Day 34: Rising Above Mediocrity

The last thing that I wanted to do this morning was wake up early and go for a run.  As I was laying in bed dreading my soon to be lack of breath, I thought two things:  1. You do not have a choice and 2.  Stop being mediocre.   Both of these things might not sound very loving coming from a life coach, but they were exactly what I needed to hear to get my butt out of bed and into some running tights.

Of course I had a choice, I could choose not to run or not to workout today.  But I wanted to choose something that made me feel good, not something I would regret.  I also thought that choosing to stay in bed is something that a mediocre version of myself would have done.   Instead, I went against my general instinct to have a resting heartbeat and ran over six miles.  This is the furthest I have run since I have been in Colorado.  Six miles used to be a standard short run for me- but now that yoga has become top dog, six miles felt like a marathon.

As I was running I kept coming back to my two original thoughts and was happy that I know when to be gentle to myself and when to kick my own butt.  So on day 33 I ran 6.4 miles- take that mediocrity!

Day 33: Three Betsy’s, Two Chants, One Fart

This was my second class at Karma Yoga and I fell in love with the studio all over again.

When I walked in I heard someone say, “my name is Betsy,” which immediately made the two of us strike up a conversation.  Five minutes later another person walked in and the instructor said, “hi Betsy!”   Three Betsy’s in one yoga class with only seven people in it!   With this many Betsy’s, I knew it was going to be a great class.  We also had a man sitting in the front of the studio with drums and a guitar, who asked if we would be ok starting off with chants.  I have never done this, but I am up for anything.  We did two different chants (not a clue what I was saying) for about ten  it was such a peaceful way to start off class.  The instructor then led us through a 75 minute vinyasa flow.

During the last ten minutes of class when we are all winding down our practice, the instructor had us in a sideways twist.  She kept asking us to relax our leg muscles and the guy next to me took that way too literally and let up a loud fart. I was in such a quite mind space, but there is not a place in the world where I will not laugh when I hear flatulence.  I initially let out a chuckle and immediately tried to reel in my laughter.  There was still a good few minutes left in class and I could not stop smiling, chuckling and starting to snort back bellows.  It was just as bad as being in church and trying not to laugh.

This was one of my favorite spiritual classes of all time.   It was unique, fun and full of Betsy’s.  The only thing I would have changed was the tooter in the corner.  At least it wasn’t me, it could have been way worse.