Day 322 - Far From Home

I've rounded the curve on my 365 day challenge, and the end is now in sight.

I lost count somewhere along the way, and counted my last blog entry as Day 244, but it mustn't have been, because the challenge ends on 3 December 2013. I've counted backward and decided that today must be around Day 322.

Currently many kilometres from home in beautiful (really!) Edmonton, Alberta, I've been struggling with getting my sweat in. For the past week or so, I've been recovering from a pretty nasty cutaneous drug eruption. By all means, Google Image that if you've got a strong stomach, but trust me when I say that it has been neither pretty nor comfortable. I haven't been feeling my best, and I've wanted to keep my somewhat-disfigured chest, neck, and shoulders under wraps, so I have been taking a lot of long walks in a high-necked jacket and cap instead of spending my time in skimpy gym clothes.

Today, feeling physically better thanks to some heaping helpings of prednisone, and also feeling more confident, I decided that it was finally time to get out and get moving. 

It's challenging figuring out how to be active in an unfamiliar city. I don't have synchro or triathlon practises to occupy me, and the Goodlife gym I have a membership for is over an hour's walk away from my accommodations. The Yoga Loft, however, is about a half hour's walk away, and some yoga seemed as good a way as any to get myself moving on this dreary, drippy Saturday in Edmonton, so I trudged out the door in boots and knittted cap.

I find practicing at a new studio incredibly challenging.

You never know what the people are going to be like, nor what the instruction will entail. I'm used to rocking out to awesome tunes in my comfort zone - my jute mat at Studio 330. I'm familiar with how Jen, Dallas, and Bethany lead, and I know they won't pull on my stiff left shoulder, even if it means my child's pose is a bit funky looking. I've left other studios feeling criticised and corrected, or maybe just like I didn't fit in.

Fortunately, The Yoga Loft was a different experience.

It was nothing like Studio 330, though. I found myself on a not-so-sticky borrowed mat in an unusually contemplative environment. There was no music! There was lots of meditation! The room was filled with people breathing deeply and loudly. There was none of the usual giggling and informal commentary I am used to.

I was a fish out of water.

Nevertheless, I felt welcomed. I left feeling restored and happy I'd made the half hour walk to my mat. Will I do it again? Of course! Probably tomorrow, in fact. I'm happy to have stepped out of my comfort zone for a little while. But do I miss Studio 330? Like crazy. Can't wait to get back.

There are no earth-shattering revelations here, so I'll just take a second to recommend The Yoga Loft and ask you to take a few minutes out of your weekend to try something scary in the name of sweat. It might just work out.