Double trouble.

I felt extremely energised yesterday! After my 10am class I got home, took a nice long shower and enjoyed a healthy lunch. I even cleaned the house and did groceries. I felt a bit restless so I made the decision to put this energy overload into good use and took another class at 5.30pm. My 2 toughest teachers where on and it was busy, hot and humid in both classes but I survived both classes with full commitment. Now I have the pleasure to feel how much I worked my muscles (ouch...) This morning I practiced again (it went well) and was hoping for another energy burst to do a double again but my lower back is sore. Probably I needed to engage my core more to protect my lower back. Hope I do this better tomorrow where yet again my intention is to do a double class!

So, conclusion so far is that it’s going great.
I take great pleasure in taking such good take of myself by eating extremely healthy and I can actually feel and see the difference already, only 4 days in the challenge!
It’s fun to see how many friends feel sorry for me when I decline alcohol or chocolate. It’s really not that bad folks (well...not yet at least)!

I learn so much during my yoga classes, I thought I’d share some interesting facts with ya’ll:
• The human body carries around approximately 2 till 7 kg’s of waste foods/toxins.
• Yoga –discovered thousands and thousands of years ago- was given as a medicine back in the day for all kinds of illnesses, pains and dysfunctions.
• It’s funny how people never give their full 100% immediately. The mind seems to always hold back on actions. If I would ask you to make a fist and squeeze very tight and then seconds later ask you to squeeze tighter you can always find power to actually give more.
• Yoga cleans/ detoxifies the inside of your body. You clean your teeth; why not clean your inside? Also, during class you will experience a big increase in hard rate at times. My teachers always say; give yourself a mini heart attack now so you won’t get one later.
• Bikram yoga is claimed to systematically stimulate and restore health to every muscle, joint, and organ of the body.
• According to Bikram Choudhury (founder), many people only use up to 50 percent of their lung capacity, and just like any muscle, the lungs must be stretched in order to (through practice) withstand holding more oxygen. When one is practicing pranayama s/he will eventually be able to enhance oxygen conversion and absorption, as well as improve blood circulation. This is true of any cardiovascular activity.
• People always ask me why the room is heated. This is for all the reasons below:
* Your body burns fat more effectively, fat may be redistributed and burned as energy during the class. It is common to lose centimeters of shape in a very short time
* The heat produces a fluid-like stretch allowing for greater range of movement in joints, muscles, ligaments and other supporting structures of the body
* Capillaries dilate in the heat; more effectively oxygenating the tissues, muscles, glands and organs and helping in the removal of waste products
* Your peripheral circulation improves due to enhanced perfusion of your extremities
* Your metabolism speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids
* You benefit from a strengthening of willpower, self control, concentration and determination in this challenging environment
* Your cardiovascular system gets a thorough workout
* Your muscles and connective tissue become more elastic and allow for greater flexibility with less chance of injury and improved resolution of injury
* Sweating promotes detoxification and elimination through the skin - which is the body's largest eliminating organ
* Just as when your body raises its temperature to fight infection, the raised temperature in the room will assist in improving T-cell function and the proper functioning of your immune system
* Your nervous system function is greatly improved and messages are carried more efficiently to and from your brain
* Metabolism improves in your digestive system and in the body's cells (that is food in the gut and nutrients in the cells)

I feel happy right now to be in a horizontal pose on my couch with my laptop reflecting on my last couple of days and imagining to extend my challenge throughout this month by doing double classes each weekend (Saturdays & Sundays), total of 38 classes! So far, 4 down! I’ll let you know how I go.