108

I completed 108 sun salutations this morning.  Well, if you want to be all technical about it, I missed half of one salutation because I had to blow my nose. When you are inverted over and over like that . . . well, let's just say that I think I cleared out mucous for colds I haven't even caught yet. I rocked the other 107 1/2, though!

This was a special "summer solstice yoga" hosted by the studio where I take classes. It started at 5:30 a.m. I attended solstice yoga last year and really enjoyed it. This year, they changed it up a little with the repetition of the sun salutations. There were also some drummers and other musicians in attendance, which was very cool. It's nice to hear the steady drum beat and to pair it with your breath. 

In case you are wondering what a salutation is, basically we repeated this (below) series of steps 108 times.  There are different series of sun salutations (A, B, and C . . . I'm still pretty new to yoga so there may be others I just haven't seen yet), but this is the one we did:
  1. Tadasana (mountain pose, standing)
  2. Forward fold
  3. Halfway lift (flat back)
  4. Forward fold
  5. Plank
  6. Chaturanga (lower yourself from plank)
  7. Upward -facing dog (or cobra)
  8. Downward-facing dog
  9. Return to front of mat
  10. Forward fold
  11. Halfway lift
  12. Forward fold
  13. Rise on the inhale and return to tadasana
So, that is one complete salutation. You can see how doing that 108 times is fairly challenging!  The instructors split them into four sets of 27, with a few minutes to rest in between each one. After the second set, I was feeling pretty fatigued. I ate a handful of nuts and drank some water, and resolved to finish the whole thing, come hell or high water or excessive mucous. When I first entered the studio, I looked around and a voice in my head told me that everyone there was fitter, thinner, less clumsy, and more focused than I am. At the risk of sounding a little bit corny, I overrode that voice and replaced it with one that said, "You can do this." No kidding - I literally repeated that under my breath.

When it was all over, I was super sweaty and my legs felt shaky, but I felt proud of myself. I felt strong.

The owner of the studio drew names for some door prizes and I won a five-class punch card (five free classes, in other words). So now I know that I am strong and lucky.  Yay me!

Comments

Sam said…
That is amazing and totally impressive! Good for you!
June 22, 2012 at 9:33 AM
Jen said…
Hey AlabasterMom! I found your blog through Michael Moore on Facebook and I have been addicted ever since. Can we connect on FB?
June 29, 2012 at 12:47 PM
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