Benefits of Hot Yoga Blog

Can Hot Yoga Change Your Life?

2012-02-24T03:49:23Z

Next hot yoga class, consider this: whatever you are thinking right now is creating your future.

Quite literally, your thoughts are etched into your brain, and finally, written out on the pages of your life story.

In hot yoga, you have a change to observe - and more importantly to calm, balance and guide - those thoughts...also known as your life.

As you think, so you are. Yogis have said this for centuries. Now we have some science to prove it.

At the University of Wisconsin in Madison, eight monks and ten volunteers were wired up to an electroencephalograph.

As the newbies meditated, their brain waves - gamma waves - increased significantly. The monks brain gamma signals started high, kept rising, and, between meditation sessions, never fell.

What's so great about gamma waves? This is the brain level of increased perception, creative problem solving, higher consciousness, leading into realm called the Faith Wave: the place in the brain where you have the ability to achieve what you believe.

Sounds like magic? Yes; it's hot yoga.

We call hot yoga a 90-minute open-eye meditation. The more you do it, the more your mind can be directed - by you - towards Balance. Peace. Calm. Abundance. You name it

Yoga and meditation are great for memory issues, organizational skills, balance in your busy modern life. Why? Meditation changes the physiology of the brain itself, strenghtening those areas of higher brain function.

Hot yoga is exercise and meditation. Total engagement of body and mind.

How are mind and body connected? Your brain is the tool through which you perceive liife. The raw data - what you see, taste, smell and touch - does not determine your life; it's all about how you interpret that data. Your brain does that for you; and in hot yoga, you are reshaping your brain to do it more powerfully.

Life does not “come at you” from outside. The life you experience is based upon your own perceptions. Meditation makes your brain expand into that 99% brainpower we don't use: the power to create your life exactly as you think it.

Can you change your life with hot yoga meditation? Yes, as easily as you can change your habitual thoughts. And how do you change those habits? More hot yoga and meditation.

The more hot yoga, the more powerful your mind becomes at creating your reality, that stuff between those meditative hot yoga classes, otherwise known as life.

How has hot yoga changed your life? COMMENT HERE!

Angry Students in Hot Yoga

2012-01-30T03:49:12Z

What to do when you have an angry or rude student in your hot yoga class?

Fortunately, we don't have this happen often. Unfortunately, it did happen tonight.

As many of you know, hot yoga is a set sequence of 26 poses done in a very heated room. The instructions for the poses are specific and offered to keep you safe in the heat, and guided through your hot yoga journey. Our teachers don't demonstrate poses or do them with you; they have to be everywhere all at once, watching and interacting with each student individually and the entire class as a whole.

Hot yoga is a unique experience.

Tonight in class, a new student insisted not only on doing the class his way, but also insisted on moving off his mat, ignoring instructions, glaring so angrily at our teacher that other students in the room felt his negativity and anger and were truly concerned.

To those students, we say, thank you for your concern. And relax - we've got you covered. Everything that happens in the hot yoga room is a lesson; tonight's lesson was about how to stay the course despite the presence of negative energy around you. And that one angry person need not control your feelings and reactions.

Valuable life lessons indeed.

Let's face it:hot yoga isn't for everyone. While yoga in general tends to get to the root of your internal turmoil and bring it bubbling to the surface, hot yoga does that even more so. That is both the beauty and the challenge of hot yoga.

There are challenging moments in our hot yoga room; but life is a series of exciting challenges and we are glad to share yours at hot yoga. We encourage you to "let it come up" in hot yoga, and leave the room feeling cleansed. Enjoy the challenge of hot yoga; it will change for you in each class.

That makes hot yoga a lot like life: unpredictable, exciting, surprising,and always something new to learn.

Facing life with back pain?

2012-01-06T17:26:49Z

Have tried all the remedies, only to have your back pain return?

Don't worry, you are not alone and anyway, worrying will just make it worse: truth is, you may be lost in the Back Pain Triangle.

Over 80% of adults suffer from back pain at some stage. Almost 90% will suffer from recurring bouts of back pain. Eventually these same people will have their older years in chronic back pain misery.

It sounds frightening but rest assured: your back pain is easily solved, with the Back Support Pyramid.

It is not a product, a system or package. The Back Support Pyramid is a three-sided understanding of how back pain arises, from three separate areas, and then interweaving the solutions for all three.

Ready to hear all three sides of the Back Support Pyramid?

SIDE 1: Structural Support for Your Back

The structural causes of back pain are tight muscles, weak muscles and joint imbalance. If you correct these, you correct structural causes of back pain.

Alas, cures are not structural alone. Your back pain will most likely come back (!) if you don't also solve the other two sides of this three-sided Back Support equation.

By the way - recent research has shown that the trauma caused by lifting an object, or doing a normal daily activity (the most common excuse for back pain), is not sufficient to create back pain.

This means the physical trauma that you thought caused your back pain ... didn't! It came from a buildup of tension, from physical causes and from the other two sides to the back pain triangle.

SIDE 2: Look To Your Health

Your general health affects your back. If you are tired, have bowel complaints (minor or major), hormonal imbalances, immune problems or are just generally not 100% healthy, back pain is more likely.

How does that work?

If you suffer from constipation, diarrhea, gas and wind, bloating, there is extra pressure on your lower back. This can set your lower back in a state of tension where when you lift, when you walk, even when you sit - so your back does not have the strength to support you. Then, seemingly suddenly, you pull your back after lifting an object you have lifted a hundred times before.

If you are tired, your muscles tire. That means emotional exhaustion as well as the tiredness of physical illness. Notice how when you have a flu/cold your muscles feel sore also. My lower back is excruciating when I have a fever.

Take care of your general health and your back will benefit.

SIDE 3: How are you Feeling Inside?

Your emotional health, not just the extremes of depression or anxiety, affect your back.

If you are stressed, anxious, worried or generally not at ease, then muscles tighten. The saying that "stress rides between your shoulders" is very accurate. Stress also takes up residence in your back.

When your mind is overactive, when you are not coping too well, muscles in your upper back tighten. Notice if someone squeezes your shoulders after a busy day, they can feel like rocks.

Notice also how good a long, hard hug feels. This emotional support can allow you to let go of those rocks in your back and melt.

Stress affects your muscles, and sometimes it is in deadly combination with one of the other areas affecting your back. If you are hunched over a desk, working on a project with a crushing deadline (notice the word deadline...it doesn't even sound good), you get a double whammy of stress and structural damage to your back. And you might even be more susceptible to that stomach flu going around the office.

So to remove back pain once and for all, you need to address the physical, general and emotional causes to your back pain.

One answer? You guessed it: yoga.

In many hot yoga poses, we tell you to "pull your shoulders down from your ears," or to lift from your breastbone and tip your elbows into imaginary back pocket. In savasana, we encourage you to melt into the floor, to allow the floor to rise up to meet your body, to let go of your tension and your worries if only for these short minutes in the yoga room. We give you permission to take a pose lying down, to imagine yourself in the pose as you breathe deeply - this is just as beneficial as doing the pose!

These are all wonderful practices for of letting go the tension that is causing your back to seize up.

And when you finally get up after final Savasana, the relaxation pose, take these lessons out of the yoga room and back into your life: your back can support you in the ways it was meant, to carry you through a pain-free life of living your full potential for health and happiness.

Coming home to Hot Yoga

2011-12-27T12:48:47Z

I left home 22 days ago and I found myself home, here in Florence and Rome.

As for my old home in New Jersey – I am home now but I am not going back. I am facing forward.

I am tossing out old maps that got me nowhere fast. ‘So what are you doing how? What are your kids doing now? Why isn’t your son going to college? How is your job? How is your money? Have you checked on it lately?' These swirling questions spiraled me into dead ends.

I came to Italy with a vague remembering of a young girl who felt at home with no plans, with a backpack, a bit of money, and a desire to see art, 30 years ago. I went searching through all the monuments and museums to find that person I l thought I had left behind; someone carefree and eager for life.

She was with me all along.

Being lost is exactly where I was supposed to be. It feels like home to have found my courage to be lost and found and lost again.

And to speak up.

The route is always clear: just walk where it feels good. I don't need a preplanned route. I am the map and the mapmaker.

Now I turning up the heat; I am asking myself to expand to fit the size of my dreams.

My touchstone has been yoga. For me, Hot Yoga has always been bigger than my body and my poses; hot yoga symbolizes life in alignment, my ability to move gracefully not despite the heat, but because of it. Heat is risk; heat is expansion in progress; heat is necessary. You can stretch in the heat.

I have kept the heat too low in my life or too many years. How about you? Ready for some hot yoga expansion? Anyone up for a 30 Day Hot Yoga Challenge perhaps? Or to commit to hot yoga three times a week to create The Cumulative Effect? What fire is burning inside of you that hot yoga can help you spark into reality?

Halloween Candy Blues, Hot Yoga Style

2011-10-29T13:55:08Z

Is hot yoga scary? Not compared to The Sugar Monster.

Halloween is Monster time and I dont mean zombies and slashers; I mean SUGAR. Chocolate and Twinkies and Twix...oh crap.

Because holiday diet sabotage starts with the call of the Candy Monster on October 31.

Then comes pre-Thanksgiving, when you've got a big plate of busy to deal with - shopping, cooking, entertaining, visiting - and that's when the Monster eats you.

You're hungry; you need to eat SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. What's easier than a cookie...or 10?

And sure, you say those miniature Milky Way bars are for the trick-or-treaters....but then, why are you keeping them in the freezer?

There's nothing worse than suffering a sickening defeat at the claws of the Sugar Monster. But -

Defeat The Sugar Monster in 3 Easy Steps:

STEP 1. Start with a laugh and a song: this Candy Thriller Video was written by a lifelong Weight Watche who has fought and lost and lived to fight again! Sing along til the sugar blues go away.

STEP 2. Hot Yoga Burns Calories now

If you call victim to the Sugar Monster, help is just a hot yoga class away: just one hot yoga session burns more calories than any other activity. Check our Calorie Burner and see!

STEP 3. Join a Hot & Healthy Challenge

Defeat the Sluggish 10 Pound Holiday Weight Gain (ugly sister to The Sugar Monster) with hot yoga plus a personalized diet plan, in the company of friends.

Take the Hot & Healthy Challenge 2011, our magic combination of hot yoga AND healthy eating: hot yoga 3x a week, plus, personalized diet coaching and supportive handholding from Jaime Cahalan, Riverflow Yoga Certified Nutrition Coach.

The *Hot & Healthy Holiday Challenge starts Dec 3, 2011 through January 2, 2012.

Relax...it's going to be a hot New Year!

*Special pricing for our Annual Hot Yoga Pass holders, and discounts if you join with a friend!

Transform Your Diet; It's National Food Day!

2011-10-24T22:50:25Z

Riverflow Yoga teacher, Jaime Cahalan, is also a Certified Nutrition Coach who is passionate about happier, healthier eating to support a hotter hot yoga practice.

National Food Day 2011: Transforming the American Diet

by Jaime Cahalan, CNC

October 24, 2011, It's National Food Day, and Americans are coming together —parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all foods—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.

National Food Day 2011, from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is all about a healthier America:

1. Reducing diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods

2. Supporting sustainable farms & limiting subsidies to big agribusiness

3. Expanding access to food and alleviating hunger in America

4. Protecting the environment & animals by reforming factory farms

5. Curbing junk-food marketing to kids (something I am personally VERY passionate about!!)

6. Supporting fair conditions for food and farm workers

Together, we can build a broad "real food" movement of Americans who want healthy, affordable, and delicious food produced in a sustainable and humane way. Ask Congress to support the Eat Real Agenda

Chris Christie Does Hot Yoga?

2011-10-14T13:19:13Z

Hot yoga can inspire people of all weight sizes.

Case in point: Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey.

To bring home the issue, I invited NJ Governor Chris Christie to hot yoga class at Riverflow Yoga.

I got the idea early in October, after Governor Christie declined the 2012 GOP candidacy and the fat jokes got thick. Comedian David Letterman said Christie couldn't run for President because, "there isn’t a Quizznos within five miles of the White House."

Michael Kinsley of Bloomberg View took serious issue with Christie's weight: "Since the president inevitably sets an example, and obesity is a national epidemic, a skinny person should run the country.” Fox News’ Neil Cavuto called it "racism"— with a scale.

Governor Christie was unfazed; I got hot and bothered.

I invited the Governor to hot yoga because Christie could be the ideal candidate to end weight prejudice in America.

Hot yoga is not for the lighthearted. Over 1000 people of all shapes and sizes practice hot yoga at Riverflow in Lambertville.

Weight has nothing to do with commitment, can-do attitude, and ability to inspire others.

Here was my appeal to Governor Christie:

"In September you came to Lambertville as we were on the brink of yet another flash flood.

I am now inviting you to shut down the jokes about your weight showing a "lack of self control" by inviting you to a hot yoga session at Riverflow Yoga in Lambertville.

Hot yoga is NOT just exercise; it’s an exercise in focus, awareness, and willingness to take on a challenge.

Our extremely tenuous economic and political climate calls for leaders who try different solutions and have the heart to do whatever it takes. I vote for you.

The last thing I said to Christie, I say to all of you:

"Do hot yoga for yourself, do it to answer all those who say you are defined by a number on a scale

... and do it for fun - you certainly deserve some."

Still awaiting a response from Governor Christie. We're keeping a spot warm for him at Riverflow Yoga.

Namaste, Dammit!

2011-10-13T21:18:13Z

You're angry. You're depressed. You're overwhelmed. You're snarky.

What to do when you don't WANT to do hot yoga?

You know all the reasons you should do hot yoga...your bad back will straighten, your hurt knees will feel healed, your arthritis will ease, your rotten mood will soften...but right this minute, you don't FEEL like doing yoga, dammit. And class starts in 5 minutes.

You're not alone. A glut of hot yoga students show up 5 minutes before class begins - or 2 minutes after we lock the door to the yoga room - so we always know the days you had to drag yourself to hot yoga class.

We don't blame you; we welcome you. In fact, we have a lot of respect for you when you gag the Demon and show up anyway.

You've got your reasons...damn good ones. You're working overtime. You have a long commute right behind the old man who drives with his reading glasses. Your kids needed a ride to soccer practice and you thought today was Wednesday.

Hey, we've been there. We still are - yoga teachers are people, too.

So as a yogi and yoga teacher for the past 30-40 years, here's my advice on how to do yoga when you don't want to to yoga...and it's probably different than you would expect.

Option 1: Release the Small Self

Anytime you're about to grow, your ego says, "NO! I'm comfortable here! Just let me sit in the dark a bit longer."

Hot yoga isn't comfortable in any way; the room is hot, your towel smells, the person next to you ate garlic for lunch (don't ask how I know that) and anyway you've got a million more urgent things to do.

What can you do? Ignore your snarly-voiced demon, put one foot in front of the other, head for the door, and take yourself to hot yoga class.

Want to go further? On the way to yoga, answer these three questions to shed some light on the Demon's face:

1. What is most holding me back? What thoughts do I have about myself right now that make me not want to go to yoga?

2. Do I have a rule that I have to be perfect before I'll show up? If I end up next to that Gumby woman - will I just feel worse about myself?

3. What two action steps can I take right now? )If you're on your way to class, you're doing one of them). How about when I walk through the yoga room door - what one thing can I do to feel just a little bit better (greet the teacher; smile; compliment someone on something random; take the deepest breath I ever took) Choose one and do it.

Option 2: Give in and lie down

Didn't think I was going to say this, did you? Well, sometimes it's the best option.

Procrastination isn't always a flaw; sometimes, it's an inner knowing that this isn't your optimal timing.

How can you differentiate between procrastination and perfect action? Play the What Feels Better game. Close your eyes and say this to yourself:

"I'm not going to yoga." Before your mind kicks in, feeling what immediately comes up in your stomach: without defining or explaining or thinking, do you feel relief or clench?

Now try this one: "I am going to yoga class right now." Don't think, don't think, don't think, don't think just FEEL: relief or tightness?

Go with your gut feelings. And I do mean gut... because this is where your heart is.

Your gut doesn't lie: you get an immediate sense of relief of a sense of tightness. This is not your small self talking: this is your guidance system, right there in your stomach. That feeling is telling you what is best for you right now.

But how do I know for sure whether it's my Higher Self or my Snarly Demon talking?" You won't know it in your mind; you'll feel it in your gut. Relief or recoil; you can differentiate between these two easily. Instantly. That's the one.

It's not always best to force yourself to do what you don't want to do. If you don't feel it in your gut, don't put it on your plate. Check in again tomorrow.

And hey, there's always a warm spot for you in our hot yoga room...come back and play another day.

Hot Yoga is Funny!

2011-09-24T14:48:15Z

Remember your first hot yoga class? This hilarious account of a newbie in hot yoga should give you something to laugh about next time you're having a hard time in hot yoga.

Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour hot yoga class as follows:

11:45 Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent,I smugly confirm to myself.

11:55 Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and pastme. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.

11:57 I feel the need to be as near to naked as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I
propose to her.

11:58 The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiance may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.

11:59 Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.

12:00 Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Chinese woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my penis and testes packed in my Under Armor. My bride is notably unfazed.

12:02 Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. We will make love after class.

12:10 It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we
are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)

12:26 It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adoring stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then
realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.

12:33 It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.

12:40 The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.

12:44 I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish.

12:52 It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty.

12:55 This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?

1:01 140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, bitch, I need my space here so don't get all pissy with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat!

1:09 150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Chinese chick is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed. I lose consciousness.

1:15 I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish bitch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.

1:17: I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?

1:20 It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some stank on my towel or something?

1:30: Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife
has left the room. Probably to throw up.

1:34: My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster
my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.

1:37: The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both nipples stiffen to diamond strength and my penis begins to retract into my abdomen from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.

1:47 Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3
minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.

3:47 Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.

4:29 Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am.

A 30 Day Hot Yoga Challenge...warts and all

2011-08-12T18:41:44Z

I love it when people are honest.

Why say something is "great" when really, it sucks? Why say you're "doing fine" if you're having a hard time?

A 30 Day Hot Yoga Challenge is a serious business. It's not for the faint of heart. I love it when Riverflow hot yogis are honest enough to take on the challenge, and even more when they blog about it day by day - the good, the bad, and the sweaty.

Here's a look at Days 5 - 8 from Jill Studnicki, a relatively new hot yogi here at Riverflow, as she faces the challlenges of hot yoga everyday. We're with you Jill.

Hot Yoga Day Five : Who Serves the Cocktails at a Pity Party?

My attitude stunk today. I was worried about job stuff, rushed to get to class because the line to buy Q-tips was too long, and it was an afternoon class so my body was already tired from the day. I struggled. I sat out a couple of (okay, a few) poses. My head wasn't in the game. It was basically a 90-minute pity party. Usually I'm pretty good about letting things go once I step into the room, but today I was a mess. Part of hot yoga is learning to surrender to the poses, and to trust your body. Today I was all about fighting, and as a result my practice suffered. This is something I need to work on (are you noticing a pattern? Everyday I find room for improvement.) But it's over now, and all I can do is learn from it and move forward, and look forward to a better class tomorrow morning. Dinner with great friends brought me back to my center, as it always does. They're amazing people with a lovely home, and I am instantly at peace when I walk in their door. The perfect remedy to my pity party. Onward and upward, Jill. No more pity parties. No one ever serves the right cocktails at them.

Day Seven: Hot Yoga Headache Begone!

Yesterday morning's class was terrific, and was the perfect start to a great day. Today I had a headache for the duration of class, but I didn't let that get in my way. I challenged myself, but at one point (Camel pose) I sat it out. I was glad that I did, because if I had been trying to bend myself backwards and not throw up, I would have missed a beautiful exchange between Carly and Rhonda. Each woman helped support the other as she worked on a wild extension of the camel pose, and it was beautiful. Both women displayed such grace as they challenged their bodies to open up to new heights that it warmed my heart as I laid in savasana. Way to be awesome, girls!

Day Eight: Hot Yoga As My Daily Destination

I don't remember if I've mentioned this, but the reason that I have the time to do a 30-day challenge is that I'm between jobs right now. In prior years I would be losing my hair over it, but for some reason this year I have faith that it will work out. It always does, in some form or another. One of the blessings of this free time is that I can spend my mornings at Riverflow. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have to be here every day. I'd like to say I'd bike or kayak more often, and maybe I would, but I would also probably be wasting time in front of the TV. Coming here has energized me, made me more aware of my body and how I treat it, and given me a daily destination. These were my thoughts during class this morning, a quiet one. I was only one of three students, so we got some quality time with Carly. Whatever happens this fall, wherever I land and whatever I do, I'll be able to draw strength from this month.

...I'm well aware that I'm only on Day Eight, and will probably want to be hospitalized for insanity by Day Twenty. But the Pollyanna gene runs in my family, so I'll stay positive as long as possible. I do find myself grimacing when the teacher calls certain poses, though. Locust, we are not friends. Camel, you make me want to puke but I'm trying. Standing Forehead to Knee, I am perpetually vexed by my inability to lock my thumbs into the grip. Sweat is the cause, but if everyone else can manage it, why can't I? Yet another thing to add to my list of improvements. At least my grip during the Wind Removing pose is getting better. Baby steps, Jill!