5 Ways to Maintain Until Your Next Yoga Class

Ack! I'm antsy.

Last Sunday I took the Bikram Yoga class. I enjoyed it as I told you before.

The next day I was not nearly as sore as I thought I would be, and I have been eagerly looking forward to going back to class. The plan was to make it back this evening. Not happening. I had my last late night at work, finally completed the project, but I couldn't just pack up and go to class.

Everyone says: "Its amazing the changes you will feel." I don't know what they mean exactly, except that I have been very pleasantly conscious of my body since then. I know when it needs to breathe, eat, sleep, and especially drink water. The only way I can describe it is that my mind has been very "full of" my body since Sunday. I am amazed at how anxious I am to get back. What really happened there?

The only problem is that my body is becoming very viscerally insistent that I have to go back to "that place" to the point that I will almost do anything and shirk any responsibility to get back there. Therefore, I have decided to give myself 5 ways to maintain until my next yoga class.

1. Drink Water. Whenever I feel like I need to climb out of my skin in order to make my muscles let up on their chatter ("I'm stiff," "Are we there yet?" "Can't we just stretch a little bit?"), I drink some water and feel its chilly goodness spread through my body.
2. Take a bath. A candlelit bath with aromatherapy oils, and soft soothing music has been getting me relaxed in the evenings. I even try to do a little meditation to get my mind off the day's stress.
3. Work Hard. Do the things I need to so that when I actually do get a chance to go, I will not feel guilty about being there and not being wherever my work waits for me.
4. Sleep Deeply. I have been trying my best to sleep well to aid my body in recovery from what it goes through in class.
5. Check the class schedule. Maybe I missed a class that I could attend. No, I was right I would have to break the sound barrier in order to make it in time from my workplace.

So these tips probably aren't any more helpful to you than they are to me. But . . . Maybe, tomorrow, if I leave work early . . .

Or, maybe you can clue me in about how you maintain by posting a comment.