40 Days

You might think with Lent starting on Wednesday that this blog is about that. Sorry, I am sure that I will be still going to straight to hell for saying that. For those that don't know, based on some things that fly out of my mouth on occasion, I am in the captain's seat on the airplane ride that is going straight there.  This blog is about the 40 days personal revolution that I did through the yoga studio I practice at-Power of Your Om in Naperville. I met the owner, Adrienne a few years ago through my friend Elizabeth. Since that I have enjoyed the inspiration she has given me. I have been practicing yoga there for a little over 2 years now. I previously tried yoga at other place and hated it. I was bored and couldn't get connected. One Saturday morning a couple years ago I went to the studio, not only was I connected I was also having a good time in yoga. I did try Bikram and hated it. I think one of the reasons that I love going to Power of Your Om is the practice (Baptiste) is where you are at on that day. There might be days when you are not balancing and you fall out of a pose. Oh well, or in the words of Phillip Urso, hahahaha. In the words of my friend Cindy-SHIT!!!!!!!!! I have used both. The other part of the practice that I enjoy is that I an be myself and laugh and it is not strict. I don't know what is coming next, yes there is a certain flow we follow, but all the sudden it may be crow or half moon poses. I think in my life I am so routine and structured that is nice to not have that, even it is only for a short time.

So now that I have got off task, here is what I have learned through my 40 days.  I learned a lot of good and bad things about myself. First and foremost, I can do things I never thought possible. Kevin, one of the other instructors pulled me aside a couple weeks ago.  He had just returned from a yoga conference in California and was doing a handstand. He said, hey, come join me. I said, oh Kevin, I don't think I can do a handstand. Needless to say in short time, convinced me to try one. What do you know, with a little help from the wall, I did one. I actually did three that night with some assistance and on one of them I landed on the crown of my head (don't worry, the damage was done way before that). I actually thought that was funny too. That Thursday night after Amy was there and was going to make it her mission to get me to do a handstand without assistance. It is a go and will happen. I also learned a lot about myself as a person. Something bad I learned about myself, I have a lot of resentment and now that I have seen that I am learning to move ahead and just let stuff go. To be honest, it is not worth keeping it.  I also learned that starting a fruit fast (only eating fruit for 3 days) is not a good idea when you are also going to do a bike threshold test (still really sorry about that Bernie). Although, my friends got a good kick out of that seeing as I just kept going.  I have learned to be more connected with myself and listen.

So what next, well, I will be getting my triathlon coaching certification and I also am going to go to the Catskills on August to get my Level 1 Baptiste yoga certification. I also plan to compete in Olympic Distance triathlons, see if I can qualify for Age Group Nationals. I will run some half marathons and try to break my 1:40 time.  I have a lot of support from a lot of great people. I am lucky. I am enjoying the journey and I enjoy the friendships I have made along the way.