Yoga Classes

We have two weeks of yoga now. it feels great and we are actually feeling better and even getting the hang of it. I have not even hurt my toe since hour first day. My daughter is a natural at yoga and I keep telling her it is her thing.

In the meantime we just keep running our four days to burn the calories and try to keep the game fun. The weather is changing into dry season so it has been so nice this week.

We have been teaching the past two weeks and enjoying the heck out of it. I love being in the classroom and working with our awesome students. I am just constantly amazed that we keep getting the coolest people in the world to our massage school, wonderful.

Today was the celebration of my oldest granddaughters birth. I cannot believe that eight years ago I became a grandma! Whoa getting up there for sure. The bummer is the stupid p.o. did not get her gift there in time. I guess it will give her something to look forward to in the next couple of days.

Yoga, Mate, and Running

So the verdict is in. I cannot drink a muy grande mate-latte every day and run. I also cannot go back to yoga after a year off and run the next day. This whole running thing is certainly starting to get inconvenient.

All week I have been having awful runs. I just could not figure out what the problem was. I would just be jogging along and boom my heart rate would jump up, I would start sweating bullets and get queasy. Kind of like I was working out at max heart rate, but I was not.

Thursday I was teaching, after drinking a huge mug of may mate-latte, and I broke out in a dripping wet sweat. It is like hot flashes, at least like I imagine hot flashes since I have never really had one. I just looked at our student and apologized for sweating like a pig.

Finally this morning as I was struggling because I was so freakin sore from yoga last night, I remembered one other time I had these same symptoms. I was taking some "all natural" diet pills. They were loaded with caffeine, as well as garana and some other pretty potent stuff. Same thing happened. I would be biking and my heart would feel like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

Hopefully now that I have figured it out I will start having better runs. As for the yoga, of course I will do more! Classes on Monday and Friday for me now.

I Love Yoga

I love yoga! The only problem is that yoga does not love me so much. I have had theories about my sacrum issues being that it is either locked up or unstable. Now those are two very different theories with two very different treatments.

So either I try to strengthen and tighten the area or I try to loosen and open up the sacrum. Yoga obviously aims for the second option.

For four months I practiced yoga every evening. It is impossible for me to do yoga in the mornings, so I found I could do it in the afternoon or evening. Anyway so I would work slowly and within my pain threshold to try and get results. Unfortunately the only results I got was pain and soreness.

I hurt all the time and could hardly move. It did not work for me. That is a big problem when you practice ayurveda and your hubby is a yoga instructor. I have decided to try Kundalini yoga. I have tried it before and it seems to work better for me.

The opposite treatment, that of tightening and strengthening works for me. In fact I have to run, swim or walk every day just to be able to move. In other words if I don't move I can't move.

I have tried specific core strengthening exercises and have found I have to be very careful. Using the physio ball works much better for me than anything I have ever used.

The biggest thing? Do not under any circumstances sneeze and twist your body at the same time :)

LYMPH DRAINAGE

I have found the perfect answer to the "swine flu". Get a lymph massage! As we have been studying the lymph massage for the past couple of weeks I keep thinking that it would be great for everyone to get one, if they are worried about their immune systems.

In conjunction with the massage portion we also studied salt glows, dry luffa scrubs, and yoga moves to stimulate the lymph system. We all had fun and learned a lot about this amazing system and how it works.

Good thing we can work on each other! Hannah had a cold and was demo one day.She got to draining really good, slept for awhile and then felt much better. Amazing this stuff really works!

R2D2

I call swine flu r2d2 because I can't remember the new name for it. But personally I think it is getting a little ridiculous. Now they are planning on closing schools for a longer period of time. I guess it is good we homeschool, but the whole baby dancing thing this week is blown for sure.

Now the teenager just had her church activity canceled for the swimming pool tomorrow. She is very disappointed. I guess they told her they are actually sending people home early from church now.

The worst part? They may start canceling soccer games :(, now that is a bummer.Maybe if we all agree not to breathe on each other they will let us go to the movies and watch games? Maybe if we show them none of us are pg. or have compromised immune systems they will let us to out?

Or maybe not and we will all have to suffer. After studying the lymph system the last couple of days and the immune system I can say that it is up to us to keep our own healthy. No one else can keep your immune system healthy, but there are many things that you can do to stay healthy. We have studies dry scrubs, salt glows tomorrow, as well as yoga moves all to pick up your immune system.

I would surely encourage one and all to work on strengthening your system and staying healthy, and being responsible for your health!

CARDIO KICK-BOXING

Did you know old karate teachers never die? No they actually go on to be cardio kick-boxing teachers because they just can't leave the karate behind. Or they can also become yoga instructors. One way or another they never leave fitness and teaching it behind.

When hubby closed his karate school down he said never again. He was done with karate and ready to move on to less painful things. So he has done yoga for a couple of years now after getting certified as an instructor at Samasati here in Costa Rica.

While I was in the states he took up "cardio kick-boxing". After doing a couple of classes with him I can see that he is easing his way back into karate. It is in his blood. He started karate when he was 16 and ended up with five black belts 20 years later. And of course lots of broken bones and bruises to show for it all.

The best part was free lessons for all our kids. The older ones all got to brown belt and the younger not so far. The thing is they are all pretty confident and that confidence shows. Well, usually except when my daughters' boss had someone guy come up from behind and grab her for her cell phone. That was another story, and my daughter is doing penance for that one.

LOW BACK BLUES

I am trying to send positive vibes to my low back so that it will cooperate and get along with me. It is not listening. It refuses to let me move and sit and lay down and all the other things I really need and like to do. I did not go for a run this morning, thinking if I was nice to it it would cooperate. Wrong!
For 33 years now I have had problems with my hips and sacrum area. I have tried pilates, yoga, chiropractors, physical therapists, pain pills, triathlon, and accupuncture. All to no avail. I read a book that said if you ignore it that it will go away, that by the way does not work either.
I remember my grandma of 9 kids walking around just like I do. The difference was she was really old and I am just creeping up on old. The real problem is my back tends to just wig out at the most inconvenient and awkward times.
The next step is gasp, and sigh seeing the Doc. I have seen so many of my clients with similar back problems who went to so many docs with no relief. But on my bucket list I have to get my back fixed, so I am not ready to hobble around for another 45 years! Time to find the "cure".

ROLFING

I had a nice easy going Rolfing treatment today, and guess what? I feel great. I hate to admit it almost because if it was this simple why didn't I do it a few decades ago? I have suffered with low back pain since I was 15 yrs. old and if it was as simple as a few Rolf sessions I will sure be mad at myself.
I have tried chiropractics, yoga, pilates, massage, physical therapy, extreme sports, going to bed, accupuncture and of course lots of prayer. All to no avail. Sometimes it will get better for periods of time, like even months on end. But then it will flare up and this time for two years. When I was pg. and nursing, which was 15 years, I felt great. At least as far as the back was concerned it felt great.
The Rolfer only did about five adjustments on me, but the areas were definately bound up and sure felt good to do some myofascial release on them. I will keep you posted on the stickability of the work.
The other thing it could be is the fact that I am on some heavy duty pain killers for my monthly migraine. Hard to tell which is which.
We did watch a really good movie tonight. Good to me, but not to good to someone who has a problem with lots and lots of foul language.
The name of it was Gran Toreno. It was by and of course starred Clint Eastwood. I thought it had a great message and was certainly pretty powerful. Now if I watch it again without all the pain killers I may have a toatlly different opinion about it, but for now that is my story and I'm stickin with it!