James Walsh Yoga

Friday, June 30, 2017 Woke at my usual tie of 5:00am and am feeling very good. I've lacked a bit of motivation and direction and drive this past week.  To be fair on myself, I have  been doing nothing but sitting in a training room absorbing huge amounts of high level information.  I'm excited to begin putting those training principles into practice in real life. Mentally, I had a scary and upsetting dream last night.  It's not too  uncommon for me to have a dream where something bad is going wrong that I have to resolve, so I'm not going to put too much emphasis onto that dream.  Other than that, I'm feeling rested, refreshed, and ready to hit my mat and, subsequently, go out into the world. Physically, I'm feeling well.   Slight  stiffness in my lower back but, other than that, I'm feeling normal.  I've broken through the "I'm-gonna-sleep-in-for-5-more-minutes" trend that I had the past two weeks and my internal alarm really does g...

Thursday, June 29, 2017 Woke before my usual time of 5:00am and rolled out of bed at 4:45am this morning to turn the kettle on and get ready for tea. I'm normally a coffee person in the morning and have my machine set so that, when I do roll out of bed at 5:00am, my warm, lovely cup of love is waiting for me. I ran out of coffee filters yesterday, however, and have a lovely batch of Irish Breakfast tea as a backup. Physically, I'm feeling normal and energized this morning.  Minimal stiffness/soreness (a 2 on a scale fro 1-10). Mentally, I'm feeling refreshed and awake.  I felt a little blue yesterday evening so I hopped on my bike and rode around to enjoy the sunset and lovely weather. I'm going to continue to focus on rebuilding any lost stamina/flexibility (again, delighted to report that not too much went away) and I'm going to focus internally with my 10 minutes of prayer/meditation. Thursday, June 29, 2017 (Part II) Just came out of Savasana.  I...

Wednesday, June 28, 2017 Woke at my usual time of 5:00am and, I have to say that, there's something to be said about "habits" and how we create them. I had gotten into  the habit of sleeping in until 6:30am or 7:00am.  This would leave me with no time to practice, and barely enough time to guzzle some coffee, shower, and get into work at an appropriate time. That late rising was the reason why I hadn't practiced in awhile; I would roll over, look at my alarm, and go " BAAAH !", before rolling back over again and hitting the snooze button. Getting out  of a habit, or changing  a habit, is difficult and takes focus.  Even this morning, when my alarm went off at 5:00am, my brain was saying, " go back to bed for just like.........10 more minutes....". I'm happy to say that I woke, and got started on my day. Physically, I'm feeling similar to yesterday in that I feel "overly-solid".  Again, I know that this is a result of no...

Tuesday, June 27, 2017 Yikes!!! 10 days with no yoga and no yoga blogging!! Oh well, I'll rebuild one visit to my mat at a time. :) Truth be told, I do feel bad that I've neglected my practice. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, and I'm going to return to my mat this morning with purpose and understanding. I will not  overdo it this morning (as I've done in the past to "atone" for missing a practice).  This isn't a good practice and is reminiscent of unbalanced behavior. What I will  do is spend extra time in meditation and extra time looking inward this morning. Tuesday, June 27, 2017 (Part II) I hit my mat at 5:45am this morning to dedicate extra time to mediation and prayer. It was definitely worth it.  that 15 minutes goes by quickly.  It's little more than 15 minutes of controlled breathing (usually a 4 count breath), and mentally focusing on my body and mind.  Physically, before I practiced, I felt "strong" b...

Friday, June 16, 2017 Haven't practiced in a week. No, that's not a good show of diligence, but I'm not beating myself up over it.  I haven't jogged or done anything else for myself physically either.  Again,.....not worried about it.  I know that, a few years ago, I would have beaten myself up and gotten too discouraged to continue.  I know enough about myself that, you can turn disappointment into pride by coming back to something and giving it your 100% again. I'll be showering up and hitting the mat this morning for a practice. Friday, June 16, 2017(Part II) Writing this post practice, on my mat, having just awoken from savasana. My practice was fairly routine this morning.  Sometimes, after a hiatus, I'll hit the mat with such ferocity, that I'll nearly injure myself as I push myself into deeper and deeper versions of my standard poses. I pushed myself, certainly, and I moved well through my practice, but I didn't go at it with the fever...

Thursday, June 8, 2017 Woke before my usual time of 5:00AM this morning, as I need to get into my office a little earlier than usual, and dragged it out of bed at 4:45AM. What do I want to be today? What do I want to leave behind me at my work? What is important to me? I want to be holy, strong, honest, kind and beautiful today. I want to leave behind me a day well done.  A day of hard, but balanced work, and a day where I spread the balance and happiness that my yoga practice brings to me, to the people I interact with at work. What is important to me? My relationship with God (this is 1st, always) My Family My career My health I'm going to start my practice and focus on eliminating fear and anger, as I did yesterday. Thursday, June 8, 2017 (Part II) Backbending definitely makes the world go around. I focused on alignment and staying acute and honed in on my practice (my brain will wander around if I allow it to), and I got through my modified primary se...

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Woke up a little behind schedule this morning and had an hour to myself to collect my thoughts. I'm going to be showering and hitting the mat here; I feel like I have some anger and frustration I need to focus on and burn. Wednesday, June 7, 2017 (Part II) I definitely focused on extinguishing anger and frustration this morning and, I have to say that, even though I was consciously attempting to sift through my thoughts, it was still difficult, at times not to fall into old patterns of thinking. My physical practice this morning was good, but unremarkable in that there weren't any physical revelations or break-throughs.  My vinyasa series was good, and challenging as always, and I ended with a wonderful backbend sequence. I'm going to take the peace and joy I feel now and bring it into the day.  I will no be derailed from my goals. Namaste

Friday, June 2, 2017 Woke at my usual time of 5:00 AM for coffee and contemplation. I'm still slightly  off from my travels last week and I'm still dragging a little bit when I roll out of bed to silence my alarm (my alarm is strategically placed across the room, in my robe pocket, hanging in a closet; I'm forced to get out of my bed and walk across the room to shut it down) I showered this morning before getting onto my mat.  I'm going to go through my full, modified Primary Series this morning.............I'm already sweating...... Friday, June 2, 2017 (Part II) Feel wonderful, as always, after I practice. My backbends were strong and fluid and, even though I haven't completed a full one since Friday of last week, most of the flexibility and strength that I gained is still there. Mentally, I was happy and focused and ready to tackle the day ahead. No fear No anxiety No hate Namaste

Thursday, June 1, 2017 I started this blog in November of 2016 and it's been 7 months of yoga, personal growth, and reflection. I'll say that, I'm still adjusting to the time change difference having come home from Las Vegas last Thursday.  Pair that with a 3-day memorial weekend (where I ate and drank my fill), and I still feel like I was thrown on my head. I woke at my usual 5:00am this morning and it's 6:15 now.  I'll be hitting my mat here in a bit for prayer/meditation and, at least, my Vinyasa series. Thursday, June 1, 2017 (Part II) Felt wonderful, as always after my practice. I feel as though I'm still re-adjusting to the 3 day weekend of partying and, while I haven't partied at all since Monday, the fact that I'm still recovering from it today (3 days later) should be a reminder about the benefits of keeping a clean diet. The physical practice was good, but not spectacular.  I went through my Vinyasa series and fit in a few spinal tw...