sarah quiets her mind with meditation and gives ashtanga a try!

Written on January 16th, 2021

This past week, I have learned so much in the Happy Hour Beginner Yoga group.  Nancy talked about Metta meditation which I loved learning about.  We had learned about Anapana meditation earlier in the group.  Previous to this, I had never tried any kind of meditation and whenever I would sit quietly at the beginning of yoga class or during savasana, my mind would wander.  I would think about what I had to do later, I would think about the person who cut me off during my drive to class and most recently I would think about what on my body was hurting at the moment.  Now, after learning more about meditation, I am learning to quiet my thoughts and have nearly dozed off the past few classes during savasana because I’m relaxed and calm.   

I also tried my first Ashtanga class this past week!  I am not sure why but I had been hesitant to try Ashtanga.  Maybe because the description said it’s the same poses every class.  In my head, I was in a room full of yogis who knew it by heart and I fell way behind but in reality, it was incredible.  Of course Nancy guided us through it and of course I did just fine.  Silly me for waiting to take this class.  Nancy counts breaths in Sanskrit in this class (not every single time) but I think my favorite is four (chatvaari), just has a fun ring to it.  

Speaking of Sanskrit, the more classes I take and the more beginner classes of Nancy’s I follow along with online, the more I’m learning the Sanskrit names for poses.  I should elaborate on that… when she does the pose and says the name, I am beginning to correlate the two.  If I was alone in a room and you said Parsvottanasana, I would stare at you blankly.  (That’s Pyramid Pose and I looked it up.)  

I am signing up for Vicki’s cleanse in February and I’m looking forward to detoxing and losing a few pounds.  My surgery is January, 27 so doing a cleanse while I’m healing will keep me from gaining an extra 10 lbs while I’m a couch potato.  You should sign up for it too!  Things like this are more fun with a group of friends.  

I am sad that I am not able to take a beginner pilates class now because it’s too close to my surgery date.  I have to keep my distance from folks that close to the big day.  I would love to learn more about the equipment like how to adjust the straps but someday I will get there!  

Happy Hour is making me a happier person for sure.  Stay well!! Sarah