Intention

One of my favorite parts of yoga at my studio is the moment where we all set an intention for class. All of our eyes are closed. We are all breathing deeply. Since I usually take evening classes (read: wound up from work), I end up with a lot of calming intentions: "patience" "acceptance" "peace" "balance" and the like. But sometimes they are more like a call to action: "focus" "strength" "fluidity".

What I like about the practice of setting an intention is that my intuition (?) steps up and takes the wheel and tells me what's really up. Somewhere inside I automatically know what I need in the moment for myself.

Operation flexibility

If you read my last post, and listened to the Running on Om podcast that I mentioned, you will know that I have been battling an injury for a long time now. More specifically, a difficult to heal and difficult to train through hamstring injury. Or at least I think that's the main problem?? The whole thing actually started out as pain and tightness in my glute, and then my hamstring got caught in the compensatory crossfire. But I'm not the only one who was at a loss for the ultimate cause. Two chiros, a PT, and two masseuses have all blamed different muscles and tight spots--no clear consensus or course of action for rehab.

But one thing was clear, my flexibility was REAL bad. Partially because I didn't want to accidentally over stretch my hammy, and partially because over the last 1.5 years of running, I just wasn't stretching. Like at all. I mean, I did some foam rolling and trigger ball work, but that's it. 

I know myself well enough to know that fitness classes work well for me by keeping me accountable (assuming I'm paying for them). So I figured some structured stretching classes could possibly help bring this hamstring fiasco to an end.

Enter: Hot yoga

The heat, the sweat, the deep breathing, the zen. It's glorious! And oh how I wish I had taken some photos of myself in poses before I started hot yoga, and then had some to show ya'll now. I feel like I have made big improvements in three weeks (but of course I'm no where near the pretzel-y people in the class). Even if yoga isn't helping my hamstring, it's definitely helping me find more joy in exercise!

My inspiration yogi runners: Ann and her amazing Runner's Love Yoga instagram (website here), Julia over at Running on Om, and Erin at Jasyoga.

I am LOVING this Oiselle outfit for hot yoga classes 

Here's to getting bendy!