it's my body

My day started at 6:45 this morning, when my cell alarm went off. I hit the snooze once and was up and going by 7 - dressed, grabbed my gym bag and caught the 7:15 bus to the gym. On the treadmill by 7:30, do the cardio thing for about 15 minutes, then hit the weights. Focusing on my legs this week. And none of the easy light stuff for me. I push myself, I work it! And it feels unbelievably good! I walk out the gym feeling a bit wobbly and sore, but knowing my body is going to be looking great in a couple months. It makes a difference on the rest of my day too. I love being up early. Feel far more productive when I start my day first thing in the morning. And I find that I am so tired at night that I easily fall asleep quickly - none of this lying in bed awake for me! It feels wonderful.

I'm taking yoga twice a week now too. One session is light yoga - breathing, relaxation, meditation and some easy poses, the other session is regular yoga, with the more challenging poses. I've been to two sessions so far, one of each, and am loving it! The hour goes by so quickly, and I am learning to listen to my body. How often do you actually stop and listen to your body, watch your breath, focus on relaxing every muscle in your body? I never do. Until now. And what a difference! I come away from yoga feeling alive and relaxed. I find the meditation fascinating and helpful as well. I've always struggled with trying to "quiet" my thoughts or turn off my mind. The way the instructor described it the other night, though, was really helpful and made sense. Instead of trying to turn off your mind or stop your thoughts, instead, watch your thoughts. As a thought comes into your mind, just kinda watch it and let it pass. I think of it as being an observer rather than a participant. So instead of struggling to clear my mind and stop my thoughts, I just step back and watch them pass.

Balance is another thing to work on with yoga. I want to learn to center myself, to find that center of balance so that I am steady no matter what pose or position I am in. The thing I love about it is that it's all about relaxing into the pose, calming your mind and body and just letting the muscles do their job. You don't have to strain or stretch or force your body into the poses. The whole point is to relax and find your place of balance. I'm too used to straining and striving to do things. It feels good to be beginning to learn to relax into it.

Overall the structure of my day to day life is changing for the better. I feel more productive, more alive and more relaxed - and I've just started! Imagine what doing this continually will be like? If I am feeling this good now, what will I be feeling like in a month or two, or a year? I do have to be careful not to over do it though. I don't want to push myself too hard so that I don't want to do it anymore. I need to pace myself so that I will continue to enjoy it...