Day 16

I almost didn’t make it to class today. My friend Jules was back in town from her grand European adventures and we had lunch plans. In the best of times we can spend 4 hours at a meal so with a 3 o’clock class, everything looked iffy.

Our lunch plans started at 11, then the restaurant wasn’t open until 1130 and then we didn’t eat until 1230ish, which is definitely into the No Fly zone before a 3pm class. But I figured I’d be safe with Vietnamese food, which is about as light and vegetable based as you can get.

I scooted into class with about 10 minutes to spare and even though I got a chance to calm down and breathe before we started, I think the food still affected my class. I’m used to practicing with at least a 5 hour window after I’ve eaten. I’ve found that my best classes happen if I’m hungry when I show up to class. This was not one of those days…

Even though I didn’t get nauseous or dizzy, class was very strenuously difficult for me. I barely got through Standing Bow pose and was already breathing heavily when I went into Balancing Stick. So Hard. It’s never been that hard to just breathe, keep my arms straight and keep my balance. I felt like I was working to full capacity and it still wasn’t enough.

Is this because my body was spending energy trying to digest food too? I don’t know. But I know that I’ll not eat that close to class again, just in case.

That said, it was an incredibly hot class but I’m really glad I made it. The more so because I won’t be able to complete 30 days in a row this time around. I have to leave town for work starting tomorrow and I know that my schedule will be too demanding to get to Bikram every day.

I’m bummed but I want this to be an ongoing part of my life so I’ll just start over when I can. That’s why it’s called a practice.