Heavy Morning

There's a reason yoga should be practiced on a regular basis.  The accumulated benefit of the practice.  I think that there is the misconception with complete beginners to a yoga practice, that you only need to practice until whatever ails you feels better and then you're cured.  I remember very clearly thinking this 6 years ago, as I browsed through one of Iyengar's huge practice books, believing if I practiced certain asanas for a certain period of time I would be cured of my back pain.

This morning was the perfect example of why I should practice yoga five to six days a week.  Christmas morning was my last practice.  That's 3 days ago and while normally I would be OK with a 3 day break, take into account Christmas day feasting and Boxing day where I existed on the couch and watched movies and ate, my body was not happy with me this morning.  I felt heavy, my normally very flexible hamstrings were tight, I could barely lift my bum off the ground when I attempted jump backs, and my ankles and knees were severely tight when I attempted any half lotus or full lotus position.

It was a good reminder that this practice does me good - all of the time.  It was also a good reminder that it's OK to have a gentle practice - especially when you're recovering from food and booze overload coupled with epic laziness. 

P90 Update: I did do my P90X during these lazy days but I know from experience that the P90 does not improve my yoga whereas that the yoga definitely improves my P90.