Breathing helps ...? Breathing helps!

So far the best thing I have learned from yoga, that I do every day, is breathing.

The deep-throat, concentrated breath has come in handy many times but I can think of two specific incidents.

1) Rabies Shots.  There was a bat in my apartment and it was there overnight and protocol in Boston is you get the rabies shots.  This included, the first time around out of a series of five, immunoglobulins in my derriere.  These are thick liquids.  I got three big ones.  It *really* hurt, I had bruises.  But I got through the actual shots by focusing on my breath and making noise with it.  In .... out .... in .... out .... By the third I was afraid I would scream but my breath helped me.  And sooner than I thought it was over.

2) Thesis Presentation.  I don't get anxious about the presentation, I get anxious about the questions.  It's what I think about DURING presentations.  Tonight, every time my mind wandered, I stopped and took a deliberate breath.  While my actors demonstrated and I was silent, I took deliberate breaths.  And I made it without getting too anxious (or passing out, as another almost did).

So never underestimate the power of the breath.  That is my lesson today.  Another one I keep relearning ;)

Holy Sweatballs!

I haven't posted much as I have been in what they call "thesis hell" (though it hasn't been hellish) and have forgotten that my best weapon is time for myself.  If I give myself just 10 to 20 minutes a day to yoga it up, I'm a much better human being.  I have a feeling I will continue to keep learning this lesson for a little bit before it sticks again.

Anyway.  I started again wanting something to make me sweat.  I did THIS Tara Stiles weight loss routine.  I always watch routines before doing them (and at this point can write the stuff down and do them at my own pace *brushes shoulder off*) and as I watched this one I thought "Fun!  Looks challenging but nothing that will make me really sweat."

WRONG!

I say again: WRONG!

I sweat like a stuck pig.  Granted I have never seen a pig stuck in anything but if they sweat half as much as I did the old addage has truth to it.

And between that, her holiday weight loss routine, some Kundalini stuff I've been checking out, and Pilates, I figured this out (well rather, it smacked me in the forehead when I fell during her legs-up plank thingie): Slow repetition of ANYthing will lead to lots of sweating.  The best part about yoga is that it makes your body work in ways you never thought it could.  Or should, in some cases (upward bow pose, anyone?).  Adding slow repetition between 2 or 3 poses increases the cardio aspect.

Yes, slow repetition.  It sounds backwards!  And you can certainly speed it up depending on your breath.  But forcing your body to go through motions slowly makes ya sweat.  No treadmill needed here.

So, as I go through my "omg I gained HOW much weight this winter?" astonishment, I will keep this in mind.  And I will most definitely be going back to that Tara Stiles routine, as well as the YogAmazing weight loss routine on iTunes.