The other reason I chose to stay home is alcohol. I don't have anything against it and I used to enjoy wine, even at home. But in the past year or so, I've started to notice the effects of alcohol in a rather intense way. Perhaps it comes with age (I turned 40 this year) or daily yoga practice (when you're on the mat every day, you notice stuff about your body).
When I drink, I feel ill and I observe a stagnant feeling in my body for days afterward. To be perfectly honest, if I really enjoyed alcohol, that wouldn't stop me (I feel the effects of sugar too, but that never seems to be a deterrent). It seems that I've developed a strong aversion to alcohol. The smell, the taste, even the sight of it makes me a little nauseous.
So being around a bunch of people drinking a LOT has very little appeal. I don't mind small parties or dinners but pubs, for example, have lost their magic.
This isn't my first aversion. I can't drink coffee and no longer crave it. I was addicted to chai for a very long time, but the black tea caused an inflammatory reaction in my body. I started to gradually taper off my chai consumption and now I don't drink it, don't crave it.
My hope for 2011 is that my daily yoga practice will work its magic on my sugar cravings. Keeping my fingers crossed!
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I wasn't able to practice until 2:00 today because that was the early class available to me. I'm starting to see the same people from class to class and get to know individuals. It's fun!
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this soon, but it's a completely different 'yoga culture' from Astanga (Look at that! My Anthropology background is popping up again!). There are many similarities too, though, enough that I feel pretty comfortable at this studio.
The heat was a bit less intense than yesterday, but it was still very hot. I skipped a pose for the very first time. I did the first Ustrasana (In Bikram's, each pose done twice), but by the second one, I was feeling woozy so I sat it out. I generally try not to do that, but I also didn't want to pass out cold in a backbend!
Starting tomorrow, I'm on a steady morning schedule: 9:30-11:00 every day. There are no Moon Days! Cabbage might join me for a class on the Tuesday Moon Day. That will be fun! I can be crazy in the Hot Room with another Ashtangi. We'll wow them with our Man Arms! ;-)
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5 comments:
You're only 40??? You's a baby!!!
I am going to be 44 any minute. I'm soooooo old. I still love caffeine & wine as much as I ever did though :) But I have to say I do NOT love New Year's Eve...
Lately cultural holiday behavior seems like mass hypnosis to me.
@Boodi
A baby? I'll take that :-) Some of my friend are in their 20s. I often feel like a fossil!
I'm with you on the holidays. I think they're far more meaningful if you're around kids.
Sugar is a tough one to wean off of, but I find caffeine to be muuuuuch harder!
Speaking of yoga cultures, there is definitely 'a thing' (that is a proper anthropological term right?) with coffee in Ashtanga. There's been lots of discussion about it, whether having it before practice improves energy levels and the ability to get through the sequence. I've been drinking it before practice lately and it's been great! It adds a little oomph.
I've quit trying to quit coffee... I definitely enjoy sugar and found it far more addictive and pervasive, but the health consequences to eating sugar and refined foods are just really bad. There's a bigger deterrent there, for me.
Right now after all the days of Xmas foods, I'm sniffling and sneezing and achy again... Boo.
Looking forward to Tuesday -- Man Arms FTW!!
I think it's sugar+fat+flour that make the combo addictive. Although my sister used to put a spoonful of sugar in her mouth if there was nothing sweet in the house when we were kids...May I one day sport man arms!
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