Day 16

I just realized that I've now surpassed the half-way point of being finished this 30-day challenge!  So exciting.  I'm really starting to see a difference in my practice now as my sun salutation flows are starting to actually... well.... FLOW.  They're smooth, like waves almost.  They're also not so loud.  There's not as much huffing and puffing, or moaning, or creaking joints to be heard.  I remember day 1 of the challenge.  I was doing the sun salutations in The Pursuit of Happy Hips and thinking how horribly stiff I felt, and how painful the chaturanga pushups were.  The postures felt uncomfortable to do.  I mean that in the sense that my muscles just simply weren't ready to be engaged in that way yet, therefore making each posture feel awkward and uncomfortable.  I'm not exactly a beginner to yoga either, but during the month and a half or so before starting this challenge, I've mostly been getting my sweat on via running and haven't been going to as many yoga classes as I'd normally like to.  I've also been blessed with Gumby-like joints and vertebrae so it usually doesn't take much to tap into my flexibility, but this challenge has certainly opened up my eyes to what a few months without regular yoga can do to your body, even when you're working out in other ways: STIFF CITY.

Now 16 days into the challenge, I can find true peace in not only downward dog, but in the entire sun salutation flow, even in the transition from plank to chaturanga to upward facing dog.  It's a beautiful feeling.

Today's video is called Aloha Abs.
I did 70 whole minutes of ab-focused yoga.  Remember back on day 2... my post entitled "F*@#!" so eloquently described my certain hatred for Boat Pose... well, ladies and gentlemen, I have nailed it!
Check this out!

I think I'm ready to revisit World Champion's Hips now in The Pursuit of Happy Hips dvd.

I also managed to get a photo of me doing Eoin's hammock inspired version of Boat Pose that I was talking about the other day.  So you're essentially in a regular boat pose but instead of throwing your arms in the air and waving them like you just don't care, you're interlocking them behind your back.   It doesn't look like it in this photo, but your elbows are off the ground too.
This creates a whole new sensation where your body realizes that the centre of gravity has now shifted and your muscles need to adjust accordingly.  It's a challenging one, but I like it!

From here Eoin has us sit cross-legged, reach our hands in front of us and lift our bums off the ground. I haven't quite mastered this one yet.  But here's a shot of me in the process of trying.  

My core is definitely an area of mine that needs more work.  I have leg strength like you wouldn't believe, but I know my lack of core strength is what prevents me from being able to do push ups, pull-ups and all that other lovely upper body stuff.  I think I'd like to dedicate this next week to my core.  I'd really like to be able to do all of the postures in Eoin's videos that resulted in my intense cursing on day 2.  Most of them require some excellent upper body strength that I simply don't have right now.  Judging by how "flowy" my sun salutations are getting, I know the upper body strength is certainly coming along, but I'd really love to be able to do crow pose for example.

In this pose you're essentially in a weird hand stand where your knees are just chillin' like villains against your triceps.  It looks a little something like this:

I guess we'll just have to see what kind of difference another 15 days of this challenge will bring forth!!