Do you ever have those days when you walk into a yoga class (or any other workout) and know that it’s going to be one of those off days? I mostly do Bikram Yoga, so my bad days kind of start like this – from the moment I wake up I debate for 10 minutes in my head whether or not I want to go before I finally drag my lazy butt out of bed. As I drive to class I am still having this ongoing debate in my head, but somehow convince myself that I’ll feel great afterwards. I walk into the yoga room and start feeling lightheaded and get that inkling of a headache. Uh-oh, I already know it’s going to be a long 1.5 hours, but I can’t leave now! I have trouble breathing from the first pose and my balance is even worse than usual.
The last time this happened to me was a week and a half ago, and it was so bad that I could only get through about half the poses before I had to lie down in savasana (corpse pose – where you lay down on your back in total relaxation). At my Bikram Yoga studio, once you enter the room and the class starts you cannot leave, so that was about all I could do.
Like I said, this was a week and a half ago and I haven’t been back to a class since! Every time I think about going to class, I hesitate, remember the negative feelings and wonder if I want to put myself through that. Do you guys ever have that one bad class that sets you back for a week or two? How do you persuade yourself to get back at your practice after that bad experience? I eventually do go back, and I have a good class and all is well again… but when I encounter those bad days, it takes me doubly long to get back on my yoga horse again. So that’s it – that’s my wannabe yogi confession for today!
