Lock the knee

Lock your knee. Lock your knee. Lock your knee.
I’m not sure anyone who has not been subjected to Bikram yoga will actually get the humor, the terror, and the irony of those 3 words. It’s all part of Bikram’s dialog that each teacher must learn. (for those of you not yet privy to the subtle nuances and downright funny phraseology, let me introduce you to a few of our favorite gems. While these are at first funny, one comes to embrace them. When you listen to the dialogue, it’s a form of concentration. It’s a meditation. So here are some: Open your chest like a flower petal blooming. Pulling is the object of stretching. (admit it, you’re thinking WTF?!) Focus with your English bulldog determination, your Bengal tiger strength. Inside out, bones to skin.)

I digress. It has been an interesting week. Sick. Sick of being sick. It all started with an exceptionally sore throat. By Thursday I was wishing I had the sore throat back! I didn’t see my personal trainer all week, but I think being sick and having done 4 yoga classes in the last 4 days counts :). I went Tuesday evening. I typically go 6am on Tuesdays and only miss that class with due cause. I hardly sweated all class and had zero strength. I therefore focused on keeping my leg locked any time my leg was to be straight. It is amazing how often my leg is not locked. :( I think this is probably because I’ve never needed to lock the knee to get my legs straight. It takes an inordinate amount of concentration let me tell you. At one point I was in Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimottanasana (pose below) trying to keep my thighs contracted (aka locking the knee), suck in my stomach, and pull with my arms. I could only seem to do two at a time so I kept cycling. Oi! My water embargo proved detrimental as I had to leave the room due to hacking up the proverbial lung! Next time we allow little sips of water for extreme coughing.

Wednesday, feeling worse again (I felt MUCH better after Tuesday's class, but it only lasted about 12 hours) I went back to an afternoon class. Sooo much better. I was so inspired I followed the regular 90min class with a 110min advanced class. May as well kick that bug to the curb! I think it worked. =D I was spewing mucus yesterday in a way that made me eternally grateful for the technological advances that led to tissues with aloe and vitamin e! I hope the inventor is obscenely wealthy. I would have gone to bed earlier had I not had to pack my Halloween garb! Up at 5am to get to 6am yoga. There appears to be a consistent 12 of us at the 6am classes with one or 2 intermittent individuals. I love my 6am classes. What a great start to the day!

Here's an davanced pose I won't be doing this week...