Montana Yoga Project

Standing Forehead to Knee – (Dandayamana Janushirsasana)…

ok – THIS is HARD!  Bikram says ‘anyone can do it – if you are watching it – if you are listening it – with the tecnique – determination – LOCK THE STANDING KNEE – YOU HAVE NO KNEE!!!!’

Well, wouldn’t that be nice.  To have no knees.  My knees have been my physical downfall my entire life.  They have had FOUR MAJOR surgeries, they chronically dislocate, they hyper-extend.  Hyper-extension is a tricky thing when you are trying to balance on one leg and bend forward.  It’s scary, it feels like my knee will snap in half (not good). This posture is all about TRUST for me, the strength is there, the muscle memory is there, the flexibility is there.  Today I decided to get out of the way of myself and just Go For It!   It is only day 24 and MIRACULOUSLY, my standing knee locked!  My lifted leg locked!  I rested comfortably there and bent my elbows!  Hard to stay balanced when you are doing a cheer inside your head… mine sounded something like “yay for me, yay for me, I locked my knee, yay for me”!!!

Some unsuspecting woman who was in the midst of what looked like a P90X ab work out sauntered by and I practically attacked her…”would you please do me a favor, and take a picture of me!???”  Sure, she said, with a very inquisitive look on her face.  I mean, who has their picture taken at the gym?

Here’s the result…and in the midst of my excitement, I forgot to complete the posture and bend my elbows…

Oh well, there’s always tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…

Namaste, Nic.

Triangle Pose (half carpet/half hardwood

Day 12…

Wow. It just keeps getting better and better. I keep expecting to have a ‘down’ day, to have moments like I did in week one where I just DON’T want to do it, but it never comes…

I will admit that Triangle posture is still a killer for me… I rarely hold (who am I kidding) – I’ve NEVER held my right side triangle for as long as Bikram ‘announces’, but I’m SURE that he is waxing poetic about something for at least 20 seconds longer than he does on the left side!  Still doing standing series at the gym after a hottub, and short cardio warmup – today I sat on the recumbent bike for 15 minutes and read Matt Tibe’s article in Rolling Stone about how Wall Street is bankrupting Main Street, and how this little town in Alabama?… built this 3 billion dollar sewer system (it was supposed to cost 250 million), and borrowed money from all the big banks… blah, blah, blah… sad…

But… as Bikram says… no one can steal your happiness from you… so after that I got my fat ass on the treadmill and ran for (slow jogging) about 10 minutes then hit the mat for standing postures.

Then home to a warm (not hot) living room for the floor postures… today I skipped Fixed Firm Pose because I have a little ‘catch’ in my lower back.  Had a HUGE revelation today about Full Locust posture that I will share in my ‘posture tips’…

Namaste, Nic.

My amazing Grandpa, Harley Garbani

Day 9…

Yet again.. The power and wisdom of the universe has bestowed on me a beautiful gift… of forgiveness and self-realization…

How beautiful it is to have GRACE.

When I began this process of my 60-day Bikram challenge I KNEW in my heart of hearts that it would change my WHOLE life – EVERY aspect, and tonight, after my floor postures and a talk with my Grandfather, a three-year ‘problem’ has had light shed on it and a ‘resolution’ has presented itself.  To open the door to ask forgiveness of a friend and former colleague and to in turn forgive myself for a transgression that has weighed heavy on my heart for so long… Thank you Grandpa, and thank you Universe.

In regards to my yoga practice…I think I figured out a way to accomplish my goal, and to stay focused. Today I did the standing series after a short warm-up at the gym… there is SOMETHING about doing the postures in the presence of others…even if they are not practicing with me.  Something about a group energy that allows me to stay focused – to… as Bikram would say…”STUGGLE HARDER”…

It was a good standing series, and after a meeting in between, I cam home to a ‘warm’ living room and did the floor series with my Kitty cat, Diego, as my witness….

I will say this…after my weekend of hiking, and a double class in the studio yesterday….

MY ASS IS SORE!

No other way to put it…

Namaste, Nic.

Sunday… Day 8

Outline of how my week went.

Started out with a great class in Bozeman and my BFF to cheer me on for my Day ONE.  Day two, three, and four were less than stellar as I could NOT get my living room heated past 75 degrees… ended up just doing standing series all three days…Day five was better!  My dear friend Kyle drove all the way from Great Falls to bring me an infrared space heater… That got the living room up to almost 90 degrees!  Day six got away from me, and I skipped altogether… NOT GOOD – Day was almost a disaster… let me put it this way… DRUNK BIKRAM = NOT GOOD…

Hiked mount Helena with my friend Kathy, and then we ‘rewarded ourselves’ by going out to lunch and having ONE glass of wine (well… honestly, one and a half..) anyway…

I was WASTED!!! How did that happen???!!!  Well, I took myself home, started the heating process of the house, and promptly fell asleep on the couch for two hours!

Woke up grumpy and achy already from the hike and the poison I ingested…

At 8:30 pm I forced myself to get started… only got through the first three standing postures and then fast-forwarded to the floor series… Felt like a certifiable LOSER…..

BUT….

Oh halleluiah!  Day 8…

OMG… Day 8 was a revelation!   I drove down to Bozeman for the 9am class with my friend Kathy.  My intention was to do TWO classes today, so I figured I’d take it easy in the first class, but I have to say… I felt so damn good, that I had the best class I’ve had in a loooooong time.  Some of my postures saw intensity that I haven’t been able to produce since the days of 27 years old and daily practice at my ‘home’ studio in Santa Barbara!  Then Kathy left and I had to wait for an hour to take the second class… I find it best if you speak your intentions out loud to others as a way of … #1. Making the intention clear.  #2. Fostering support from others  – and most importantly…#3 if others know… you can’t back out!!!

So, as soon as the next teacher arrived, I promptly blurted out “Tavis! I’m doing two classes today!”

WOW!  Second class was even better!

Then… I cam home and slept for 13 hours…

Namaste, Nic.

Well, I didn’t plan this very well… should’ve left the thermostat up before I left for work today.  Ended up doing my ‘Bikram’ class in my living room and about 70 Degrees…

DEFINITLY NOT the same… could barely hold a posture, couldn’t really stretch.  Mat kept slipping on my carpet… Realized when I was finished with the standing postures that I never did download the floor series, so now I’m sitting in a 60 degree basement waiting for my iPod to ‘sync’ and F@#! I’ve got to be back at work in an hour…Gonna have to re-organize for tomorrow.  It’s alllll a learning process.  Looks like I’ll be patronizing Home Depot tomorrow for a space heater and a humidifier.  Not a total loss, but I’m only gonna count today as a ‘half’ class…

Namaste, Nic

On top of Mt. Helena the day before my Challenge begins.

Well, I chose today to be the start of my own personal 60 day Bikram Yoga challenge.  I had my very best friend visiting me and had to take her down to Bozeman (nearest Bikram studio) to fly out today, so we did a class this morning, and thus begins my journey of self-discovery and transformation.  Shannon (friend) was charged with taking my initial body measurements as a way for me to quantify some results at the end of this journey, and though she is a personal trainer, and is used to ‘dealing’ with people’s body issues, she completely lost it when I stuck my jiggly belly out full board when she came at me with the  tape measure and started a ‘giggle fest’ that put us both on the floor laughing and crying. God I love that girl!  This is one of the reasons I chose this day to start my challenge.  Only your best girlfriend can measure your fat and still make you smile.  Thank you Shannon for making such a horrifying process the funniest moment of our long weekend together! So… class today was good. Fine. No drama… until later in the afternoon when my legs and ass reminded me that we hiked Mount Helena for 2 ½ hours yesterday!!!! Maybe I should have ‘re-thought’ the timing of my ‘challenge’…

Oh well….What will be will be.  Stay tuned.

Namaste, Nic.