First off, I’d like to apologize for my inconsistency with these yoga posts. Surprisingly enough, I’ve actually been doing the exercises consistently but my progress in the book seems to have stagnated. Truthfully, there’s a bit much going on right now and I haven’t quite gotten around to reading the third chapter. This might take me longer than the intended 6 weeks. Nothing wrong with tweaking something to suit your lifestyle, right?

And by ‘doing the exercises consistently’, I mean about 75% of the time. I understand most people may have a different idea of consistency. Sometimes I choose the extra 20 minutes of sleep (often involuntarily by sleeping through my alarm).

Ready to hear what I learned in lesson 2?

Exercises:

In addition to those laid out in lesson one, there were 6 more exercises introduced in lesson two. This became a little much for me to keep track of and I found myself spending a good portion of time flipping through pages, re-reading directions, missing steps. I decided the sensible thing to do was to make a cheat sheet. Everything on one page, in a Word document I can add to as I make my way through later chapters. I’m big on efficiency.

As Indra promised, the poses did become easier as I continued to do them… AND…wait for it…I managed to maneuver myself into an actual lotus pose!! In case you’re not sufficiently impressed, this is what it looks like. Right. And it was painful as hell! Don’t let the serene expressions of the individuals in the Google image results fool you. They’re obviously all double jointed or something.

Diet:

According to the book, the yogi way of life consists of more than contorting yourself into pretzel form. In the previous lesson, Indra promised us a ‘lengthy discussion’ on food regimens. And a lengthy discussion it was! Most of what was discussed shouldn’t come as a surprise to most of us that have not lived under a rock for the last couple of decades. Eat more fruits/vegetables in their natural state, avoid saturated fats and foods that are processed or contain added chemicals.

While most of us know this to be true, this is easier said than done. Realistically, I’m not going to be able to maintain a diet free of all saturated fats, processed foods, and bleached flour. I can, however, agree to a compromise. Small steps, you know.

So, this past weekend, I was in the frozen food aisle picking out a couple of Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones (don’t judge, they are convenient to take in for lunch and save me from having to spend extra cash buying lunch). I was poking around for a flavor I didn’t dislike AS much…and in a wildly bold move, decided not to buy any. Suddenly, it didn’t make sense to buy something I didn’t particularly care for that I could easily recreate with probably 10% of the sodium. So I left the frozen foods aisle, with not so much as a package of Lean Pockets. Instead, I decided go get a little adventurous with produce (as in, bought Brussel sprouts).

A couple of diet tidbits I found interesting and noteworthy –

• Drinking room temperature water and never during meals. I guess iced water inhibits proper digestion. If you can see yourself drinking room temperature water in mid August at least half an hour before or after eating, more power to you!
• Warming up or reheating meals with fat or oils in them renders them more indigestible with each reheat. Good to know.
• ‘Milk is a food, not a drink’. I would have to agree. I guess this makes coffee a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

There were also sections devoted to rhythmic breathing and meditation. I continue to fail at meditation. For some reason, my mind doesn’t stay still. I’ll let you know how that works out.

I’ll stop with the babbling now. Let’s be honest, most of you are here for photos of a dog on a yoga mat…and I would hate to disappoint.

In case you are sick of seeing photos of a dog on a yoga mat, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some photos taken on a recent walk! I’m learning to use the manual modes on my camera a bit more in preparation of our upcoming trip.

How pretty  are these clouds?

Think my photography skills have improved at all? My first post featuring nature photography can be seen here!