Dark Side of the Half-moon

Last night, after class, I had an excellent talk with one of my teachers. She's a facebook friend, and she'd seen that I am participating in the Bikram 101 Challenge. Of course, she was very supportive and encouraging, and she's thinking about joining us in the challenge too.

There are at least 2 other people at my studio who are definitely participating. One of these yoginis is a newly minted Bikram teacher. Even before she left for TT, she did dozens of doubles, barely ever missed a day of yoga. This will be child's play for her. The other participant is a woman who's been coming to class 3-6X/wk for just over a year...kinda like me.

I am doing a rather unusual first class of the challenge. It's not a 'normal' Bikram class. We will be doing the Bikram series, and it will be a 90 minute class, but we will have one extra thing going on.

Um, we're doing the series to 'Dark Side of the Moon.'

Yeah, it's weird. I'm pretty sure that it is not Bikram-approved. But it's a long-standing New Year's Day tradition at my studio. Our studio has been a certified Bikram studio for a long time. The original owner of the studio is, I believe, one of Bikram's senior instructors. I've heard that he originated this tradition. It's very popular, and you have to reserve your spot. They cram more than twice the number of attendees in a regular class into DSOTM class, and there's still a good-sized waiting list. I have never been to the DSOTM class, but I look forward to it. It's kinda fun to have something crazy to kick off the Bikram 101 Challenge.

I'm debating with myself about whether or not to take a day off between now and then. I am definitely going to class this evening, but I am considering taking a day off tomorrow or Thursday. Hmm. I've been feeling lots stronger at class lately, pretty gung-ho about it. Christmas Day was the last time I missed a class. But if I'm not gonna have a big lazy day again until at least April 12, maybe I need to slack off while I can...dunno.

I DO know this: my main challenge in Bikram Yoga is mental. I have a long sweaty list of physical challenges: a history of thyroid problems, very low blood pressure, scoliosis, creaky old knee, a bunion on one foot, past bouts of sciatica & a slipped disc. I'm getting close to the age of menopause, so my hormone levels are changing a little. All of these physical issues pop up in class, but the only really difficult thing about coping with them is having the courage to soldier on and work through them. Yoga helps all of these physical issues. I have to work at not allowing the physical issues to be an excuse to cop out. Like, with my low blood pressure, I often experience a little dizziness in the standing series. However, every time I've decided to try to keep going, the dizziness passes. I used to take a lot of breaks when I got dizzy, but once I began slogging onward in spite of dizziness, the frequency and intensity of the dizzy spells has decreased. If I change my mind, I'll change my body.

I look forward to finding out what will change for me, physically and mentally during this challenge. Everything could change...