Sunday, May 31, 2009

Chattarunga

I cannot believe that it's June! Time is flying by. May was eventful & distracting for me. I "worked out" less--and did Yoga more. Although I consider Yoga a workout, some do not (ahem, Chris). I made my MAY goal! I went to Yoga at least 3days a week for the entire month. I loved it! It took me about 2 weeks to even get back into the groove that I'd lost. The days following each practice were a little painful! I was so sore. I am a pansy, I have absolutely no upper body strength. Normally neglected-my back, arms, abs, and chest really benefit from Yoga. I have definitely began to see a difference, but know that I have much more to work on. Which brings me to this: The Chattarunga. This is a move in Yoga that requires all upper body strength-and I cannot do it. It drives me crazy!! I know its just a small thing, but I really want to do it.

This isn't the entire thing, but the beginning. The lowering is the part that kills me! It's so slow & with the arms tight to your sides it's so hard for me! I know, pathetic.

So back to May being eventful & distracting [see how distracted I just got?]. My good habits have suffered mucho since the completion of my half marathon. Good Habits? I know, I was no all-star, but I am talking about: Eating Vegetables, Drinking plenty of H2O, sleeping better, eating enough calcium rich foods, and fewer sweets. Now it's looking like: 1-2 bottles a day of water- 3 if I worked out that day, no vegetables, no salads, and going to bed way too late. & also eating sweets almost daily! Ack! I am not burning the same amount of calories now as I was during training & am eating as much, if not MORE than I did when I was. The purpose for this isn't weight gain or loss for me, but simply to stay healthy & form good habits that will help me throughout life. I think I wanted a break so bad from training that I automatically stopped everything! With Chris graduating, going to Vegas, making a zillion headbands & working constantly I dropped the ball. [doesn't sound like that much, but it was go-go-go-go]. So I have made my June goals. I am keeping it simple & to the point. [I'd love some company on one or all of them too ;)]
June
:eat 4-5 servings of vegetables daily:
:drink 4-6 bottles of water daily:
:sweets= sparingly:
:by end of month, be able to do a Chattarunga:

Happy, trying to be Healthy
Mari

5 comments:

  1. Im in...on all of them! I will write down my daily doings and report in a couple of days. Thank you for the inspiration. I am going to change my 'by the end of the month' goal to being able to get my heels flat on the ground in a down dog though. I have quite a bit of upper body strength for my size and I can to Chattarungas just fine. I seriously struggle with doing down dogs correctly. So there it is. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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  2. Oh and Chris, yoga is a work out. You should try it and you'll find out for yourself.

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  3. i am so jealous you can do one! I am not surprised tho, you little gymnast! JEALOUS!! Can't wait to reach our goals together!!

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  4. It takes a while BUT Mari I have a suggestion. Pull a teacher aside after class and her him/her go over it with you. You might be going too deep. You are only supposed to go half way down. And make sure your wrists are right under your elbows. This alleviates stress to the shoulders ( the most common injury in Yoga? Rotator cuff tears from Chatta's) I tend to put my wrists forward which stresses the shoulder, which is probably an aggravating factor for my shoulder. You will get there, just do them with bent legs till you are strong enough. It's not like there is a prize or something!

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  5. Hi Mari, I accidentially came across your web address and it is so funny I was just telling a friend that I avoided a Corepower 2 class because of the chattarungas. Then I took their nutritional class and that weekend we must have done 100 of them if not more, we had 5-1 hour classes in 2 1/2 days...yikes! Well after taking that class I decided that I would challenge myself and mix my hot yoga with the corepower 2 every other day. After embracing the chatta's I'm actually enjoying them. I did not say I'm good at them but I can do them. The beauty of yoga is the journey and just showing up on the mat. I just started my hot yoga practice at the wee age of 59 last October and I have to say it beats any exercise I have ever done in my life.
    Embrace those Chatta's!!! Namaste, Yogi P

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