home practice

My day started with thoughts of habits and routines swirling in my head. 

As I went about my morning routine, I thought of the week so far and how I'm establishing a new routine. Since Monday, I have been making time for evening yoga but this time, with the help of online yoga classes. I signed up in Grokker (availing of the two-week free trial) but since my internet connection in the evening has consistently been slow, I found it difficult to load the classes. In the same night, I signed up in YogaGlo (also availing of the two-week free trial) and found it more easier to load their classes. Thus, my first online yoga class was a Guilty Pleasures class with Jason Crandell. It was a 30-minute Hatha yoga practice that included sun salutations, lunges, hip and shoulder openers.

I extremely enjoyed it because I've been feeling very tight in my shoulders and it was such a relief to practice again. Since then, I've been squeezing evening practice before I go to bed and I found that I have been sleeping better ever since.

I like the convenience of online yoga classes particularly because the yoga studios in my area are a bit far from where I live. However, I think that having practiced in a yoga studio for 17 months has helped me awaken mindfulness and cultivate it. Being a beginner, I think it is extremely important to practice yoga at the beginning of your yoga journey with a certified yoga teacher. This ensures that you are practicing in a safe manner. That being said, I still have class passes in a yoga studio near me that I still intend to use even though I am planning to pursue my subscription to YogaGlo. I am also thinking of checking out two more online yoga classes before I settle with YogaGlo just to be sure that I am committing to a practice that feels really right for me.

changes

Happy 2016!

I didn't quite expect to fall behind writing last year. Sometime between waking and dreaming, I lived and have forgotten to write. But I don't regret it. I will never regret that choice. There's still time and I can still write.

So what happened? I continued my yoga practice and celebrated my first yoganniversary in July 2015 filled with happiness. The change has been tremendous. Physically, I have become toned. I felt stronger and more able. More importantly, I felt healthier and happier because of that. I was also able to move into deeper poses and that gave me so much satisfaction. I even gained more confidence in attending Vinyasa Open Level classes. They were more vigorous than FNR Athletics but it no longer felt difficult, rather it was challenging.

By November though, I moved into a new yoga school. A change borne out of need rather than preference as I had to make the adjustment given the changes in my day job. I attended several classes in the new school but I am still adjusting to my new normal. The teachers are great but the pace and the feel is different. It feels much more transient than UAM and I am still unsure if I love it. There are classes that I really like but I still miss UAM and its teachers. I suppose this is because I have grown attached to UAM.

I have not been practicing yoga as much as I hoped I would and I have a lot of reasons but really, I've just been lazy. These days I'm looking into focusing on a home practice and I'm looking into online classes that would fit my preferences.

I still hope to write more this year - to write about the islands and the mountains I've climbed in the past two years, my experiences and realizations on and off the mat and my new interests.

These days are still a period of adjustment for me and I can't say that it's been particularly easy. I am still establishing a new routine and building a life I love around it. Carin Gorrell said that "sometimes it helps to change up your routine and environment in order to change your trajectory." Maybe she was talking about yoga or something else but it resonated with my life experiences at the moment. I take comfort in her words and it has given me hope that this change will ultimately change the trajectory of my life for the better.

So here's to 2016 and all the wonderful possibilities it holds.