Day 1: No fanfare for a leap of faith

What I can say about this challenge compared to others is that I am going in with absolutely no fanfare or excess preparation. No gearing myself up for it or excessive planning. I don't even have this blog all set up yet! I say excessive because in most cases I overdo these things. About as organized I am about this challenge is that I know I have tomorrow's yoga outfit ready, I've got a water bottle and healthy food in the house, some electrolyte supplements handy, and the classes are in my calendar by day though that is easily changeable if I decide to take a different class on a different day. This is awfully loose for me. Yeah. No big deal - just a healthy, daily hatha yoga practice.

So no such thing starting off easy. I am in the middle of it from the beginning. I am struggling with pain in my right side that wraps around from my spine in the back all around the hip and abdomen. I think the hips are realigning or I am working on something with an internal organ because it just feels like the pain comes from the inside out. Who knows. All I know is right now it hurts some times and camel is back to being unbearable. It went from being the dreaded pose, to my favorite to now really just being painful. It was all I could do to stand on my knees, put the hands on the back and push the hips forward (the painful part). In second set, I was able to put my head back and it felt better. I did as was suggested to me to lay off of doing the sit-ups for the next few classes which is what I will continue to do and hopefully it will subside as whatever it is works itself out. I must be happy... at least I'm alive to work on it! The hardest thing I think is being afraid of the pain. And now that I have a memory of pain... I must be careful not to "anticipate it".

I must admit that I am coming into this challenge from a place of fatigue from singing and performing. This season is finally winding down and I very much look forward to time off. But I can't wait all my life for the perfect circumstances to start a challenge, to have a yoga practice, or to even perform. Sometimes you've got to start from where you are and that is what I am doing. I am taking just a little leap of faith that it's all going to just work out. I trust my yoga.