Beginner's Mind

I did a relatively long run today with my running partner Scoop. By relatively I mean not as long as I have done in the past and not as long as I will be doing later in the season but the longest I have done in a while. It was hard but is getting easier and overall felt good.

Then I went to yoga class, mostly to support Julie who opened up The Bija Studio yesterday.
Oy vey. What I have learned:

#1. I love running. I adore how running makes me feel. I like how running shapes my body (read: keeps me on the thinner side). I do not want to live without running, even as difficult as it has been lately.

#2. Running does NOT compliment yoga, although yoga certainly compliments running.

#3. Today's vinyasa class was insanely difficult, yet felt wonderful. Possibly because I was tired from the run, my balance was worse than usual, my hips were tighter than usual, my hamstrings were more inflexible than usual -- and I didn't care. I had neither the energy nor the desire to muscle my way into or through any asanas. The surprise was, it felt really liberating. You know how in garudasana/eagle you wind one leg up and over and (attempt to) tuck your toes around your calf? Well, I kind of wound it around and used it as a kickstand. On both sides. No attempt to balance whatsoever. And my standing leg wasn't even all that bent, because my quads were burning. Guess what? Nothing happened! No one laughed or pointed or called me a dork. ANd I still feel like I benefitted from the pose. That could be repeated in some variation for all the asanas today, in terms of both my level of "expertise" and my level of perceived benefit.

#4. A protien-based snack would probably have prevented the energy crash better than a pear, no matter how delicious and juicy that pear may have been.