James Walsh Yoga

Friday, June 22, 2018, Woke at my usual 4:45AM feeling wonderful. I'm on my mat as I type this, ready to begin my practice. I notice that I hone in on myself for some practices, and then not as much on others.  I don't force myself into anything on my mat (as I believe one of the primary benefits I learn is being ok with how things are on any given day) but, that aside, I do want to challenge myself a little more today and focus myself mentally. The mental challenge as I understand it, is to shut down your mind and your thoughts as you practice.  This is nearly impossible to do for longer than 4 seconds; try it and you'll see!  You'll start thinking about your life, bills, responsibilities, fun activities you have planned...you'll bring yourself back and then focus on not focusing on anything...long story short, your brain and thoughts are running around doing whatever they want and part of the challenge is to control and shape them.  Controlling your body is...

Thursday, June 21, 2018 I'm writing this on my mat, at 6:27AM.  For some reason, I didn't wake up at my usual 4:45AM this morning to practice. I won't have time for a full Primary Series, but I will have time for prayers, meditation, and a warm up. Thursday, June 21, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this the next morning, on my mat for another practice. While I wasn't feeling well yesterday morning, and didn't do a complete practice, the meditation, prayers, and warm up were still enough to shape myself into something.  Every day... Hit the mat... No excuses... Namaste

Wednesday, June 20, 2018 I didn't practice yesterday as I woke at my usual 4:45AM and couldn't get up. For whatever reason, I slept for nearly 12 hours on Monday night (passing out on the couch right after dinner and then shambling over to bed to sleep until 6:30AM Tuesday morning.  That's very unusual for me, and I don't know what caused it. I did celebrate a lot over this past weekend, eating and drinking, and I feel like that may have played a role in it all.  My diet's been 75% clean, and 25% not  clean (healthy breakfasts/lunches and then incredibly unhealthy dinners), and I believe that's contributed to the sluggish and bloated feelings I'm having. I am up, as usual, this Wednesday morning at 4:45AM to sweat it out and hit my mat.  I'm looking forward to what's in store. Wednesday, June 20, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this the following morning, as I leapt up from my mat yesterday after I practiced to go and get ready for my day. ...

Monday, June 18, 2018 Woke up at my usual 4:45AM feeling good for a Monday morning! I recharged myself on Sunday with a schedule of doing nothing, and allowed myself to lay around and relax.  I had a wonderful weekend of celebrations and partying, so I'm happy to sweat it out on my mat this morning. Physically, I'm feeling a little sore in my back and hips, but that's nothing new; special attention to those areas, and a luxurious warm-up will help move things along.

Thursday, June 14, 2018 Woke at my usual 4:45AM for coffee and contemplation. I'm feeling pretty sore this morning, and a bit groggy for some reason. My mat will rectify all of that.....

Wednesday, June 13, 2018 I'm always amazed at how much a morning practice can change the course of a day by keeping you resilient, focused, and honed. I can't tell you how many times the day's mojo just wears off (usually after lunch), and how your outlook can change when this happens.  I notice that, with a morning practice under my belt, this is minimized greatly and the mojo flows from morning to night. I'm feeling great this morning, after waking at my usual 4:45AM, and I have to say that the additional 15 minutes of time I give myself really makes a difference (I used to wake at 5:00AM). Physically, I'm feeling well.  I feel strong and solid, but a bit sore from yesterday's practice, and last night's Tae Kwon Do class.  Additionally, I'm still working on eliminating the wonderful array of junk food I enjoyed over this past weekend so I'm paying close attention to forward and back bends to help speed that along. Time to sweat it out....

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 New week, new yoga practice. The last time I hit my mat was last Friday, 3 days ago.  I'm interested to see where I'm at physically as I had a fun weekend spent outdoors hiking around outside.  I'm feeling slightly sore from the weekend of fun, but eager to break through that soreness on my mat. Tuesday, June 12, 2018  (Part II) I'm writing this on my mat, having come out of Savasana about 10 minutes ago. I'm feeling wonderful, as always, after I practice.  I focused on honing my thoughts and emotions this morning (something that gets easier the more you practice it).  While it sounds totally  hippy-dippy, you can  gain a kind of control over your thoughts and attitudes, and help shape yourself with the practice of yoga. Physically, I felt fine this morning.  Not perfect or completely satisfied with my Asanas, but definitely happy that I'm keeping with my standard routine.  My arms were strong and stable (for ...

Friday, June 8, 2018 Woke feeling a little strange this morning as I had some funky dreams and my stomach's behaving a bit strange. Regardless of how I feel, I'm on my mat, and will be sweating it out shortly. Friday, June 8, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this on my mat, having come out of Savasana about 30 minutes ago. Why do I keep coming back to my mat? Why do I wake at 4:45AM when I'd rather sleep half the time? Why do I practice yoga? The answer is because it shapes me.  The title of this blog is "shape your mind, shape your body", and my yoga practice does just that.  It gives me an opportunity to focus on my thoughts and emotions, judge and measure them, and then shape them into something that is useful and positive for me. I'm going to have a wonderful day today, and I'm looking forward to taking this version of myself out into the world to share. Namaste

Thursday, June 7, 2018 After taking that hiatus from my mat, I always feel wonderful when I come back and reform my routine. I do feel guilty when I don't practice with diligence, but I don't beat myself up over breaks from my practice (even though self control and diligence with a practice is always best). Physically, I'm feeling a little  bit sore this morning, but nothing like I was on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Looking forward to sweating it out! Thursday, June 7, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this the morning after my practice as I felt so good yesterday after closing out my sequence that I hopped up from my mat and played around for 20 minutes before getting in the shower. Can I get a "Namaste" to that! lol

Wednesday, June 6, 2018 Woke again at my usual 4:45AM and finally feel  like I'm getting back into my yoga groove. When I'm fully in my groove, the alarm goes off at 4:45AM and I have no problems hopping up out of bed to start my day.  When I'm not  in my groove, the alarm goes off on the other side of the room, and I stand there, after turning it off, doing a 50/50 split in my head about crawling back into bed for "5 more minutes". We all  know that "5 more minutes" becomes an hour almost immediately. Delighted this morning to be on my mat and eager to see what's in store as I begin my practice. Physically, I'm feeling a little stiff from running and Tae Kwon Do, but I know that the remedy for that is burning through myself physically to heat things up and loosen any stuck areas. Wednesday, June 6, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this part two post the morning after  I practiced. I felt wonderful yesterday after hitting my mat and a...

Tuesday, June 5, 2018 Woke up at my usual yoga hour of 4:45AM. I'm feeling ok.  I don't feel great, but I don't feel bad.  I feel unmotivated and bored with certain parts of my life.  I feel like I'm going through the motions on certain things; I'll see how long this feeling persists but I'm thinking it'll go away after my practice. I'm going to focus on my physical practice this morning and see if I can light the fires by burning through things physically. Tuesday, June 5, 2018 (Part II) What a difference your mat makes. I was not happy this morning.  I don't know if it's a combination of waking up early, not getting enough sleep, or being disappointed in my practice yesterday, but I turned it all around on my mat. I became emotional on my mat afterwards for some reason and began thinking about all of the good things I have in my life.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's practice. Namaste

Monday, June 4, 2018 While I've been away from my mat for a few weeks, I'm re-setting my routine and woke up at my usual 4:45AM this morning to warm up and shape myself into something. I can say that, as I feel now, I feel a little stiff and sore and not quite fully awake yet.  The hour of coffee and contemplation was nice, but wasn't really enough to shake the night's sleep off of me. Instead of blogging about it, I'm going to start warming up. Monday, June 4, 2018 (Part II) I'm writing this on my mat, having just come out of Savasana. I will never regret going to my mat (and neither will you), but my practice was not brilliant this morning.  I'm not being self-deprecating, rather, I'm just being honest about the general vibe of this morning's session. I wasn't ever fully awake for it all.  Having woken at my standard 4:45AM for the first time in two weeks has made me a little loopy feeling; it was extremely  tempting to simply crawl...