you must listen & smell the roses

i've recently started going for my yoga classes on a regular basis, trying to discipline myself to make time every morning or the very least, twice a week. you know how it is, as you get older the body isn't as agile as it used to be (fatigue, lack of stamina, the whole she-bang), i signed for a gym membership & yoga classes.

when you go to the gym & engage a personal trainer, he / she works out a program for you to help you achieve your goals - weight loss, fat loss, tone up, to run the marathon, yada yada. so i have got a slave driver for a pt. i do a lot of weight training & he creates devices that make me hurt in regions i never knew existed. all for a nicer firmer bum, curvier hips, flatter torso - i feel like just kicking him in the nether regions. yes, i am working out for a nicer bod & also to remain healthy & have stamina when i want to go for the whole day shopping marathon (yes i think they can help you with that too)

so okay, back to my story - i started going for yoga again the previous day after a long hiatus. the yoga instructor convinces me that i should do hatha yoga (more advance poses) but i am not kidding myself. never mind, let me start the basic yoga first. jangan nak pandai - pandai nanti tak pasal pasal jatuh macam nangka busuk. so after class i was asking her about the next day's class - sun salutation.

moi: sun salutation for one hour? you got to be kidding me. no other poses? must be boring
lg: you'll be surprised. i normally try for 8 sets but students normally give up after 6 sets. then i end up doing stretching poses. but you definitely sweat & it's good for weight loss
moi: hmm, maybe i'll try it tomorrow.

so yesterday, i went for the sun salutation session. bloody hell, while into the poses, she tells us that we are trying for 10 sets. probably if she told us at the beginning, we would have just rolled our mats & gone home. but she left it to us on how to do the chaturanga.

option #1 - for the more adventurous & yogi wannabes - from the plank pose, on your arms you are to lower your body towards the floor without touching it and sliding straight into the cobra pose;

option #2 - like 1 above, but not so challenging, you can actually rest on the floor before sliding into the cobra pose;

option #3 - from the plank pose, you bent your knees to touch the floor before bringing your chest & chin to the ground & thereafter sliding into the cobra pose.


to be safe, i started with option 3 alternating with option 1. when i felt my arms trembling i went back to option 3 & so on and so forth till we finally finished all 10 sets. there was this lady beside me (pretty young i would guess) who was up to challenging her body taking on option 1 from the very beginning. half way into the 10sets, i heard a loud thump. her arms weak from the pressure of carrying the body weight one time too many, gave way & instead of sliding into the cobra pose, she fell onto the mat. and the smart girl that she is, she took option 3 till the end.

what am i trying to get at here? no, no i am not promoting yoga although i am a firm believer that it is really good for your health (it has sort of 'cured' me of my sinus). what i am trying to advocate is you must listen to your body. when there are signs of breaking down, take a break, opt for a less hectic lifestyle. you know how it is that you work & work & work meeting deadlines. then at the end of it all, you collapse from fatigue & fall sick and never seem to recover for what seems like ages.

our body sends us signs - like just before you come down with a fever, your joints ache & you feel like shiate. or when you are getting the flu bug, you get a blocked nose & the sniffles. so what you do at this stage is up to you & will determine the state of your health. taking precautions (ie up your dose of vitamin c, tucking in for the night a tad earlier & having a good night sleep) may avoid the ailment all-together.

why am i writing this? because i have a few friends who are being worked to the bone. one who is not being allowed to take time off (not even medical leave) because there are a lot of work to be done. and the boss gives unrecorded leave but insists you take the laptop home to finish your work. and she promises me that end of this month, after the deadline she will take a week off. but then somehow i reminded her there is another deadline & so the rest will have to wait. so perhaps she will get her well deserved rest after she quits the moron of a boss.

another worked like there's no tomorrow & was so sick that she had to be admitted into the hospital for exhaustion. she had been given 3 weeks to recuperate & has rejoined the rat race yesterday. these are my good friends & i love them dearly. i only have their best interests at heart.

take a break will ya before i come see you & smack you in the head. and yes, i ponteng yoga today cos i can't feel my god-damn arms!!!