Yes...It was a hard wall...

So, as you've all noticed I have not blogged in quite sometime. I went to a few classes after my last post...five last week I think, including a double on Saturday. I was taking Sunday off and prepared to double up, maybe try an advanced class and such, to meet my 60 day challenge. Then the cold came. Not cold as in temperature, but cold as in sinus pain, runny nose, coughing and congestion. Most people could just take an over the counter remedy and go on without be to terribly hindered but I am not allowed to take any medication because of my recent liver problems. I couldn't hardly talk on Monday, spent ALL day Tuesday in bed, quite a bit of Wednesday in bed, and have been trying to work the best I can today. I finished up 30 classes in I think about 40 days and that itself is a big accomplishment for me. The fact that I was on the top of a transplant list just 3 months ago and didn't know what my life ahead of me would hold and was still able to start this wonderful Bikram journey is amazing to me. So, I don't think I will be making my 60/60 challenge, but that is okay. I have made some amazing transformations in mental and physical stability. Once I kick this cold in the bud I plan to start my classes up again. I leave on a company trip to Jamaica on September 11 and I would like to try to do 30-35 classes prior to departure. Thanks everyone for the support you have given me. I will keep this blog updated with my new Jamaica Challenge, I will call it. After I retrun from that trip I'm hoping to start up a new 60 day challenge. The only good thing about not completing this challenge is that I know now that its not about just 60 days, its about life. Its a journey and I have taken a detour but I will be back on my Yoga path shortly. As Arnie and Jen say "It's always perfect weather for Bikram Yoga!"

Day 28: Hit a wall

I was not myself in class today. I took more water than usual, sat out some postures, and thought the time drug on forever. I was a little disappointed with myself but I know it is part of the process. I will refocus before my next class and hopefully be able to push myself further.

I have got to keep up with my blogging!

Day 23:

I had a nice class at 4:30. Unlike last time I pulled a double, I was not completely wimped out. I had more strength than I expected and had a great time.

Day 24:

I spent my day on an unsuccessful journey to buy an iphone. I still have no iphone and I missed Yoga. When I say missed, I mean missed.

Day 25:

I did class at 4:30. It was a solid class. I took myself to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes to reward all of my hard work.

Day 26:

Was not feeling so hot. Skipped out on a class but got some work done.

Day 27:

Woohoo! I have missed my classes with Jessica. I went at 6:30 and had a solid class despite the fact I was not feeling well. I left feeling better than I got there, so that is always a plus. I also learned to embrace any energy that is produced from an evening class and if I can't sleep, than be productive with the time...no sleeping pills! Jessica said this after one of the postures and I had a difficult time controlling my laughter. I love to laugh in class!

Challenge Tally: 24/27...looks like there are some doubles in my near future!!!

Day 22: I actually REALLY love my camel!

Talk about a complete 180 from yesterday. I attended class at 4:30 with Jessica and it just flew by. It was a pretty solid class. I went in with a positive attitude and a clean slate and took it one breath at a time. The class went so well that I wanted more. I stayed for the 6:30 class with Sheila. I was able to keep up my strength and control my breathing for the majority of the class.

The good news:
I have been trying to get past the mental block that has been preventing me from embracing ultrasana or camel pose. Today in both sets of both classes I was finally able to let go. Just let go and breathe and go in to the posture everytime. I found that it was easier, yet still challenging, to not be afraid and embrace the feelings and emotions that this posture causes than to hold myself back afraid of what I will feel next. For those of you who are not yet Bikram practicers here is what it looks like:



This is one of the master postures in the practice. Being a new Yogi I still have far to go in mastering this, along with the 25 other postures. But today I feel that I made a great step in the right direction as I could see improvement with every new attempt.

Practice makes perfect so I will continue to embrace the feelings and practice!

Day 21: Another week done, new lessons learned

First I must get this out of the way...I had my worst class ever. No reflection on Jessica who's voice helped me through the 90 minutes, but it was my personal worst.

I learned two very important lessons today.

1. Do not expect to have a pleasant Bickram practice five hours after having
tests/blood work done.
2. Do not psych yourself out.

This was actually a great day for me. I was pretty much cleared by my liver doctor who said I have made remarkable progress since my kidney/liver failure in May. This is news that I have been hoping for. He did however want to have one last set of labs drawn, just to be safe. I am already naturally wussy when it comes to that and did not feel good going in to class. I thought I could just let go and have a nice practice. My body was not in total agreement with that idea. I had to sit several times for fear of vomiting on my neighbor and had a huge problem with dizziness.

That brings me to the 2ND lesson of psyching myself out. As I felt worse I got irritated with myself for not being able to push through it. This led to feeling sad that it wasn't happening. Which led to being mad for being sad, and so on, you get the idea. I need to focus on not letting (in Jessica's words) the monkey chatter in my brain get the best of me in my practice.

I was able to offer up some encouragement to a fellow newbie Yogi which gave me positive energy. I left the studio not feeling defeated but with a positive attitude knowing that tomorrow is a new day. Instead of dwelling on it I am going to embrace those feelings as part of this process and hopefully handle it better if and when it happens again.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

My last week...

I'm really going to work on posting on time this week, but here's last week...

Thursday, July, 3:

Not much to report. I did hot golf today rather than hot yoga. I did break 66 on a side which was a personal record, so it was a good day.

Friday...Happy fourth of July!

I attended the 7:30am class with Jessica. It was a great class all in all.

Saturday and Sunday...
These were days of rest and family time for me.

Monday, July 7:

I spent a lovely evening with Sheila. I did my first back to back double, 4:30 and 6:30 classes. I was a little late for the first class but after my days of rest I felt incredibly strong. I was able to get and stay in camel three out of four times. I also got some tips on triangle from Sheila between classes and was able to work on keeping my foot from sliding in class two. I was able to control my breath in both classes.

Tuesday, July 8:

Again, nothing to report. I really needed to concentrate on work today after the holiday weekend so I did not attend class. I'm in the hole for 3 classes for my challenge but I will be able to make those up. I can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Day Fourteen: Two Weeks Down!

Well, my second week practicing this Yoga flew by. It went by a lot faster than the first. I am still even at 14/14 and that is okay with me. I don't think that I will do any more doubles unless I need to in order to accomplish my 60 day challenge. This week has been a little slow going for me. I have had to sit out on a few different things. With that being said, I have also been focusing more on particular postures, such as camel, and can see improvements within those. I got back into camel today and stayed there for longer. Jessica spoke this morning about being your own teacher and focusing on keeping the entire body tight for the whole 90 minutes. I am now trying to not just go through the motions but really focus on keeping my tummy and other muscles tight throughout the class. This makes it tougher but you can only get out what you put in. This will be my new challenge to myself.

Lucky Thirteen

I attended class at 4:30 PM. I was much more hydrated and mentally focused today. I still had some problems with my breath and (sorry boys) menstrual cramps but I somehow pushed through. I was able to get in the camel posture in the second set this afternoon. I didn't stay long but I was there. This is something that I have been focusing on so that made me happy.

Day Twelve: Back in the Saddle

I'm not sure how much good my day of rest did. I attended the 6:30PM class for the first time. Just being out of the room for one day, coming back in was difficult. I noticed the heat for the first time in a while and had some problems focusing on one breath at a time. It was more like trying to take ten breaths at once...I'm sure that tomorrow will be better.

Day Nine, Ten and Eleven

Sorry for the blogging delay...it's been a crazy weekend!

Day Nine: Friday

I attended class at 5:30 AM (yes, I woke up at that hour without being forced) and had class with Jessica. My practice went well and I worked on a couple of postures that were giving me fits one breath at a time. I went home, took a short nap and started working at 9:30. This is where it gets real exciting...

MY FIRST DOUBLE!!!

I returned to the studio for a second class at 4:30PM with Jen and it was amazing. I thought that I would be weak and tired but I wasn't at all. I was able to reach new depths in my postures and felt much stronger than I normally do in class. I was pumped up when I left about all that I had achieved. It was wonderful!

Day Ten: Not so good...

As I somewhat expected, My 9:30 AM class with Roy did not go quite as well as I would've liked. Roy was great, he really made me laugh and push myself harder than I would've liked sent I went in feeling lethargic and tired. My muscles felt incredibly weak and was having problems steadying my breath again. I'm not letting this discourage me because I realize that it is a process. I will probably wait until I've been practicing at least a month before attempting another double, unless I go out of town and will be unable to practice for a few days.

Day Eleven: A Time of Rest

I decided after yesterday's class and talking to Arnie that I should probably take a day off. I am very committed to the Yoga but must also listen to my body. My body said...please, pretty please, let me rest so I listened. I feel that when I return tomorrow I will have enough strength to really focus on my practice and not just be a body in the room. I will update you all tomorrow!!!

Sidenote...I don't want this post to sound like I am discouraged because I am not. I realize that no matter how long you practice there will be good days and bad and that I must embrace all of those feelings. I look forward to continuing this journey.

Day Eight

Well, I did not start week two off like I would've liked to. I had every intention of trying my first double this morning. Not only did I not make it to the 7:30, but I did not get to the 9:30 until after the first breathing exercise. Since I missed the first 10 minutes, that made me want to work harder through the remaining 80. What started out as a hectic rush turned out to be a very good class for me. Not much to report today other than that.

Day Seven: My first landmark!!!

Today was my first big landmark, seven classes in seven days. I don't do hardly anything every single day except brush my teeth, eat, neccessary things like that, so I am very proud of myself. This morning it was so hard to get out of bed for the 9:30 class, but I reminded myself that this was my seventh class! With that being said, this mornings class went better for me than yesterday as far as soreness and breath control but I went ahead and took it easy on myself anyway. I probably could have pushed a little more but I don't want to burn out my body. After one week I can see improvements in my practice as far as the postures themselves but also the mental discipline it takes in class. I can feel my body getting stronger and my appetite has finally returned for the first time since I've been out of the hospital. This is good news for me.

On a side note, I finally met Karen who's challenge blog I read on a daily basis. I want to thank her again for her posts and encouraging comments. You are like a breath of fresh air (inhaled through my nose, not mouth of course).

Day Six

I went to practice at 7:30AM this morning. Man, the soreness from yesterday (and days prior, I'm sure) finally set in. It was very difficult to hold some of the postures. I also was having some problems keeping my breathing steady so I had to sit down a few times. I got some tips from the instructor on one of the postures that I was struggling with so I am excited to try it again tomorrow.

Day Five

I attended the 9:30AM class with Sheila today. This was my first class with her and I enjoyed. I think that I pushed myself a bit too hard during the warm-up and beginning of the standing series, so I became a little wussy for the end of the standing series and some other postures like camel. I am still learning to pace myself from my sickness and acclimating to this new form of Yoga. Another day, another lesson learned. Now I know what to concentrate on improving tomorrow. And yes, I'm not giving up, I will be back tomorrow.

Day Four

Sorry, yesterday was a busy day and I didn't get a chance to post. Yesterday, class 4 in 4 days, went very well. For the first time I was able to mentally get past the heat and focus more on my postures. It was still hot, of course, I just wasn't dwelling on that.

Day Three

I attended the 9:30AM class with Zeb this morning. He was a very fun instructor...managed to get a full blown laugh out of me a couple of times. Today was much easier on me than the previous two days, but still very challenging. I got a chance to meet Arnie, the owner of the studio. He and his wife, a former CPA our both owners and instructors. He was very helpful and even recommended putting him in touch with my physician to work out a plan to ensure my continued health and safety. I was once again impressed with how caring everyone at BYTW is.

Day Two

I attended my second class today at 4:30PM with Jen, another wonderful instructor. Today the heat became a little easier to bear. I felt stronger in the postures, yet weak because of my class yesterday. All in all the class felt much better today than yesterday which reaffirmed my decision to do this challenge. I have been reading Karen's blog about her 60 day challenge, which I will put it my links for anyone interested. I made sure to bring facial cleanser today so that will hopefully help me with any sweat/detox related breakouts. I also bought some intensive foot cream to help my feet everynight from the dryness they are already suffering. So, thanks Karen for your blog, it has helped me to possibly prepare and combat what will be coming in the future.

By the way, I bought some teensy-weensy nike drifit shorts before class and in combination with my sports bra that was not made with cotton, made life much more tolerable. I am going to try to make the 9:30AM class with Zeb. I'm excited about experiencing a different instructor. Talk to you all tomorrow!

Bikram Challenge: Day 1

I attended my first Bikram Yoga class slightly prepared, so I thought. I wore shorts, not pants, and a sports bra. It doesn't matter how much or little you wear, you are gonna get hot. When I say hot, I mean the room is kept at about 105 degrees. The instructor, Jessica (who was great), began the class telling us newbies to just try to stay in the room for the entire 90 minutes, sit down or lay down for as long as you need to rest and catch your breath, and if you felt any feelings of light-headedness, dizziness, or nausea that it was complete normal and would pass. I was terrified, half the time I feel like that just strolling from the sofa to the bathroom. I did not think that I was going to make it through the warm-up. I accomplished the goal of staying in the room the duration of 90 minutes and I at least attempted each posture. I thought that I was going to die...not literally...just really tough work-out die.

But...
After the final Savasana, or lying on your back with your palms up and heels together for those of you who don't do Yoga, I felt refreshed and calm. I immediately signed up for a month of unlimited classes and decided to do the Bikram Challenge. This is what I will spend my first sixty days blogging about.

Here are a couple of quotes from Bikram:

"Never too old, never too sick, never too late to do Yoga and start
from scratch again."

"If you will do this Yoga everyday for 60 days, I will give you a new body,
a new mind, and a new life.

So, I decided that I do not want to use "sick" for an excuse not to do this. I will listen to my body and do what I can. I can definitely use a new body since my has failed me time after time; mind, let's see, that could definitely benefit from improvement; and if those too things create a new and better life for me, then great. So, I'm all in...thanks for supporting me in my journey.

A New Chapter: Bikram Yoga

For those of you who know me and are wondering why I have created a new blog, I thought it was only appropriate to dedicate a blog soley to my Bikram Yoga. My old blog still exists for other life events. For those of you who do not know me, let me give you a little background of my situation. On April 25, 2008 I was admitted to the hospital for dehydration associated with withdrawing from a prescription drug that I had taken for about two weeks. After blood tests were drawn, it became apparent that I was in total liver and kidney failure as a result of the prescription. Twenty-four hours later I was at The Methodist Hospital in surgical ICU, number one on the liver transplant list being prepared. I am only 26 years old, so as you can imagine we were all in disbelief. Long story short, after spending two weeks in Methodist, mostly in the surgical ICU, my liver began healing itself, my kidneys started to bounce back as a result, I was removed from dialysis and ultimately discharged...no transplant.

I am very fortunate to have overcome such an event with such positive results but the recovery phase has been slow going. I was looking online for some Yoga that focused mostly on meditation, to relieve some stress and maybe a few poses here and there. This is when I fell upon Bikram Yoga and decided to give it a try. My coming entries will talk more about this. After my first class I decided that if I were going to do it, I wanted to do it right...God and health willing. For those of you who do not know about Bikram Yoga, this next section is for you.

Taken from the Bikram Yoga, The Woodlands website:

Bikram's Yoga is a beginner’s therapeutic series suitable for all ages and fitness levels. It is a challenging 90-minute class comprised of twenty-six postures and two breathing exercises.

The Bikram’s series encompasses all three aspects of fitness: Endurance, Strength and Flexibility. Each posture stretches and strengthens specific muscles, ligaments, and joints needed for the next posture. The Bikram method also stimulates the organs, glands and nerves, moving fresh oxygenated blood to the entire body – It is a masterful system which promotes health and vitality.

Bikram scientifically designed this vigorous program to deliver total health through the balancing and strengthening of every system in the body. It was designed to prevent illness, decrease the incident of injury and limit the effects of aging. In addition, the series combines skills of concentration, patience, determination and self-control, which increases mental clarity and reduces the effects of stress.

Bikram Yoga is practiced in a heated room. The heat has three primary benefits: first, it assists to warm the body to allow for deeper stretching without injury; second, it facilitates an excellent cardiovascular workout; and third, it assists to detoxify the body through perspiration.

Yoga is the only exercise in the world that can be performed at any age. And Bikram’s yoga was designed to improve your health, strengthen your mind and calm your soul.

Bikram's Yoga is a health system that provides everyone an avenue to enhance personal performance and assist to correct physical ailments. It uniquely provides the perfect marriage between the health and fitness industry as both are achieved by practicing one integrated approach.


Increases Energy - Vitality - Strength - Flexibility - Endurance - Blood Circulation - Lubrication of Joints - Weight Loss or Weight Gain – as it balances the bodies ideal weight

Improves Posture - Balance - Relaxation - Muscle Tone - Concentration - Immune System - Breathing and Lung Capacity

Assists Detoxification - Injury Recovery - Reduction of Stress - Reduces Symptoms of many Chronic Diseases - Integrates both Hemispheres of the Brain – which improves Memory and Learning