#19 Expectations

Since school has started back up I have been even busier than when it' summer with the kids. I have been unable to do four or five classes per week but do my best. 

When talking to people about hot yoga that have never done it before, they usually say I can't do yoga because I will look like a fool with all those people that take it all the time. I answer how do you think they started out? The instructors always say that you do what you can on your mat. Sure people look around every now and then and see what others are doing but for the most part you just worry about what you are doing. Your mat is your own environment and you just do what you can do. I am a prime example of that. I concentrate on improving what I can do week to week and don't worry about what others can do. There are many poses that I have been unable to do that others probably do on their first day. I work hard at doing new poses and a few with minor modifications but it makes me feel great and that is all that counts. 

My goal is to take another step up and take a class called power. This class works more of your upper body where Hatha works more of your lower body. They both work your core so it will be a great next step for me. I am nervous about taking this class as it will take many modifications for me but hey I stepped way out of my comfort zone the first day I walked into Spark Hot Yoga and took my first class, I know I can do this. 

Have an amazing day and keep smiling.

GO HAWKS!!!

Darin

#18 Improvements

It has been over a couple weeks since my last blog posting. The end of summer was upon us and I took my kids over camping for a week in Eastern Washington for one last summer hurrah. We always have so much fun boating, tubing, water balloon wars, putt putt golf, etc. I was super happy we did it again and can't wait to go again next year. The one thing that did suffer is me taking hot yoga classes. It is the first time since I started this adventure that I have gone more than two days without taking a class. Oh boy did I feel it when I took my first class when I came back. I had not taken a class in seven days and when I took my Hatha class with Brandy I sure could tell it had been awhile. I felt a bit stiff and was actually nervous about going. That feeling soon disappeared the second I set foot in the studio. I had a bigger smile on my face the moment class started as I felt like I was home. I know that I had never sweat that much in a class before. After class I could not wait to take my next class because of course I am addicted to hot yoga and I admit it. ha.

I took a Yin class next and it had been quite awhile since I had taken one. This class is so relaxing and just makes you feel amazing afterwards. There are many advance students that take Yin I am sure for the same reason. You really concentrate on your breathing and holding stretches. This class clears my head and resets me no matter what has been going on in my life. I highly recommend to anyone to take this class.

Today I took another Hatha class and i tried three new poses that I know for a fact three months ago when I started this amazing hot yoga adventure I could have never done. I accomplished all three of them and it felt amazing. Christiana is so supportive of everyone including myself and she loved that I did these. After class she said she wanted to scream out and announce to everyone what I had just accomplished. Her positive support has been so amazing and she makes me feel like I can do anything in this class. Because of this I keep trying new and harder poses. Now I can't wait to get back into class and see what new adventures I can accomplish. You might be able to tell just how excited I am.

If you have never tried hot yoga, please do so. YOGA ROCKS!!!  If I can do it, anyone can.

Have an amazingly positive happy day and keep smiling.

Namaste

Darin

PS. Here is a shout out to Carrie. Great to see you in class again. :)

#17 Charity Birthday Yoga for Canine's

Well I had my eye surgery last Tuesday and one of the very first questions I asked my doctor was when I could do hot yoga again? He laughed and said he also did hot yoga and understood why I asked that. I told me I had to wear a sweatband on my head to keep the sweat from running into my eye and also I couldn't put my head down because it would add additional pressure to the eyeball for two weeks. I told him I could handle that. Having a prosthetic leg I have to do several modifications anyway so adding even more was not that big of a deal. I was just happy to be able to do hot yoga even if it was not to my full ability. One new stretch Christiana had come up with in my last class before my surgery was almost the splits for me. She came over in the middle of class and asked if I could try something. With my residual leg forward on a small pillow and left leg all the way back behind me I was almost able to do the splits. I was so shocked and excited at the same time. I will keep working on it and will get all the way down soon because I am very close.

One of the yoga instructors I have been wanted to take her class was having a birthday party on Sunday. She teaches restorative Yin and I have wanted to try this class out. Spark Hot Yoga of Marysville was having her birthday class Sunday night and it was free. She was asking for a donation and all the money was going to the charity of her choice. The charity is called Canine for Independence. I thought I could do many things at one. I could finally have a chance to take her class, donate some money to a terrific charity, and have some cake on top of it. Can't get a hole lot better than that. :)

Christy and I

As are all the yoga instructors at Spark Hot Yoga, Christy has an amazing spark to her and is just a genuine and caring person. Plus how could you not love her shirt she was wearing?

Here is a picture of my and my headband. Someone mentioned I could be the next Richard Simmons and sweating to the oldies. LOL   Uhhhhhh NO!!!

Keep smiling and have a super positive day.

Namaste

Darin

#16 Doubling Up!

I have done a few more things since my last blog that I had not done before. First of all I took another Hatha class from Brandy, who I just love her enthusiasm and great spirit. Because all of these yoga instructors have never had someone with a prosthetic take their classes before it is a learning curve for them also. At the end of class Brandy showed me a little bit of what I can expect when I attempt Power soon. YIKES!!! Am I really going to try power? YES I AM!!! I love that these instructors are challenging me to do new and sometimes scary poses in yoga. I just want to get better and to improve myself physically and mentally. Have I mentioned just how much I love yoga? ha ha ha

I then took another Hatha class from a brand new instructor to Spark Hot Yoga but definitely not new to teaching yoga. She is a great teacher and has been doing it around the puget sound area for awhile now. Plus she has great pirate jokes. ha ha. I think it is great for all of them to be exposed to me as much it is for me to try their classes. We all learn from this experience.

Since I had eye surgery today I thought I would double up last night and take two classes back to back from Christiana. I took a Hatha class first and then a Yin class right after that. I can really feel that I am sore today but a great sore. It just means I did something and I love it. During Hatha Christiana came over and said you are going to try something challenging our next Hatha class. It is where you balance on one leg, grab your foot.ankle and pull it up and behind you while putting your opposite arm out in front of you and learning out forward all at the same time. I said sure!! I am actually excited to try it my next class and to keep pushing myself. Speaking of pushing myself, during Yin she cam over and was thinking how I could pretty much do the splits and still support my residual leg without hurting it. She did it and then I duplicated it and came pretty darn close to doing the splits. Each time I try something new I get really excited. I love how they think outside the box for me and modify things to support what I can do. Just plain amazing!!! Christiana has been so amazing on my journey and I don;t think just how much she has meant to me. I think we met at a perfect time for this journey.

I have had some more people come up to me or wrote something about me on Facebook what an inspiration I am to everyone. It really makes me feel great inside that I can do that as that is pretty much the point of this blog. If I can do hot yoga, anyone can!! Please keep coming up and saying HI, that inspires me even more. BTW. Hello Carrie again. ha ha. I love these new friends I have met through hot yoga. Everyone is so kind and supportive and makes me feel so great inside.

Keep smiling and stay amazing!!

Namaste

Darin

#15 Trying out something new

I have only taken classes from Christiana with the exception of Janette, the owner of Spark Hot Yoga in Snohomish. Christiana had told me I needed to try other instructor's because I  each one has a little bit variation and I would learn something new from each one of them. I was a little nervous because Christiana knew me and my needs and variations for the classes, and I have a lot of them. :) She told me she would take the class with me as a student which made me feel a bit more at ease. We took a class led by Brandy. Once I met her I felt at ease with her as well. I have met more yoga instructor's at both locations and they all have the same thing in common. They are always smiling, super nice, and glow with enthusiasm and happiness. Brandy was no exception and after class I talked to her a bit more and she really has a beautiful soul.

Brandy and I

During class and I got all stretched out I got up and started working on my balance and core. I have really been concentrating on these two things during Hatha. This class is perfect for this. I know my left leg is getting stronger and my core and balance have improved so much since my adventure started. I just want to continue my improvement and want to take class everyday. I don't of course because as much as I love hot yoga a break every now and then is needed. The last twenty minutes of class is on the mat. She added a routine I have never done before which really works your abs, which I really liked. Yes Christiana you were right. There were many other things Brandy did which I have learned from.

 I went into a pose where my left leg is bent back behind and to my side. I put a pillow they have under my residual stump and then bend forward as far as I can. Well I thought I have never been able to touch my nose to the ground before and wondered if I could do it? Well the answer is yes and I hit it so hard I thought I gave myself a bloody nose. I am such a dork. ha ha. It just proves that I have made great improvements to my flexibility. I am still constantly losing weight each week, even thought it is slow but hey it is working. 

Brandy is substituting for Christiana on Friday at Hatha and I am looking forward to working with her again. There is also a sub for Hatha Sunday morning and I am looking forward to trying a new yoga instructor. I am stepping even more outside my comfort zone and it is feeling really good and all because of taking hot yoga classes.  YOGA ROCKS!!!

Have an amazing day and keep smiling.

Namaste

Darin

#14 Another accomplishment!

I have changed up my hot yoga schedule a bit in the past week. I missed my normal Hatha class on Friday because I took my sister and brother in law out crabbing. Our goal was to catch a bunch of crab for his retirement party on Sunday. We ended up catching 17 keepers for the party. Maddie went along with us also. I love being out on the water as much as I do hot yoga. Now if I can do hot yoga on a boat that would be amazing. Of course it would have to be really hot to be as hot as it is in the studio. :)

I did my usual Hatha class Sunday morning and really worked on some balance. I was feeling pretty good about some progress I had made. I also worked on stretching and felt I made a bit of headway on a couple of stretches also. I wanted to continue this on Monday so I switched it up a bit.

I picked up Maddie earlier than normal so that we could get to the studio and catch another Hatha class on Monday instead of the later Yin class. We got there about thirty minutes early and we were greeted by Jennifer the owner of Spark Hot Yoga of Marysville. I was happy to see her as she has always been very supportive of my hot yoga adventure and plus she always has a smile on her face.

Maddie, Jennifer and myself

Maddie got us all set up just before Christiana came into the studio. As always she had a smile from ear to ear. 

Class started and I was so excited to get started after feeling so good the day before and wanted it to continue. I really pushed myself balancing on my left leg with my prosthetic lef bent at a 90 and my right hand under that knee and my left arm straight up in the air. I thought I would push it a bit and try squating down with just my left knee for support. I did that a few times and after about the fifth time almost did not make it back up ans started going over. Luckily I pushed myself up against the wall with a loud thump and saved myself. Christiana came over and asked if I was ok and I told her what happened and she said it was good I pushed myself. I think that gave me determination for what was about to happen. The rest of the class was bent over at the waist and hands on the floor. I have never done this before since I received my prosthetic. I thought why not? I went for it and next thing I know I am standing straight legged and both of my hands are on the floor. I was grinning from ear to ear. Christiana came over to make sure I was in that position on purpose. ha ha ha. I told her I was but may not be able to get back up. LOL!!  She gave me a block for support and I was able to get back up. I did this a few times and I was so excited that I had done that. I know without yoga there would be no way I would ever be able to do this again. Like I have said, "YOGA ROCKS!!!" Now that I have accomplished this task I am going to work on tackling something new in class. Have I mentioned how much I love hot yoga? :)

Jennifer had shown me a picture earlier when we first arrived that Christiana had taken of me at a class last week and asked if she could use it on her facebook page. I of course agreed.to it. It is me without my leg on in the final savasana pose. This is the final pose of the two classes I have taken. It is very relaxing and clears the mind. If you look you can see all the stuff I need just to take off or use to do yoga. Also one leg. What is your excuse?

Savasana

Have an amazing day, keep smiling and stay positive

Namaste

Darin

#13 Benefit class

Last night was special for many reasons to me. There was a benefit class for Leela Yoga Studio destroyed by the Bothell fire in the Snohomish Spark Hot Yoga studio. I signed Maddie and I up for the Hatha class before the benefit class. Christiana had encouraged me to take a class from someone other than her to get a different perspective from another instructor. We were lucky and the owner of the Snohomish Hot Yoga Studio happen to be teaching our class. I met Janette and she is just as warm and kind as all other hot yoga students I have met. Everyone in the class was new to me as I was to them. I could tell they all knew each other from taking this class several times. As it has always been since the beginning they welcome me and made me feel very comfortable there. The new voice and philosophy that Janette had on Hatha was different but great. I felt a bit out of place being in a completely new environment and surrounding but quickly settled in. Having Maddie on the mat next to me really helped and soon forgot I was not in my normal class. As my first day of yoga, I was stepping out of my comfort zone again but felt so great that I did it. I truly believe since I have taken hot yoga my confidence level has risen. YOGA ROCKS!!!

After our class and lots of water and cooling down many people started showing up for the charity class. The class that was being taught was called Yoga Nidra. I had never heard of this before and had actually called and talked to Janette earlier in the day. This class was about finding your inner piece and learning how to go there if you need it during the day or right before bed. There were about twenty people or more in the class. It was truly an amazing class and really made me feel relaxed. The class was free and they were asking for donations. Once the total was added up before the class Janette announced Spark Hot Yoga Studio was going to match the money raised. They also raffled off three items just for donating. The owners of Leela Yoga Studio were there in the class and it became quite emotional. After the class there was even more love and kindness you could just feel. I want to thank Janette from the Snohomish Spark Hot Yoga Studio for putting this event on. If you have a desire to donate I am sure you can contact Janette and I am sure she or someone who works there how to donate.

On the way home I was a little sad because I had intended to take some pictures of everything but just got caught up in the moment and forget. Darn it. I wish everyone could have been there because it was a very special night for everyone involved. Maddie even told me she really enjoyed herself. I am so happy that she is really loving going to hot yoga with me and joining in on my adventure. Love the special time with her doing something I am so passionate about.

Continue to be awesome,positive. amazing and keep smiling

Darin