Yoga Competition?

Coming up in December, I have my two year Bikram yoga anniversary.   My practice has changed quite a bit in such a short practice time and I thought I would celebrate that by competing this year.  Plus, as a teacher, I encourage students to compete, so I thought I should at least give it a try.  A lot of folks find the idea of a yoga competition strange, and I admit, that I first thought it was too.  The idea behind the yoga competition is to share your love of the yoga.  And going on stage, in a crowded mall, in a leotard is something that does require a deep love of yoga.  Since I really do love doing Bikram yoga (all types of yoga are can compete), because it has helped and given me so much, that helped motivate me into getting on stage to show and share how much I love it.   In this way, it spreads awareness of yoga and can inspire others to start their own practice, especially with competitors of all ages, shapes and sizes doing the exact same postures.  You can read more about yoga competitions by checking USA Yoga.  The main point I stressed to my students, and myself, is that it has to be a fun enjoyable process.

Taking my own advice (for once), I kept it fun by not stressing myself out and chose postures that I could already do reasonably well, pigeon and archer.  (There are five mandatory postures: Standing Head to Knee, Standing Bow Pulling Pose, Bow Pose, Rabbit Pose and Stretching Pose, plus two optional postures of your choosing)  I played around with a few harder optional postures (full camel and sleeping yogi), but wasn’t too concerned about really getting them.  Just by practicing them, I was helping my other postures.  I went through my whole routine maybe once a week starting a few weeks before competition.  After each class, I usually just practiced my optional poses, figuring I already practiced the five mandatory ones in class.   Plus, whenever I practiced SHTK or SBPP either in class or for competition practice I usually fell out of one at some point, and I didn’t want to frustrate myself or psyche myself out.  I can hold them, and I chose to partially rely on that knowledge and confidence, rather than continually try and try again until it’s not fun, I’m angry and frustrated.

On competition day, I took a lovely 8am class at Bikram Yoga Hartford (which was eye opening because I usually teach at 8am, and it’s been a while since I took one, so it was a good reminder of what my students feel that early!).   At the mall, getting ready for competition, there was a really nice camaraderie amongst the competitors, encouraging comments and advice and the all important sharing of hair and make-up items.  When the routines started, you could see all the competitors really pulling for the yogi on stage.  When someone fell out, or didn’t quite make a tricky posture you saw sympathy rather than glee, when someone’s hand was so close to where it needed to be for Full Wheel , you could see people’s hands twitching like they wanted to grab and everyone whispering, “You’re so close, you’ve got it!”  Without doubt, I found the senior division most inspiring – I want to be like them when I grow up!

So, how did it go?  Not bad!  My main goal was don’t fall out, and I did not fall out!  I am actually quite surprised that through out the entire experience, I never felt very nervous.  When I was finally called to the warm-up area I began to experience the butterfly feeling in my stomach, the rush of adrenaline, and the sweat that accompanies this feeling of nervous excitement.  My routine was definitely one of the shorter ones, but I’m also never comfortable with being center stage.  As for my routine, I really don’t remember much.  I don’t remember hearing anything or seeing anything other than my focus points in each posture, like the corner of the stage staircase in SHTK and SBPP, my big toes in Bow and Stretchting and my stomach in Rabbit, etc.  A friend, quite astutely pointed out to me that it was because I was probably focusing and concentrating so hard that I tuned everything out, which is, of course part of the goal and reason we practice yoga.   I was quite proud of my concentration and my postures.   I met my main goals, so what else was there to do, but get fro yo?

As far as next year goes, well see.  It depends on how busy I am, where the competition is held, how I’m feeling, and if I even feel up to it.  I can now encourage students to compete, having actually accomplished what I’m encouraging.  Competition certainly helped me improve my postures as well as deepening my understanding of the mechanics of the postures.  It was a fun learning experience that I am certainly glad to have done.

Book Backlog Round Two: Grown Up Reads

I hate to say adult books…..it sounds so dirty!  Anyway, I finally managed to find time to briefly review the adult fiction/non-fiction I’ve been reading.  I still have quite a few more to review and I am working on gathering my thoughts on yoga competition this year.  More to come soon!

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, by Therese Ann Fowler:  This moving novel follows the life of Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, as she goes from southern belle to high New York, European society girl.  The Fitzgerald’s marriage had it’s ups and downs (to put it nicely), and that alone makes for an interesting subject, but adding in the artists, writers, painters and poets with whom they spent their time in France, Italy and New York add so much interest and history to the novel.  While it is fictionalized, the writer clearly did her research and felt a need to share Zelda’s unique voice.  Zelda was spirited, but also intellectual.  She was a writer, painter and ballet dancer in her own right.  I listened to this on audio, and the reader did a wonderful job of capturing Zelda’s Alabama accent as well as the European accents of their friends.  The novel is beautiful, moving and heartbreaking.

Overall Assessment:

Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End, by Manel Loureiro: Zombies!  A strange occurrence in Russia, leads to quarantines, and media blackouts.  Soon, reports of strange illnesses and behaviors filter out from places that have had contact from Russia.  The situation gradually becomes worse and news reports become stranger, scarier, and violent.  Watching and recording this from the safety of his home is our narrator, a young lawyer grieving his wife’s death, accompanied by his faithful feline Lucullus (I love a hero who loves a cat…).  At first he blogs about the situation, but as the world and society deteriorate, he switches to a journal.  He records the events of his inevitable escape from his house and the survivors and horrors he finds afterward.

  I get excited about every zombie book I pick up, and Apocalypse Z did not disappoint.  The book never wants for dull moments, Loureiro jumps right in, sets the stage, introduces thecharacters and gets the action moving.  Granted, there were a lot of factors in our narrator’s life that were really quite convenient for surviving the apocalypse, but I can let that go because I he was well developed as a character.  Originally published in Spanish, this is a translation, but the translation is smooth (the last couple translated books I read were a bit clunky, so it’s always worth noting).  It had action and gore, but without that feel of gore overload.  Most important, it had heart to accompany the strong, brisk moving plot.  This was a really great zombie adventure, a must read for fans of the genre.

Overall Assessment:

Will I Read the Sequel? Absolutely!

Bonus Points for Cat Loyalty!

Night Terrors: Sex, Dating, Puberty and Other Alarming Things, by Ashley Cardiff:  All topics mentioned in the title are very alarming things, and Cardiff handles them with honesty, humor and wit.  She discusses the dreaded, meeting of parents, where, in her case, she found constant judgement and comparison.  Public hair, or lack thereof, meeting creepers in bars, and other entertaining stories and anecdotes I can see being told on a girls night out – with the right girls.  She captures the awkwardness of dating and relationships, and everything else they entail, while offering wit, snark and opinion.  This isn’t a book of rants and stories, Cardiff offers a little more and digs a little deeper, offering insights and thoughts that only come through hindsight and reflection.
Interesting, humorous and thoughtful collection of essays that make for an enjoyable read.  Towards the end I was getting ready for things to wrap up, there was a little bit of tedium and repetition, but not enough to detract from the overall book.

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Hark! A Vagrant!, by Kate Beaton:  This graphic novel has been on my list for ages, and after many library checkouts and returns, I finally checked it out and read it.  As usual in cases like this, my first thought was, “Why did I wait so long?”  Hark is fun comic romp through history and literature, along with Beaton’s own characters along for the ride.  The entire book isn’t a continuous story; some stories are spread over multiple pages, others only a strip or two.  However, this still feels like a book, rather than a collection.  It feels full and cohesive, with the added bonus of being able to read a strip, fold some laundry, come back read another couple pages, then load the dishwasher.  Beaton’s illustrations are charming and delightful and the stories are goofy, fun and smart.  Absolutely fantastic.

Overall Assessment:
Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies, by Chris Kluwe: Another essay collection, this time by Chris Kluwe, punter in the NFL.  Kluwe’s essays range from gay rights, to time travel, the Pope and Twitter, the second Amendment, and anything and everything in between.  His essays are funny, articulate and passionate, with some profanity sprinkled in just to keep things entertaining.  Since I agree, for the most part, with his opinions, I found most of his essays entertaining and agreeable.  Those who don’t agree, will, with an open mind, be entertained and hopefully informed, because, Kluwe comes across as well informed and read in topics he is passionate about.  Like Night Terrors, I did wish the book was a little shorter, because the essays did become a bit repetitive after a while, but perhaps it felt that way because I’ve been reading lots of essay books lately.  Also, as others have noted, it is quite refreshing to see a football player in a different and positive light.

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