Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Nobody is Perfect

Hi all! Mid week already. Can you believe it? Week is zipping right by.


Here in Massachusetts an amazing thing happend last night. Republican Scott Brown was elected to the Senate! Brown will be Massachusetts first Republican Senator since 1972! Wow! I couldn't be more pleased. His speech last night was amazing. Full of energy and talking to the crowd like he was on their level. I think he's going to rock Washington! Congratulations Scott Brown.

As suspected I never made it out of the office until late last night, after 6:30pm. So Bikram was out. Sadly. I probably could have used it for my pounding headache too. By the time I got home alls I wanted to do was lay down and close my eyes. The headache started to come on early in the day and got worse and worse. i seemed to be pulled in a million different directions yesterday. Oh I hate headaches! Rather than giving in I decided to just do a very easy treadmill run. Very easy. I hopped on for 30 minutes at a nice easy pace. Really I just wanted to see if it would kick the headache out. Nope. Pretty much lasted all night. Oh well a little headaches not going to kill me. I could not even decide what to eat for dinner. Nothing sounded good. I ended up with Amy Vegetarian Vegetable soup and a green salad. Easy and quick.

I was keeping an eye on the poll results all evening and it was clear Brown was about to win the election. Scott Brown came on TV with his speech at around 11pm and it was fantastic. My friend and I were texting back and forth. He thought it was just as amazing as I did. Let's hope he can do some great things for us!

So at Bikram the other day in the locker room I'm waiting for the bathroom right before class is set to start. I notice this woman kind of staring at me. She's new to the studio. So I kind of smile at her. Then she says...If I was skinny like you I'd have the guts to wear those tiny little shorts and tight tank too! There she was standing there in her "Bikram Snowsuit" aka, long pants and long t-shirt. Not looking comfortable.

OH! I say...The key is to be comfortable in there. I told her to look around. There are people of all shapes, sizes and ages. No one is judging. Really, they're not. I told her how I use to feel self conscious of being too skinny, how I use to hate exposing my thin arms (now with nice little muscles thank you very much Bikram) but you get over it. I would rather be comfortable. The more comfortable you are in your clothes, the less tugging and pulling you'll do. The more you will be able to concentrate on your practice and stay still and just breathe. She kind of smirked and said ok...hoping I got through to her.

It makes me sad when people compare themselves to others. None of us is perfect. NONE of us. We're all different and unique. Different is good. Imagine if we all looked the same! How boring would that be? So please, shed the Bikram Snowsuit, walk into that room with your head held high and be proud of yourself. Be proud that you are there in the hot room doing something very good for yourself.

 

Update on my hip:  Still hurts, but I think it's slowwwly getting better.  Someone commented I was limping a little bit less today so that's a start!  Been rubbing Badger Balm on it (sore muscle rub) which feels pretty good.  In class on Monday I couldn't go down in Toe Stand left side. Just hurt too much, so I stayed in Tree pose. I think that's the first time I didn't go down to Toe Stand.  Felt kind of wimpy but I always preach to people to listen to their bodies and I guess that's what I was doing for myself.


So my friends, I hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday.  Hoping like hell to get to Bikram at 6:30 with Sherie tonight.  Have another 5pm meeting so I'll just have to see how it goes.  If I can't make it to Bikram I'll be heading outside for a run. Honestly Bikram sounds much more appealing to me right now.

"Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”Winston Churchill:  In Bikram the only tools we need is our bodies. We've got them so let's go use them!

BIG UPDATE: Just talked to my 5:00 meeting and he needs to reschedule until next week. So you know what that means?  BIKRAM tonight! So happy. That just made my day :)

                                             
Cheers! Traci

10 comments:

  1. The bikram snowsuit. That was me when I first started. 200 lbs, unhappy, out of shape, couldn't touch my toes or get my foot in my hand for standing head to knee and standing bow. I had the long sweats and wife beater tank over a sports bra. I'm still 30 lbs overweight and self conscious about that, but I finally shed the snowsuit and practice in yoga shorts and yoga bra top. I want to be able to move and sweat. Yes, I feel bad that others have to see the 30lbs of excess baggage but hey, we are all just trying to do yoga, right? :)

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  2. Bikram snowsuit! Funny. I've told some people the same thing. Besides being comfortable, it's really important you can see your body, especially the legs and knees. Being able to see the stomach and upper body is really important as well. I personally don't care AT ALL what people in the room look like, other than wanting them to be dressed the best way to help their practice.

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  3. BYC: Exactly! I use to think that people would be thinking...Oh that girl is too skinny. Trust me I have had my own self conscious feelings about that too. But I'm there to do yoga and to do it right I need to be comfortable! Yes, I know I'm thin and I have have to work extra hard to build muscle. But that's my body so I better learn to like it!

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  4. BigG: I love your take on this. Very well said. Seeing the body is so, so important as we move through postures. And once class gets going I honestly forget everyone else in the room too. It's just me, the mirror and the dialogue...oh and sometimes a loud breather or two ;). Excellent comment guys! THANKS!

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  5. BYC: Oh and by the way I think you look AWESOME! Lot's of hard work and I applaude you!!! Hugs.

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  6. BYC: You have done a tremendous work!

    When I started I had a big t-shirt as well, I didn't want to see my stomach. The t-shirt got stuck in my nose in forward bends so I gave that up for a thight top until a women walked in with a belly and a sports-bra. I did then decide that it is now time for me to practice to in a bra and learn to like my belly. Now I wouldn't practice in anything else.

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  7. HappyYogi: BYC is awesome huh? Very happy to hear you quickly shed the t-shirt. It's just so much easier to move in and out of postures. Happy practicing!

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  8. BYC is awsome! That is such a great accomplishment!

    Now I tell beginners that it is easier to pratcice in a thighter top, just for the breathing thing and that makes sence to them.

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  9. Thanks you guys! You are so sweet!
    And I got a good laugh out of the vivid image of your shirt getting stuck in your nose AHappyYogi. That used to happen with my loose wife beater tank top when I would do the bending over postures! Funny stuff!

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