the lack of chatter, and especially the shavasana pose at the end, which is missing from Fountain of Youth of the same series. This is just a good, basic routine which emphasizes form over quantity of poses, so it forces my mind into a different place from the other yoga workouts. Short, stretchy, and sweet.

Namaste.

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