My Goals for 2014

I don't know what has gotten me all fired up with goals this year. Maybe it's to fight the blues from taking over in this most squalid of winters or just maybe I'm all inspired from within. Well, whatever it is, I shall not question and just ride the wave.

So here are my goals for 2014 in no particular order. Notice I did not say New Year's resolutions. Somehow this feels so carved in stone and if I don't do it I'll be a loser of losers, a failure of failures, a characterless person. Goals sound so much more positive and realistic ~ something you're reaching for as opposed to being so resolute you'll never budge. Hmmm. But I digress:

Overarching

• maintain a consistent painting schedule
• maintain a consistent workout schedule
• maintain a consistent Ashtanga/yoga schedule 
• Get thee to your Mysore classes backslider!!! lol!

Painting

• To get more creative and start painting again after I let a couple of years slip by. Which I have! Woohoo!
• To do at least two of the most inspiring pictures I've taken last year. I'm starting small with two as to not overload myself. I even prepped three canvases. Who knew they would be the primary colours!

In the beginning there was Cadmium Yellow Light!

In the beginning there was also Primary colours!

Yoga

• To get an open Baddha Konosana or as I like to say a "Badass" Konasana. I'm hoping to have my knees on the ground by next December. This will open up so many postures for me.
• Be in full frontal splits by the end of the year.
• Widen my side splits. I won't say full, as I have a LONG reach to go!
• Being able to get my leg to face in Supta Padangusthasana ~ because I want to! Is it wrong?!
• A more open, deeper backbend: What would that look like?
– straighter arms in Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel)
– a more rounded Ushtrasana (Camel pose) with more open hips and quads,
– and starting to work on Laghuvajrasana
• More lift in my arm balances: being able to consistently get my feet back to bakasana from tittibhasana and a better positioning of the knees on upper forearms for jumping back with dignity instead of a sad flop.
• A cleaner jump through because it'll make me look fly!

Ways to get me there: 
• Always do crow, supta padangusthasana, titti-transition, splits, backbends and wheel with every practice.
• When watching TV sit in butterfly pose, or front splits. Also, practice passive stretches every other night for backbends over a chair with pillow, over yoga blocks, and on my exercise ball to open my back.

Cardio:

• Increase my cardio capacity: What does that look like?

– 1st: Being able to do a Cathe cardio dvd without pausing one iota.

– 2nd: Perhaps being able to do all of Cathe's Step Works without pausing one iota.

– Pinnacle: If I want to go for broke, being able to do Intensity dvd's step portion including the HIIT step portion without pausing! I'm not even going to attempt the other HIIT segments in this dvd as my goal as there's no need to bother. As it is, this one's going for gold. But ya neva know until ya try! As one reviewer said this has NO downtime, even the "moderate" segments are intense ~ it goes from intense to maximum intensity over and over again, no in between. Get it!?!

Ways to get me there: 

• Doing a varied and consistent routine of steady state, metabolic (since it has alot of anaerobic cardio that really pushes plateau's), HIIT's (anaerobic for plateau pulverizing) and Tabata's (app).

Hopefully, I'll remember to check in 6 months from now in July to see how I've been doing with these little goals of mine.

... so practice, make inspiring but realistic and maybe even some unrealistic INTENSITY goals ~ cause ya neva know unless ya try as my friend said, at least it will get ya some ways there! ~ and all is coming.

Last night I got my fold on ...

Like this, like a yoga teacher!

And finally, finally, I actually looked almost like it! Awesome! ...

I always wanted to fold over my legs like my many favorite yoga teachers, Kino, Kathryn Budig, Dice Iida-Klein, with a FLAT back, no space and with my face at my shins. Well, last night it was so warm and I just felt like doing some practice postures to get my flex on and by my third fold and press I kept going down and down and down and lengthening and lengthening! I thought shoot man this feels like IT! So I went to my trusty mirror (see my "Through the Looking Glass" post if anybody's watching) and low and behold I was pretty much there! Man that was SWEET! Really, really SWEET!

But never to be satisfied! This is my next Mount Olympus so that I can do Titti's!!

What a screach! Never to be outdone!! Lol!

... and all is coming.

Flexibility

One thing a yogi learns is flexibility. Both physically and as a mindset. Go figure! I had my bags and mat all packed and excited about Mysore tonight but couldn't make it as I had a deadline to meet at work and of course right when it got to the crunch my computer decides to go cross-eyed! Oh well, it teaches patience, commitment, flexibility and living in the now. Still learning all of them! So I did a home practice instead with my faithful "The Rocket" dvd. 

I love The Rocket it's supposed to propulse you forward through primary, second and third in lightening speed. lol! It's a fusion-mishmash series of ashtanga by Larry Schultz. And it's a lot of fun and challenging. I use it as a supplement to ashtanga to give me variation and opportunity to work on postures I'm not exposed to in primary but would still like to do like hanumanasana, side splits, the backbends of second and the hand balances of third in an accessible and approachable manner. It helps to open my back, gain lift and balance, gives me variety and really benefits me in my ashtanga practice especially in the lift/bandha aspect. Because well, you see, you need alot of bandha control and lift in hand balancing, you can't be sinking into your arms like a heavy weighted sack of potatoes. Bandha and lift come into that.

I had a great practice with it. Video'd it and all! That's the mirror thing. Felt a little stronger, more controlled and felt a wee more open too. I'm again seeing a touch more flexibility gains such as in my hamstrings and hips in hanumanasa. I was almost to the floor! Like an inch! And my face pretty much went to my shin in parshvottanasana on the right side. Wow! Left side, we won't talk about that. I did bakasana jump back, side bakasana but still can't open my legs. Yet. lol! Tried to go into bakasana from tripod headstand but my head wasn't budging! Waaaa! I used to be able to do this. Oh well 2 steps forward 1 step back. Ashtavakrasana was good and was able to do the transition back to chatarunga on right side. It was a little weak, have done better before my wrist injury. But still not bad. Still need to work on left side. My atrocious nemesis of a left side! My brain needs to learn to love left as much as right. lol!

Enjoyed the feeling of the teeny weeny incremental progress and to experience once again in tiny ways that "practice and all is coming."

etc. etc. ...