James Walsh Yoga

Friday, December 27, 2019, Today is another marvelous day off from routine and my standard daily duties. I woke at the unbelievably late hour of 8:53AM this morning; that's more than 4 hours past my usual wake time of 4:25AM. Zero guilt.  Zero remorse and feeling marvelous as I allow myself to have a very natural flow to my mornings enjoying this break. I'll be back in the normal swing of things on Thursday, January 2, 2020 but, until then, I'm going to begin dedicating myself to my mat. The last time I hit my mat was a week and a day ago; that's plenty of time to loose flexibility and other attributes that come from a steady practice. Again, not remorse and no guilt as I've thoroughly enjoyed the lazy pace of the Christmas season. Physically, I'm soft and squishy (on account of the holiday foods that love me so much); I feel a bit of soreness in my lower back, but nothing that I can't fix in this morning's practice. Mentally, I'm feel...

Wednesday, December 18, 2019, I’m writing this on my mat at 6:05AM. I woke at my usual 4:25AM, but had an extended “coffee and contemplation” session on the couch before preparing for my practice. Time to sweat it out.

Woke at my usual 4:25AM. On my mat a bit later than usual, at 5:51AM. Time to begin....

Wednesday, December 11, 2019, Woke at my usual 4:25AM for my 5:30AM practice. I’ve been reincorporating running and Tae Kwon Do into my fitness regime and, while it’s a great way to bring variety, the additional physical strain has me sleeping a little bit more than usual and had me moving a little more gingerly due to the new soreness that a workout brings. Today I intend to move through my practice as normal and be aware of my mind and body. Time to sweat it out.

Thursday, December 5, 2019, Woke at my usual 4:25AM and on my mat at 5:38AM. Time to sweat it out.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019, No time to pre-post. Time to sweat.

Thursday, November 28, 2019, I woke up this morning much later than usual as it’s Thanksgiving Day here in the United States! For the past few weeks, I’ve been overindulging in junk food, haven’t really been cooking anything nutritious or wholesome, and for the past few nights, I've had at least a little bit of red wine every night before bed. The whole “moderation” story comes to mind as I type this because, too much indulging really does spoil you; in more ways than one. I’ve noticed that I’m surly after I’ve eaten two sleeves of crackers and cheese; I’m disgusted and disappointed in myself when I eat a whole pizza and mindlessly scroll through Netflix; I feel great momentarily, but afterwards I’m blue, disappointed and irritable. Some health neglect at certain times of year is common-place, and natural, and I’m not beating myself up , but recognizing the pattern of high/low I make when I overindulge without any healthy activities to counteract the indulgence. I’m on my ...

Tuesday, November 26, 2019, Woke at my usual 4:25AM this morning, but spent time with my lovely partner, relaxing, chatting, and catching up on the couch. It’s 6:28AM as I type this, while sitting on my mat, but I want to at least enter my day having done prayers and meditation as breathing.

Thursday, November 21, 2019, Typing this post in my phone, yet again. I’m the King of procrastination sometimes, and I haven’t gotten a chance to bring my MacBook into the Apple store for a diagnosis. Ah well..... This morning, I’m feeling in need of the peace and balance that my practice brings me. I’ll try to remember to do a post-practice update today!!!

Tuesday, November 19,2019 Feeling ready for my mat to work it’s magic this morning. For some reason, my stomach, digestive tract have been dancing a jig since Saturday. I’ve narrowed the culprits down to a few suspects, but I’m still dealing with some of the residual issues. I feel the need to unwind myself this morning, mentally, spiritually, and physically.

Thursday, November 14, 2019, More yoga on a phone. It’s 5:41AM as I type this, and I’m ready to begin my practice.

Tuesday, November 11, 2019, Yoga on a phone. I’ve been waking at my usual 4:30AM for the past week, but I’ve been taking the hour for coffee and then heading into work to get an early start on my days. It’s time to get back into my yoga routine.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019, My first post of November!! My MacBook is still acting up, so I’m typing this post from my phone. I’ve had a marvelous week but I’m going to focus on my usuals....... 1. Eliminating fears/anxieties,worries 2. Breathing 3. Visualizing a burning/fire inside that I put everything onto Time to sweat it out.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019, Writing this on my iPhone as my MacBook is actin a fool this morning! #apple4lyfe. I feel wonderful, and rested and balanced this week, so I’ve had no problems getting up at my usual 4:25am and starting my practice at 5:30am. Speaking of which, it’s 5:36am as I type this, so let’s begin...

Tuesday, October 29, 2019, I'm putting myself back into my routine of 4:25AM wake up call.  It's easy to get back into (I tell myself this morning). It's 5:25AM as I type this, and I've had a lovely hour to myself this morning with coffee and contemplation #strangerthings I'm going to challenge myself to hit my mat each morning this week; I need to sweat out some of the weekend still. Tuesday, October 29, 2019 (Part II), I'm off my mat, already showered, and ready for my day. I want this blog to be a resource to those looking to deepen their practice, but I may need to carve out more time in the mornings if I'm going to attempt that; I always seem to run out of time, and can't provide a proper, post-practice update. Today's practice was strong, controlled, and marvelous; backbends are the cure-all for every ailment; mental and physical. Namaste

Monday, October 28, 2019, Starting the week off right, on my mat. It's 5:39AM as I type this, and I'm going to keep this pre-practice post brief to get as much time into my practice as possible. Time to sweat it out. Monday, October 28, 2019 (Part II), I'm writing this on my mat having just come out of Savasana. No time for much of an update, but this morning's practice was strong, and focused; I ended it with exceptional backbends.  I'm feeling fit and ready for action! Namaste

Wednesday, October 23, 2019, I'm in Dallas TX for work and woke this morning at my usual time. There wasn't enough time to have a full practice, so I enjoyed my coffee, and then started a simplified practice of just my Sun Salute A, Sun Salute B, and then Padangusthasana and Padahastasana before going into Yoga Mudra, and Savasana. I still allowed myself prayer and meditation, before warming up and actually beginning my practice and, due to the temperature I set my hotel room to, I worked up a sweat very quickly.  I intentionally made my Sun Salutes strong and powerful, pushing myself physically.  It's actually 5:30PM as I type this, and I'm going to attempt to practice again tomorrow, however brief. Namaste

Monday, October 21, 2019, For whatever reason, I couldn't get up at all last week (except for Tuesday). Today, however, I'm starting off the week right, on my mat.  It's 5:28AM as I type this, so I'm going to allow myself a deep and relaxing warm-up before going into my practice. Monday, October 21, 2019 (Part II), Went on the lightest of runs Friday evening (a whopping 20 minutes), and felt stiffened from it on my mat today. It was either that, or the long day of fun I had on Saturday. My practice was good this morning, but it wasn't focused.  My body felt very stiff and sore in my legs and back.  None the less, I worked through it, and feel much better physically and mentally. Time to shower up and enter the world. Namaste

Tuesday, October 15, 2019, Woke at my usual 4:25AM this morning. It's 5:31AM as I type this, and I'm going to begin prayers and meditation. Tuesday, October 15, 2019 (Part II), I'm writing this at 7:01AM, having just come out of Savasana.  From start to finish, I'm noticing that I spend almost exactly 1.5 hours on my mat every morning.  Today, I have to say that I felt strong and controlled physically, but was dealing with mild degrees of mental "demons"; their names are "Anger", "Fear", and "Anxiety".  #lulz I am lucky in that my mental demons are almost always relatively small, and manageable, as they are this morning.  I don't suffer from extreme versions of any demons.  However small they might seem, even traces of these demons can have terrible domino effects in a person.  I always feel better after burning through them with a strong physical practice, like this mornings. Time to shower up and enter the day...

Wednesday, October 9, 2019, Woke at my usual 4:25AM this morning. Woke on Monday morning, and couldn't hack it; went right back to bed, feeling run-down, and under the weather.  Dragged it out of bed to go to work, and then came right back home at the end of the day, ate, and crawled into bed by 5:30PM to sleep.  Nothing is better than large amounts of sleep and rest when you're feeling run down. Woke at 4:25AM yesterday morning only to find my trusty coffee machine decided to put out an error code and not work.  No coffee was waiting for me when I woke up.  Back to bed. Today, the stars all aligned, and I'm back on my mat at my usual 5:30AM to begin my practice.  Physically, I'm feeling well, but there's an ever present soreness in my lower back.  I believe this is residual ache leftover from some of the strong backbends I did on Friday of last week. Mentally and spiritually, I'm feeling good.  Solid, and stable and eager for a good day. Ti...