And 2 to grow on.
Wow, completing 108 Sun Salutations in one hour was one of the more surreal experiences I’ve had recently.
108 is a sacred number in Hinduism and yoga. The practice of repeating the Sun Salutation A series 108 times is sometimes called Yoga Mala, as a mala prayer necklace has 108 beads. A 108 event is often offered around the Solstice or Equinox (change of seasons) and as a fundraiser rather than for-profit. The cost of tonight’s attendance was non-perishable food for the local food bank. In addition to the canned goods, the studio pledged a $5 per item donation to a local woman who is ill with cancer.
Kath, our men, and I headed out in the late afternoon to walk 1.4 miles to Ashtanga Yoga Charlottesville, our Sun Salute host for the evening. The boys continued on to the bar while Kath and I went inside and staked claim on a little plot of studio floor for our mats. The studio swelled and was nearly overflowing by the time we got started.
I was relieved to learn that there was a teacher to guide us and count because I knew that keeping track would be tricky. Here’s the way it was to play out, we would do 10 sets of 10 Sun Salutations. The teacher would call out the start of each set. At the end of each set we would pause in Downdog for 5 full breaths.
We om’d a few times and away we went.
After 2 I lost count.
After 15 the guy accross from me started to sweat.
After 30-some I started to sweat.
After 42 I started to drip sweat.
At 50 I took my 5 breaths in Child’s Post instead of Downdog.
At 70 I glanced over and noticed Kath’s ankles were beaded with sweat. Thank goodness! It takes a lot to make that girl sweat and I was dripping.
70-80 was my most distracted.
I then found out that it was actually 80-90.
Nope. It was 70-80. I guess I wasn’t the only one distracted, the teacher called 90 and after a pregnant pause people started to whisper, “we’re at 80”. Whoops.
At 80 my upper body started to talk. Not hurt, just talk.
90-100 was my best set.
At 106 I was sad it was almost over.
At 108 I was happy it was over.
And even happier that I had done it.
After a bit of chanting we took a vinyasa (number 109!) to get to the floor for some cool-down poses. We spent about 15 minutes doing seated poses before taking vinyasa 110 to get to a final seated meditation.
I was surprised that a. the whole thing went so quick and b. it was mentally and physically easier than I anticipated. Overall it was a really amazing experience and one I would jump at the chance to replicate.
The walk home was actually a great cool-down, I hope it prevents some soreness! Kath and I were desperate to get out of our sweaty clothes so Tate put the final touches on dinner while we dried off. Man, you know someone’s a good friends when you can eat dinner with them on a Friday night in your sweat pants!
Tomorrow might involve some seriously sore hamstrings and triceps but I feel great right now! I also did this 20 minute cardio and strength training workout this morning. This workout doesn’t have as much weight action as some of my other favorites from Exercise TV but I love her cardio drills, not a single jumping jack!
Gracefulfitness 