lpf's honeycomb of experiments, challenges, programs and other things for science

[lpf]

okay so, I want to start 30 days of more yoga in the next days and as I remeber it correctly, @Sevalys wanted to join me?
Anybody else?

 

[Fremen]

Happy New Year

 

[lpf]

 

[Mianevem]

Happy New Year!

 

[Sevalys]

okay so, I want to start 30 days of more yoga in the next days and as I remeber it correctly, @Sevalys wanted to join me?
Anybody else?

Of course I want !!
When do we start ?

 

[lpf]

Of course I want !!
When do we start ?

Monday? Or today?

 

[Sevalys]

Monday? Or today?

Is tomorrow OK ?
I'm about to leave for a picnic and hike in the forest so I don't know if I'll have the time today

 

[lpf]

Is tomorrow OK ?
I'm about to leave for a picnic and hike in the forest so I don't know if I'll have the time today

Perfect.
Have fun on the hike and the picnic

 

[Anek]

Happy new year!

 

[Sevalys]

Hello there !
I hope it is OK if I start ?
D1 done this morning.

I felt a little rusty and my legs were reminding me the 7 km I walked yesterday...
I kept the same leg folded even though the picture shows some changes. I thought it was better for the flow and it is supposed to be done once each side.

It felt nice !

And for you @lpf ?

 

[lpf]

Hello there !
I hope it is OK if I start ?
D1 done this morning.

I felt a little rusty and my legs were reminding me the 7 km I walked yesterday...
I kept the same leg folded even though the picture shows some changes. I thought it was better for the flow and it is supposed to be done once each side.

It felt nice !

And for you @lpf ?

oh, I have to do it.... later today...

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Happy new year! That's a lovely Calvin and Hobbs comic there, thanks for putting it.

 

[lpf]

Happy new year! That's a lovely Calvin and Hobbs comic there, thanks for putting it.

I really like this one, it's one of my favourites
I think it was the last or one of the last Calvin and Hobbes comics...

 

[lpf]

here we go... 30 days of more yoga or the unfold story of how lpf became a pretzel....

whatever.... @Sevalys said she felt rusty.... well... I felt like the most inflexible and stiff material you know...
exercise 1 and 4 and 8 of day 1 were okay....
the rest brought me to the point of imbalance and to somewhere between
"yeah, I really need to do this kind of thing" and "what the h*ck did I even think, when I had the idea to do this?"

so, exactly that kind of fun, I was looking for.... I love it

 

[Sevalys]

so, exactly that kind of fun, I was looking for.... I love it

Today was not glorious either !

I have lost flexibility and could not bend much on 4 with feet in my hands...
I had to hold my left leg on 5 as something is hurting in my inner thigh.
The rest was OK and felt good !

 

[lpf]

Today was not glorious either !

exactly... how can someone be so stiff and inflexible?
especially the first two exercises got really hard in round two...
exercise 4 was meh.... I was better at this one, a long time ago...
5 to 8 were okay....
but as I already said, this is what I need to do...
and exercise 8 was the first part of pretzeling (if this is even a word)
more to come and at the end of the 30 days, I will be full pretzel!

 

[Sevalys]

No pretzel today !

Instead, 20 minutes of meditation...



I sat cross legged, but not in lotus pause (too hard for my ankles).
I was afraid not to be able to stay quiet with my mind wandering for this amount of time... but I concentrated on my breath, counting seconds in and out for some time, fought against bad thoughts and the urge to check the time... and I did it !


@lpf how was it for you ? Is it hard for you too ?

 

[lpf]

okay, here we go....
the 8 weeks to 5k look really tempting and I want to put it in my schedule...
but I am facing some problems
okay, so my schedule is
upper-lower-abs-upper-lower-abs-cycling
the schedule for the 5k is...
run-lower-run-upper-run-lower-run
so one run would colide with biking...
so I moved and switched and turned and combined and so on....
and in the end, the only way (in my humble opinion) would be

upper/run - lower - run - upper/run - lower - run - upper/cycling
which would lead to skip the last upper body day or add it to one of the others....
and do abs on the only run days....

I will meditate about this now...
oh and I will keep dping yoga.... this will not be changed for the next 30.... 28 days!
(wasn't there a movie called "28 days later" or something like that?)

 

[lpf]

No pretzel today !


@lpf how was it for you ? Is it hard for you too ?

yeah, no pretzel, just meditation...
20 minutes is a pretty long time.... do you have to sit while meditating?
well... okay, the first 7 minutes, the music was too loud, too much bass, and my mind was wandering around, because I got a little upset at work....
because of the upcoming employees mwwting with the boss.... talking about how you perform and what your current gaoils are and so on....
and even though we are all working from home and the company has to save money,
my boss decided, it would be super cool too waste money and plans to visit us in our office
(the one we would work, when not working from home)....

the second 7 minutes (the song I tend to listen to during meditation is something about 7 minutes long) I lied on the floor.... and my mind was more or less quite...
but the bass was still too loud and the music either...

the last 7 minutes, I turned down the volume and the bass.... and sat there thinking about nothing.... this felt quite good....

but all in all.... 20 minutes are really a long time...
I think 20 minutes of meditation equals 2 minutes of plank....

 

[Sevalys]

(wasn't there a movie called "28 days later" or something like that?)

There is indeed a movie, I hope the world would be in better shape than in this story when we end the program !

@lpf your program is as always super charged !

20 minutes is a pretty long time.... do you have to sit while meditating?

Wait for the last sessions of the program...
I guess you can meditate in any position, the important is to feel good.

Is there music on the built-in timer or you chose to listen to something ? The timer does not work for me, so I used my phone. Anyway I prefer to meditate in silence.

and even though we are all working from home and the company has to save money,
my boss decided, it would be super cool too waste money and plans to visit us in our office
(the one we would work, when not working from home)....

A chef will always have to show his power on his employees... We have a saying in France : "petit chef" (little chef...). I have known many and I sympathize...

I think 20 minutes of meditation equals 2 minutes of plank....

Time is really tensile indeed !

Today was a pleasant flow, no problem !

 

[lpf]

There is indeed a movie, I hope the world would be in better shape than in this story when we end the program !

It's about zombies, right? Well.. this would be something I would know to handle

@lpf your program is as always super charged !

well... it always looks like this.... but I try to keep the workout time short.... like 30 to 40 minutes...

Is there music on the built-in timer or you chose to listen to something ? The timer does not work for me, so I used my phone. Anyway I prefer to meditate in silence.

There's just one song, that works for me.... "Aqueous Transmission" by Incubus...

Today was a pleasant flow, no problem !

exactly.... this one was a lot of fun.... and I did it with a few different versions of a Radiohead song....
here's one of them

 

[Sevalys]

Nice version of Creep !

For me, hardest day so far.
I had to cheat some times with a knee down on part 2 that is sort of 4 minutes plank ! Not fit enough these days for that amount of plank time...

 

[lpf]

For me, hardest day so far.
I had to cheat some times with a knee down on part 2 that is sort of 4 minutes plank ! Not fit enough these days for that amount of plank time...

Day 5.... Standing to planking pretzel... on paper it looks pretty easy. And the flow itself, moving from one position to the other feels really natural, very smooth...
but the plank was hard, hard in itself, even though I might be able to keep the plank for more or less 3 minutes,
and also because I did the push and pull challenge beforehand, push-ups to failure, so my arms were already kind of tired
and I also did some abs work... but the abs weren't the problem in the plank, more my arms and especially my shoulders...
so what do I learn from this? perhaps nothing like always

so yes, one of the hardest days... well... no, kind of different hard... I think the days focusing more on flexibility are also very hard, sometimes even harder....

on the other hand, "I want it that way..." *sings*

 

[NancyTree]

Day 5 was the reason I quit 30 days more of yoga so well done pulling through!

 

[Sevalys]

I feel less alone reading both of you !

Meditation done, this time lying down...

 

[lpf]

I feel less alone reading both of you !

You are not alone, we are doing this together... and we will finish this together
and even if one day works better for me doesn't mean, every day works fine...
some days are tougher, some are not, it all depends on the mood, personal strength and preferences...


So today... meditation... I tried it without music and it seemed to be even longer....
Sit down (or lay down, what I did for the the half of that 20 minutes) and do nothing is easier, if it doesn't happen on purpose

 

[Sevalys]

Squat time !
My left sciatic nerve continues to annoy me (10 and 11), tomorrow I will add some specific exercises against that.

 

[lpf]

Okay, before I will leave for some Yoga... A little "impression" of today right after my ride... It was a lot of fun...


And now off for some Yoga

 

[lpf]

okay, here we go....
Yoga was with less rain, but it felt like it was with a bit more sweat....
The problem was keeping tghe arms up... that really made me sweat....
The mountain to tree to mountain to squat to forward bend to mountain to cossack squat
to mountain to deep squat to boat?? poses to lying on the side felt really nice in itself
if there hadn't been the arms all the time,.... but I enjoyed it nevertheless...
and it was quite good after cycling....
so day 8 can come along tomorrow

 

[NancyTree]

That looks like a nice bike ride

 

[lpf]

That looks like a nice bike ride

oh yes, it was....
but the rain in the end was a bit annoying without rain clothes...
on the other hand.... it's like running in/through the rain... you just feel bad ass doing it...

 

[Sevalys]

Good after a tough day.

 

[lpf]

So, this day is done also...
This was really good...
And just because I felt like doing this, here's some sort of impression of doing this...


Have a good night, feel hugged, if you need and want to be hugged...

 

[Sevalys]

I woke up too early , so I started the day with meditation.

 

[lpf]

okay, Meditation done yesterday evening.... after a long day it was really nice and felt really good... without music, just me and my breath...

 

[lpf]

Day 10 done....

All in all I am getting better in this, but there are still some positions that don't work perfect.
For example 8 and 10.
If I am that far down with the upper body, I cannot extend my arm fully... I am on my elbows, to reach that position of the upper body
for position 10, I cannot sit like that, as it hurts my left knee, every know and then. I need a block to sit on.
In position 11, I put the pressure on my arms, so to unload my knee.... which might or might not be what you should do

but all in all this was a nice flow. I really enjoyed it and I want to do more of this....

(by the way, I am looking forward to the upcoming flexibility program)

 

[Sevalys]

Nice flow indeed !
My difficulties are on 6 (lower back aches), 11 and 12 (not bent like in the picture).
Tomorrow stability will be the tricky part !

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Just to remark, never hesitate to use bricks to adjust poses, it is working /with/ your body, and listening to it! For pose 11, others may have good advices but a block under your bottom may also relieve your knees. I watch out a lot for my knees during yoga, and teachers always encourage to adapt and use the bricks.

 

[lpf]

Just to remark, never hesitate to use bricks to adjust poses, it is working /with/ your body, and listening to it! For pose 11, others may have good advices but a block under your bottom may also relieve your knees. I watch out a lot for my knees during yoga, and teachers always encourage to adapt and use the bricks.

I have some sort of brick.... I will try and use it next time

 

[Sevalys]

Many time with arms in the air =>
3 was strangely hard to keep.
4 and 8 were easier on right leg.
I find the one minute days harder, it's a long time for static poses.

 

[lpf]

"I float like a feather in a beautiful world.... it seems I'm special.... I'm so f****ng special...." (freely apdapted from Radiohead's "Creep"...)
well.... at least it felt like this... but before we look at the Yoga flow, let's start at the start...

okay, so today I did the first day of 8 weeks to 5k...
I did it on my treadmill, which felt weird and fascinating at the same time.
you know, if you run somewhere outside, you go fast and slow and fast and slow.... it is difficult to keep a constant speed/pace
the treadmill had a constant speed of 10km/h for the run and 5km/h for the walks (this was how I wanted it and this is okay like this, as I tend to overpace all the time)
so this was weird, but also dascinating to adapt to a constant speed and to go this for 2 minutes...

after this I did day.... ehm... 13 of the push&pull challenge... the amount of reps in total is increasing for the push-ups.... but this it not because the first set increases so much....

and then there was this balance flow and I really felt great...
I started on the left side, meaning, holding the balance parts with the left leg, as this is my weaker leg (even though or more because I am left-handed)
I had to put the right foot down just once, so this is really fine.
The right side was no problem at all.... because this is more trained in keeping the balance, then the left side is.
So again, a good flow and what I needed for today.
Keeping the balance....

now off to my handball team. Saturday we have the first match of the second half of the season....
the first half was not that good, so the guys want to start better this time

 

[lpf]

now this was pretty difficult... 25 minutes of meditation....
I couldn't really focus on this, focus on my breath and anything....
so yes, 25 minutes (in total), with little breaks...

 

[Sevalys]

It was difficult for me too.
I was interrupted twice, which was not so bad as my mind was restless.

 

[lpf]

It was difficult for me too.
I was interrupted twice, which was not so bad as my mind was restless.

Being interrupted is weird... After you've been interrupted once, your mind expects being interrupted again...
At least this is what my mind does

 

[lpf]

okay, this was a smooth flow
(note to myself: don't do push-ups and abs again before something like this.... )
(second note: ignore what you said and do push-ups and abs before, as always)
I liked this one and tried my block for the last position, which felt a lot better and worked really good.
The only thing that looked strange and it might or might not be, that I did it wrong, is position 8.
it looks like you lift one side for example left arm and left leg and balance with the right side and your core
Is that correct? Or did I do it wrong this way?

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

I'd lift the arm opposing the leg, to keep balance, personally, for Figure 8 ; wondering how others will interpret it.

 

[Nebulus]

I would also opt for opposing sides. Right leg, left arm and vice versa

 

[lpf]

Yeah, but the picture really looks like lifting the same side, ah well... It worked but was a bit more balance work

 

[NancyTree]

If you look really closely at the picture, you see it is the right leg lifted and the left arm lifted. So opposide sides.
Otherwise it would look more like pose 10 with the arch of the buttocks visible

 

[Sevalys]

Being interrupted is weird... After you've been interrupted once, your mind expects being interrupted again...
At least this is what my mind does

So do mine !

The only thing that looked strange and it might or might not be, that I did it wrong, is position 8.
it looks like you lift one side for example left arm and left leg and balance with the right side and your core
Is that correct? Or did I do it wrong this way?

I had the same questioning, specially compared to 9. I did opposite sides for both poses.