Day 15

Ahhh!  I just got done taking an epsom salt bath.  It feels so nice to just relax in the water with all these sore and growing muscles.  I just realized that I am now into my third week of daily Bikram Yoga.  That feels good!  The soreness is generally good and I feel really good about myself physically.  I'm a little concerned about losing any more weight, but when I worry about it I just tell myself to go eat something.  I've had some pretty strong cravings for food and I've let myself have Coke twice.  I generally only drink pop with pizza or at parties and I don't want to make this a new habit.  That would only perpetuate my addiction to sugar and I have worked so hard to get it under control in the last few years.  So, class today was very small.  Thanks to the Chicago Bears.  No really, thanks!  There were maybe 20 people in class and it had a very calm and focused feel.  I had to sit out a few sets that have been giving me trouble since Friday.  Other than that, I feel really good about class.  I had a slightly awkward moment when the teacher asked how I felt about demonstrating Camel Pose for the class.  I shrugged and smiled and my ears went red.  I have been loving Camel Pose for the last few weeks and today was no exception.  She walked me through it like normal and pointed out what I do right to the class.  Then, she asked me to make one correction and move my hands from my heels and onto the arches of my feet.  I wasn't able to do this before because it felt like too much pressure on my wrist.  I spoke with this teacher a few weeks ago about this issue and she told me to throw my hips forward to the point that I'd fling into the mirror if my hands weren't gripping my heels.  In general it's been hard to grip because my hand got so weak from the injury.  My right arm, wrist and hand have gotten markedly stronger since starting Bikram Yoga.  As I did what she said, and moved my hands to the arches of my feet, I felt my hips and shoulder open up more.  I had a weird, but not bad, stretching and twanging sensation in my triceps.  I say twanging because it reminded me of the movement a guitar string makes after it's been plucked.  After the demonstration I collapsed on the mat in Savasana and then realized that there was a second set to do.  This would allow me to do Camel Pose three times in one class!  I jumped right back up and did it again with the new hand position.  The teacher then went on to explain how my wrist injury forced me to learn to do it properly instead of inhibiting me.  That made it feel like I was less of a showoff and more like my hard work and the teachers' instructions have paid off.  I wish I could see my progression through the pose as I've been working on it.  But, unlike a lot of the poses, you cannot see yourself in the mirror in Camel Pose.  Maybe that's part of the allure of it for me.  It's kind of a mystery.