Day 93: Easter Rabbit!

My 'home' studio is closed temporarily, and the owners opened up a new one today. The new studio is within easy walking distance of my home, and every single thing in it is brand spanking new. It is going to be my new home studio. I've gone to a couple of other Bikram studios in my life, but almost all of my classes have been at the old home place. All of my challenge classes, until today, were at the old home. It was exciting, slightly disorienting, and wonderful to practice at the new studio.

The instructor told us that the temperature was exactly 105 F, and the humidity was 39%, "Almost perfect conditions," he said. Yet somehow, with the beautiful high ceilings and great ventilation system, it felt so comfortable, almost not hot enough. No complaints from me; it was just perfect for my comfort level. The new studio is bigger than the old one, but it was crowded and seemed just as small! The carpet in the new place is made of some crazy miracle fiber, and it's got a very appealing texture. That sounds weird, kind of, but it's really nice!

I was sort of absorbing the feeling of the new place with part of my mind, and I was a little spaced out and foggy-minded to begin with. I had dinner with friends, and two glasses of wine last night, and I am reluctantly concluding that alcohol is not really for me. Even in small amounts, it leaves me with a groggy head and an inability to think clearly for the entire next day. And my legs got the heavy unpleasant feeling again.

So, anyway, I was not feeling sharp or very alert at class, but it was a very enjoyable class. I didn't even consider sitting out any postures. No 'perfect' asana, but there was something good about every posture today. I had moments of great depth in standing bow (relative to my usual practice) and better form than usual in camel and separate leg stretching. Had some good kicking out in standing head to knee, good form and depth in eagle and most of awkward. It was a pretty strong class for me, except for my semi-brain dead state.

Maybe I need to not be able to think in order to stop thinking too much at practice!

The crazy thing was that once we got on to the floor series, almost every time we moved out of savasana, I would mindlessly kneel and wrap the towel over my heels to get ready for rabbit pose. Then I'd go, 'Oh, wait, we're doing fixed firm,' or whatever posture was next. It was goofy. Some part of my mind just really really wanted to get to rabbit posture! Maybe it's because tomorrow is Easter.

My biggest complaint about the new place: the showers. Our old studio had 2 showers total, located off of a hallway, close by to our respective changing rooms and used by both men and women. Each shower had a private little room with it. We used to wait forever for showers after big classes, and often the hot water would run out. We were all excited to hear that the new studio has 3 showers in the ladies' changing room and 2 in the men's. Well, what we actually have in the women's changing room is one shower room with 3 spigots. Bah! No privacy! It took me months to get the nerve to let my belly and thighs show in class; now I have to be completely naked in front of strangers if I want a shower after class. It's like junior high gym class locker room all over again for me. Bah! I suppose it's good for me to be forced to deal with it, to get over more of my body image issues, but I'm not too happy about it! One more time: Bah!

I sound like a broken record, but I can't believe we're so close to the end of the Challenge. Yea! Yikes! I have a zillion different feelings about it.

Hope everyone has a good class tomorrow. Remember, you don't have to be a Christian to enjoy a good Easter Rabbit pose!