The Wandering Mind of a Final Savasana

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Some yoga.

When the final savasana shows its beautiful sunset colors on the plane of my yoga practice, there are a few possibilities as to where my mind will fall. Sometimes my thoughts surprise me with beauty and I commend myself on a mind well-deepened. Other times... Well... Here are a few things that come to mind:

"Why is my brow still furrowing?"

"I should have had something to eat before coming here."

"I shouldn't have eaten right before coming here."

"Why is my breathing so loud."

"My nose is too stuffed for a proper yoga breath."

"How is everyone so quiet?"

"I need to clear my throat."

"Hehe, I just opened my eyes."

"Why do my arms feel so heavy?"

"I'm literally sinking into my mat! It's eating me! Ok stop that."

"I could fall asleep right now but I don't want to so I'll keep talking to  myself."

"la la la (songs)."

"It smells like the sushi restaurant next door."

"I really love sushi."

"Is everyone in this room totally relaxed except for me?"

"My shoulder blades aren't sitting right."

"Brow, stop furrowing!"

And on like that.

I really do enjoy yoga!

Thank you for reading.

***

Sincerely, Ella

 

Fitness Experience.

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 Motivation

Today I laced up my pink-striped Pumas with a conviction and motivation I've never had before and I entered my school gym. In the past my fitness has consisted of a dance class here and there but the thought of entering a gym had never sounded appealing to me; just seemed like a bunch of people going nowhere fast on all those machines. Ever since I quit ballet a few years ago my level of fitness has gone drastically downhill. I just never got off my lazy bum. Last semester I tried getting into the whole "gym experience" but the one time I entered the gym I got all intimidated by my perfectly toned peers who look like all they ever do is work out (that's a college gym for you). Being weak in front of all these strong bodies was not something I was interested in. I had gained a few pounds I wasn't quite thrilled about but I didn't really have the motivation to start a workout regimen...

When school ended this past May I began to waitress at a local restaurant, and let me tell you, being a waitress is very physically demanding. I worked three to five days a week over the summer and in effect I was working out three to five times a week. It was like interval training for hours at a time! I find it ironic that I was losing weight while working at a restaurant with delicious food. I've cut my hours down to working only once a week now that school has started back up again but after my job whipped me into shape a bit (I'm still definitely out of shape but not as badly now), I'm ready to enter the gym with a little more confidence that I won't look like a complete fool who can't even speed walk for five minutes without sweating buckets and breathing wildly.

I sweat buckets and breathed wildly today but I worked out for almost one an hour and I really pushed myself. I walked on an incline for 15 minutes, did 100 sit ups, did 6 reps of 10 on some leg strengthening thing (two directions), 10 minutes on the bike thing, and attempted to lift some 10 pound weights that I mistook for 5 pounds (no wonder I was having very apparent issues). I am definitely still intimidated by the other girls who can run on the treadmill for an hour or do the stepping thing like a maniac but it's less a feeling of "run! (not literally because I wouldn't get far without my lungs forcing me to stop)!" and more a feeling of "that's what I want to be like by the end of this year".

The whole going nowhere fast on the treadmill and bike is  still weird to me but I guess I can get used to it. I actually had a moment of deliriousness in which I looked up from the bike and was surprised that I was still in the same place... Working in getting used to it.

What's your favorite type of exercise?

***

Sincerely, Ella