Skinflint Sunday: Yoga before breakfast.

I have a new morning routine!

After a year of early(ish) retirement where I basically did whatever I felt like doing, I decided it was time to smarten myself up and get into some new habits. Someone on Twitter posted a link to Yoga With Adrienne. She’s doing a free introductory yoga course called ‘Move’ and a new ep drops every day.

I decided to drag the yoga mat that I bought from Aldi two years ago out from my wardrobe and try to get a bit more bendy.

Ryan27 has been chipping away at a fitness regime and he asked to see the mat.

“Mum, it’s so thin!” he said. “Feel my mat – you need to get one like mine. You’ll be a lot more comfortable.”

But hell no! I spent a good $6 (or something like that) on my Aldi mat and I’m going to darned well use it. Besides, if this mat is the only one I’ve ever used, it’ll seem comfy to me because I won’t know anything else. It’s all good.

I started the course 4 days late, but that’s ok. I’m just following along every day. I had a nasty experience on Day 1 when I ate breakfast before getting onto the mat. A full stomach + downward-facing dog pose does NOT make for an elevating experience!

Now, we get up when Jeffrey jumps down from the bed, usually before 7 AM. I let them out, drink a coffee and read on the laptop while we all snuggle on the couch, then after a while they get breakfast and I drag out the mat. I pop them all up on my bed so that they’re out of the way, then I do the class for the day.

Putting the little woofs on the bed works pretty well. The cavaliers simply go to sleep, but every couple of days Scout decides to observe and comment on what she sees me doing. It’s hard not to giggle when Adrienne is soothingly saying, “Empty your mind… just breathe and concentrate on the sound of your breath…” and Scout is watching me, groaning and grumbling as she peers over the side.

She believes that if I’m bending and waving my hands around, at least one of those hands should be patting HER.

Now, after 16 straight days of yoga, I’m noticing a couple of things.

I’m bendier. Having said that, I still can’t touch my toes with straight legs, but I’m noticing tiny things that are easier to do.

It’s becoming easier to get onto the mat. We now have a flow to the morning. After their breakfast, when I walk into my room to start the yoga practice, the little woofs all come in there with me and Scout crouches, ready for me to pick her up to put on the bed. I don’t know why she crouches; she’s too close to the ground as it is!

This morning I woke up and noticed that I had a slight pain in my right side in my back. I obviously pulled something. It would’ve been very easy to say, “I shouldn’t do yoga this morning – I might hurt this muscle even more.” But instead, I thought, ‘Meh. If it hurts I’ll just stop doing that exercise.’ After the class, I realised that it wasn’t hurting anymore. I guess it just needed to be stretched.

I have 2 more weeks of this series to get through, then I’m planning on re-doing the classes, because I know that I’m not doing some of these exercises properly. As I get used to what it all entails, my technique will improve, so I may as well go back and do them again.

After the session, I have a shower and then reward myself with breakfast. After that, we all go out and water the gardens. We look at the flowers and pick any veggies that need attending to. Tonight we’re having zucchini slice with beans and carrots on the side!

It’s a nice way to start the day.

(I blogged briefly about this on my first Wednesday W’s post on the other blog, just in case this seemed vaguely familiar. )

Dad joke of the day:

Why do crabs never give to charity?

Because they are shellfish.