Utkatasana, Sleeping (and lack thereof), Skiing & Yoga

This is what I've been up to lately.

Utkatasana (powerful or chair pose): A 30 Day challenge, working up to 1 minute hold. Today I rocked the halfway mark of the challenge at 48.2 seconds.

Sleeping (and lack thereof): I had an assessment at a sleep clinic and last night went for a sleep study. They attached many wires to my head (in my hair), by my eyes, on my jaw and also on my legs. A two-lead ECG (one on my collar bone, the other on the opposite rib, just under the breast) plus an inch and a half wide elastic strap across the top of my boobs and another one around my belly added to the look. Oh, and don't forget the nasal cannuli and oxygen saturation detector on the finger. Weird thing is, I slept. Of course, it could've been the full day skiing (see below) or the fact I hadn't had more than 4 hours of consecutive sleep in the past 3 weeks. Now I wait for 3 weeks to get the results. Should be interesting...

Skiing: I was pumped to go today, but the sleep study people didn't wake me up when they said they would, so I completely missed the bus. =(
But yesterday I had a pretty amazing day! Midweek skiing is where it's at!! We had second row parking (if you've ever skiied at Sunshine, you'll know what a big deal this is) and nary a lineup to be had on a single lift. Goat's Eye was the surprise of the day as the visibility was best there, as was most of the snow. We had some great, fast runs, some with bumps (they were slower) and some without. It was great!! We hit 11 of 12 lifts (the visibility at the top of Angel was awful so we didn't even attempt Divide. The new skis I won are awesome, just sayin'!

And always, there is YOGA. Teacher training continues and I'm humbled and amazed by both my teachers leading us and the teachers I'm learning with. We have done some amazing collaborative teaching and lesson planning and it rocks! Yoga remains the steady, powerful force in my life that keeps me sane. Just like in utkatasana, we must draw into our core, hug the midline, root down and then expand out with power. And most of all, Grace.

_/|\_