Category Archives: fat loss

Joy’s Bikram Journey… Days 19 & 20 BAM….What Hit Me?

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Day 20 today. I left my Bikram Yoga Class today and asked my husband, “Did you get the License plate number”. He replied: “License plate, What are you talking about?” Me: “The truck that HIT ME broadside today during yoga!!!!”

OK, so we all have good days and bad days, right? and in Bikram yoga, it is no different. Yesterday I bounced into class all peppy, 20 minutes early. I did a first ever in my Bikram Yoga 30 day challenge- I positioned myself in the FRONT ROW, where I could see myself in the mirror…. my whole self.

It seems like I mastered poses I had not before, OK, mastered is an exaggeration, but honestly there is something about staring into your own eyes for 90 minutes that was very powerful. During those 90 minutes I actually begged for my YOGA guides to help me. Surely we have yoga guides, right?

The only error I made yesterday is I wore what is equivalent to a snowsuit in Bikram (long Prana belled at the bottom yoga pants and a ‘spank type’ built in bra type of top…long in length! The heat could not escape even if it tried. BUT- it didn’t matter. It was a great “practice”….one of my best.

Most women- even the full figured gals, know that wearing less clothes in 105 degree heat with 40% humidity is the way to go. It’s not unusual to see women in bikini bathing suit type bottoms (you know they MAKE Bikram bottoms like that and they cinch at the sides?)…always with a skimpy sport bra. (The fancier the criss-cross in the back, the more popular). OR, they wear bootie shorts or capris, but rarely does anyone wear what I wore….and it will be my last time. The only benefit is I could WRAP my sweaty foot around the ‘bell’ and hang on during poses better.

Today I went INTO yoga tired. Perhaps it was because it was Day 20 in a row and I didn’t sleep well the last two nights, or because I had experienced 2 hours of body work 2 days ago and felt like I was recovering from the healing massage. I KNEW going in today that I felt ‘weaker’ but I still showed up and gave it my best.

My best today, was OK -nothing earth shattering AND I knowingly positioned myself in the BACK ROW. Typically in the back row you can still see yourself in the far distant mirror but not today. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) today I could not see myself at ALL because of where the instructor was perched upon the box. So, from now on- I will, no matter what, be able to have eye contact during the session.

Some well-meaning friends and even family think I am a bit EXTREME with this 30-day challenge, but I don’t think so. Yes, it is a physical and mental challenge for sure, but I like where it is taking me.

If you are inspired, check out BIKRAM yoga in your area. I believe most studios offer an introductory 30 Days for $30 package. If you are in Burlington Vermont I highly recommend Queen City Bikram Yoga, http://www.queencitybikramyoga.com/ owned by Marla Ceppetelli.

I think I have experienced at least 7 of their instructors and they are all fantastic! In her own words she says: “Welcome to Queen City Bikram Yoga. We are so happy you are here. Why? Because all of our students and teachers took a first class. We all were trepidatious. We all survived and we all feel better!

There are no requirements to come to class. You can come to any class on any day. If you feel nervous, excited, worried, self-conscious or not good enough to come to class then you are like the rest of us.

You can do this yoga whether you are old or young, injured or fit, sick or healthy, happy or sad. It is never too late to feel better. All you need to do is show up and be prepared to change your life.”

When I went into my first class I was petrified….truly- but I felt at home and welcomed. I had NO IDEA that I would take on my own challenge and do BIKRAM 30-Days in a row when I began. I was simply taking it one day at a time, and still am.

THEN the studio decided to conduct THEIR 30-Day Challenge for the month of September. Yikes, if I do that it will take me to 41 days in a row. Am I “up for it?” I have no idea. Like I said, one day at a time.

So what are you doing to challenge yourself?

Challenges are fun as long as you are also gentle on yourself and realize that there will be ‘good’, ‘better’ days or an occasional ‘rotten day’.

Enjoy the process…. and Don’t postpone JOY.

Joy Edgerton

802-846-7530

joyedgerton@gmail.com

www.DaveandJoy.com

 

Bikram Yoga- more than 1/2 way there! Funny Description of Paige’s 1st day.

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I couldn’t sleep well last night and I began to wonder if it is my BIKRAM YOGA “practice” that is shifting things internally and messing up with my night time sleep schedule….and day time energy slumps. They say it gets easier and I can expect to BECOME MORE ENERGIZED – but WHO is they anyway? 🙂

Yesterday was Day 16 of doing Bikram daily. I began to question if what I was doing….a 30-Day Challenge was actually good for me and wanted to hear others experience of what it did for them! So I googled and found many great stories, videos etc. but THIS one put a smile on my face and I continued to read on and actually ‘champion’ her successes.

….and this is where I stumbled upon this part 1 of a gal, Paige Williams, who shared her Bikram story in Oprah Magazine. http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/paige-williams-60-day-bikram-yoga-makeover/all

This girl, Paige, was 80 pounds overweight, divorced, out of work, and deeply in debt. OK, so none of those are me, except I am a 60-year old woman who had never done a BIKRAM challenge and someone, much like Paige, who wants to make peace with my body while balancing my body-mind-spirit connection. Oh and add one more thing, I’d love to drop at least 10 pounds in these ‘infamous’ 30-days. (I’d like to say where the FAT could melt off, but I guess I will have to just wait and see.) One thing I know, a woman with a ‘men-o-pot’ around the belly can not bend into poses easily.

So here is how it was described in Paige’s article. Paige needs a physical and spiritual overhaul. Can 60 days in a Bikram hot-yoga studio really undo years of damage? and this is where it got funny-and accurate.

OK -SO I NEED A PHYSICAL & SPIRITUAL OVERHAUL too, I agree. CAN 30-DAYS OF BIKRAM HELP ME?

Paige writes: “The teacher wants me to make a Japanese ham sandwich. To my knowledge, I’ve never seen a Japanese ham sandwich, but as I understand it, I’m to stand bent with my face to my shins and chest to my thighs in perfect vertical union—I am the sandwich.

I would say I look more like a jelly roll. My flabby abdomen won’t let my forehead anywhere near my knees, and my legs tremble as I try contorting myself into a position my body neither recognizes nor endorses. The goal is to concentrate on stretching and breathing, but I’m fixating on my unpedicured toenails. And the neon paleness of my legs. And the fact that I probably should have shaved.

The students around me are tanned and toned and very nearly nude. Every body glistens. We’re in a Bikram yoga studio, after all, where the heat is set to 105 degrees and the humidity to 40 percent, to facilitate flexibility. The men wear nothing but shorts; the women rock hot pants and halters. Because I’d rather lick the sweat-soaked carpet than bare my wretched flesh, I have on the hot-yoga equivalent of a snowsuit: calf-length sweatpants, a jog bra, and a T-shirt. I’m huffing harder than a serial killer. And we’re only on posture number one.

Posture number one of class one of day one. Assuming I survive, I’ll make the ham sandwich and about two dozen other postures every single day for the next two months, for the notorious 60-day Bikram challenge. I’m subjecting myself to “Bikram’s torture chamber,” as founder Bikram Choudhury himself calls this insanely intense regimen, because the program promises renewal from the inside out—because suffering inside this hot room may be my surest path to survival out in the world.

I need to change so many things about my life, it’s hard to know where to start. I need physical and spiritual transformation, from the mental to the muscular to the molecular. I need to stop treating my body like a landfill. I need stability, which I haven’t seen in so long, I’ve forgotten how it feels. I need a reset button.

“Do this yoga for 60 days and it will change your body, your mind, and your life,” says Choudhury, a former Indian yoga champion who lives in Los Angeles and who is, depending on your viewpoint, either a beloved lifesaving guru or just a really flexible guy who got lucky, and rich, with an idea and a persona. Bikram students believe, and I hope they’re right, that Choudhury’s heat-centric, copyrighted sequence of ancient hatha yoga postures is a transformative agent like no other; testimonials the world over suggest this yoga eases the symptoms of a range of maladies—depression, diabetes, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, migraines, arthritis, back pain, and heart disease, for instance—while relaxing the mind and slimming the body.

“Can’t you just do all that by, like, running every day for 60 days?” a friend asks. Good question, but the answer doesn’t interest me. None of my past fitness activities—racquet sports, cycling, jogging, gym circuit training, kickboxing—seem catalytic enough for the depth of change I’m after.

I’m not a renovation; I’m a tear down. And I’m hoping Bikram is my bulldozer!”

So here I am….JOY, not Paige and I began questioning if what I was doing was sane, smart or worth it. I can say each and every day is different- for example Day 17 was TODAY and I felt GREAT. I could balance stronger, I was less tired (despite not sleeping well last night) and honestly if I had to, I’d actually be able to do a 2nd class later today, which they call a ‘double’! (Now that I think of it, I believe it was the TAVALA TRIM drink I had prior to class today that made a difference) I’ll have to try it tomorrow! www.DaveandJoy.com

Am I going to stick it out? You bet. How could I come this far and not complete the 30-days? I’d truly let myself down if I quit now. 30-days straight or admit I don’t have what it takes.

I began Bikram when I listened to my inner self/my voice tell me this is what my body needs. I wasn’t thrilled to ‘hear’ the message but I believed it to be true.

If you won’t listen, then why ask- right?

I began my personal 30-Day Challenge on August 21st and September 1st Queen City Bikram Yoga, where I go, started their 30-Day Challenge. If I do just mine, COOL, if I do the studios’ it will take me to 41 Days Straight. What do you think? Think I can do it? Think I ‘should’ do it?

I look forward to the day when walking into a Bikram yoga studio is as comfortable to me as walking into a gym or fitness center. The familiarity of a cold 20 lb. dumbbell could really excite me! but in the meantime, I’ll see what YOGA can do for this less-than-limber 60 year old body.

If you happen to live in Burlington VT and would like to join me, message me. My husband joins me 3x a week and the more the merrier!

Joy Edgerton/ 802-846-7530

joyedgerton@gmail.com/ www.DaveandJoy.com

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Why we Donate a Portion of our Customer Tavala sales to WEA?

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Early August of this year I was telling my daughter- in- law, Brie, that we wanted to create a foundation or better yet, work with an organization that was already doing great things in the world, in particular for women and families, and their communities.

She told me of an organization called WEA and immediately after speaking with one of the co-founders, we made the decision to support this organization – Women’s Earth Alliance.

In their own words….

“When women thrive, communities and the Earth thrive. This is one of our core beliefs here at WEA because we’ve seen it to be true. Want to know more? Take a look at this short video sharing more about our origin story and vision for the future!” Check out this brief video. If you are moved, you too can make a donation, either a one time donation OR simply purchase any of our TAVALA products as a customer and we’ll make a 5% donation. (www.DaveandJoy.com)

 

We are thrilled to have decided mid-August to donate 5% of all our TAVALA customer sales (including sample sales) to WEA (Women’s Earth Alliance) and later this week we’ll tally up all our customer sales from mid-August and make our first of many on–going monthly donations.

So if you are considering purchasing any of TAVALA PRODUCTS (Trim, Control, Bru, Quantum Relief Strips, Alert and Snooze) know that when you order through our website (www.DaveandJoy.com) that a portion of your sales will help this organization and women and communities in need. We AND WEA appreciate your support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing great things, one person at a time…because we can. Tavala has made if possible to contribute in ways that touch our hearts and this is just the beginning.

We are all connected and in this together! If you’d like to contribute to WEA in any way we’ll help you make the connections to make that happen. If you’d like to donate your TAVALA customer sales to WEA or another organization that touches your heart, let’s talk. 802-846-7530

Once again, your customer purchases through our Tavala website will help Women’s Earth Alliance. www.DaveandJoy.com

Dave and Joy/Global Leaders at Tavala

802-846-7530

info@DaveandJoy.com

www.DaveandJoy.com