Two old friends, Temptation and Stress, drop in for a visit. Actually, Temptation wandered in from the backyard as usual, and Stress somehow snuck in during the middle of the night.
Monday: How easy it would be to sleep in, I dreamed. Especially since it's raining, and it's Monday. The guilt of having to either a) write that I slept in and skipped a workout - or b) flat out lie about a workout - woke me up and forced me to get dressed. Stumbling into the gym at 6:15am, I did the ADHD workout: 10 minutes of cardio on three different machines. Attention-deficeit, yes. Hyper-active, no.
Tuesday: How easy it would be to sleep in, I dreamed again. Especially since it's raining again and it's Tuesday. "Was that thunder?", Temptation asked lazily from my bedside.
After a particularly grueling Monday, I deserved it.
I opted for the Summit Trainer at the gym that evening - like climbing a mountain, only without the fresh air...or scenery. (Watching two old Walkman-ed seniors jog beleaguerdly around the indoor track doesn't count.) 15 minutes on the Stair Master while waiting for the Summit Trainer, 30 minutes mimicking a mountain climb, then 15 minutes on the Upright Bicycle. Why do all these machines have names that threaten militant domination?
Wednesday: Stress accompanied me to most of my classes. Three assignments due (performances of memorized scenes or text that require technical process to be in place) and I missed a deadline for some paperwork at the House. I blame Temptation's Tuesday antics - if I hadn't slept in, Stress might have given me some space. By 11pm that night, I went in for a late-night ADHD workout. Definitely attention-deficeit (I was focusing on a long-lost pleasure known as TV), but more hyper-active than Monday: Stair Master for 10 minutes, Recumbent Bike for 10, and the ERG for 10 minutes to finish...all the while keeping the heart rate about 140. I was pleased with the interval training I fit in on the rower: every 2 minutes, I'd pull as hard and fast as possible for 10 strokes. Back Off, Stress.
Thursday: I refused to let Stress tag along for the day's activities. Vinyasa yoga played a nice part in allowing me to focus on my breathing, and re-center with my inner calmness. It also played a nice part in educating me about shoulder stands, and how the endocrinal system uprighted can solve all your health problems. I'm always mystified by the yogi health vocabulary, however. What exactly is "vitality"? And how is that different from "aligning your energies"?
Friday: Energized from Thursday's yoga, I trekked over to the East Village at 6am for some more Vinyasa at a place called Yoga To The People (it's an amazing establishment, there's one in SF if you chance upon it) for the simple pleasure of hearing the Tibetan Singing Bowl. Please try to experience the sound a singing bowl in person before you die. It's beautiful and rare. Hearing it live is a whole different experience. Sweating it out on the mat for an hour was beneficial for my soul, and then I trekked over to school and had a complete emotional breakdown in Grotowski class (see last week for description of this Technique). Bascially, I fried my CNS to the point where I felt more vulnerable than I have in my entire life...or maybe dregged up some vulnerability that I've been trying to mask for years now. Between the soul-fulfilling yoga and the emotionally-draining weeping I did all before lunchtime, I felt like a robot for the next 10 hours.
Saturday: Rehearsals all day and a meeting with colleagues = Rest Day.
Sunday: A journey to the Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn, followed by Easter Mass, and then work and five hours of rehearsal allowed me to walk over 6 miles during the day. I'm worried about the upcoming week however, and how to fit in working out to my schedule - every hour from 7am until 10pm is booked with either class, work, meetings, or rehearsals. Yikes.
On the upside, I received a great book in the mail today called "When Food is Love" and I haven't been able to put it down...it's already putting some things in perspective when I'm hankering for an eclair.
This week, I was successful in feeling better after working out. In fact, I found that if I could have time to put in two sessions of yoga everyday, I'd do it. And if you're sitting here thinking that yoga isn't as intense as a cardio workout, you may be right, but I challenge you to try vinyasa for an hour and a half one of these days and then we'll talk about different levels of rigor.
Stay tuned for next week. If I make it through and manage to workout at least 20 minutes everyday, I'll be okay with that.
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