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Using my Astrology, click here to see how I came up with the name of this section, the graphic and of course, how I ended up practicing hot yoga.

First I noticed that I was able to step my foot all the way forward from downward facing dog to land in between my hands. Up until this point I have had to grab my ankle and pull it up and through to land between my hands. (*See video below) Yesterday, all the sudden I could do it all through warrior series, as well as the stretch class. I was shocked! This morning during the 9:00 AM class I had to grab it twice and pull it forward 2 inches but I was still jazzed to know that if I would have tried a bit harder, just a little bit more, I would not have had to grab my ankle at all.

Second, yesterday during class I was able to do hero pose with my arms over my head grabbing my elbows. This was not only a noticeable improvement in my feet, being able to sit on them while they were extended, but being able to crank my shoulder back far enough to grab both elbows surprised the heck out of me. I thought I was just going to 'try' but lo' and behold, I did it! And believe me folks, I 'try' everything. I don't just sit there or stand there and tell myself that I can't do something. I make a genuine attempt at everything, everytime.

Third, this morning during class my right shoulder felt so Good that I found myself a little nervous, even a bit fearful of doing too much. During bent knee triangle I felt my arm feeling great and then suddenly modified out of fear and then put the back of my open face hand on my low back. That's a modifier for that pose if you have a jacked-up shoulder that won't rotate. I have had more injuries and suffered through them since I started 'hot yoga' and now that my shoulder and the muscles around the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint are getting stronger, I turn to fear. What the hell is up with that?!?! Interestingly enough, I also found myself automatically doing a real chatarunga rather than immediately going down to my knees. My shoulder is feeling so much better and stronger without me realizing it. Also in right side plank, my body was ready to crank to wild thing and I wouldn't let myself do it . . again I was fearful. GEEZ! If it's not one thing it's another, and if it's not another, it's one thing. LOL

Over these past several months, instead of giving myself all kinds of reasons why I could not go to 'hot yoga' with my shoulder dislocated, my broken toe, latissimus dorsi muscle spasm, Morton's Neuroma, deep cut on the ball of my right foot and just being downright exhausted, I found all of these things to be the very reasons why I should go to 'hot yoga'. And now that there is nothing else wrong except the remnants of a dislocated shoulder and tendonitis around the joint, I get all fearful. LOL. It's funny what we will do to ourselves to keep us from moving forward. The way I see it, that fearful voice is the negative force and the negative force does not get to have control over me or what I do. I recognize that I am growing stronger, getting leaner, getting healthier and my spirit is at peace. I also recognize that I am a woman with a loud voice who can reach millions of people. So why wouldn't there be a target on my back from the negative force? It's the job of the negative force to try to tempt, undermine, influence or trick those in a position of influence to give up or find an excuse to quit. And for that reason . . I'M ALL IN!

2ND YOGA CLASS OF THE DAY

BEFORE I STARTED HOT YOGA AND 34 LBS. LATER

Tonight I am posting my before and after pics from when I started 'hot yoga' until now. In a short 18-month period of time I had gained 40 lbs. I normally weigh around 152 to 160 lbs., and wear an off the rack size 8 and sometimes I'm fortunate to catch a size 6 outfit every now and then. But starting in the Fall of 2015 I began to balloon as if someone stuck a straw in me and start blowing me up. I had already been sitting behind this desk for the last 15 years working 12 and 14 hour days rarely taking breaks, but it wasn't until the Fall of 2015 when I started going through menopause that I took myself right out of having any kind of a metabolism. My engine could not have run slower. I was cold all the time and would often times sleep full dressed and with a coat on. The summer of 2016 was the first time in the 'history of me' that I could not wear a two-piece swimsuit. This was devastating for me because I am body conscious. Not body-self-conscious but body-conscious enough to know when I look Good and when I don't.

The South Node had gone into Pisces (my natal nodal placement) in November 2015, so all through 2016 I was puffing up like a blowfish. Every week I was gaining another pound. When the Fall of 2016 came along I was completely miserable, unhappy, bitchy and frustrated. I was not easy to live with and I was feeling completely out of integrity with what I thought my mission in Life was and that was to teach others how to become their own best healthcare provider. Just as the tagline under my website name states. I was out of integrity and this really bothered me to no end. In early November 2016 that's when I finally looked at my Solar Return for answers and saw that I had THE WORST SOLAR RETURN I had ever seen, much less written. I could not have had more Grand Squares and T-Squares overlapping each other. Not only was I fighting the South Node in Pisces (the drain in my chart) I was dealing with Saturn square Neptune, which is about THE MOST depressing aspect you could have. Good grief I was about to lose my mind and that Saturn square Neptune aspect makes you wonder if you are going mad (angry) or going mad (crazy) and for someone who had never in their Life been that over-weight, I was about to lose my mind. I was working out daily but not getting anywhere. From November 2016 until April 2017 I had only lost 3 lbs. HOW DEPRESSING!

Then my friend Kellie contacted me and told me she was opening up a new hot yoga studio. I said that I would be there to support her. I wouldn't make opening day on April 2, 2017 because I would be out of town, but I would start on April 5, 2017 when I returned and so I did. Since April 5, 2017 I have been going to hot yoga at least once a day and most of the time I go twice a day. In fact, with the exception of being out-of-town I make it a point to go twice a day since I work from home and I need to get up and move every several hours. It is also not that unusual that I show up to 'hot yoga' three times a day (morning, noon and evening). If I don't get up and move every 4 or 5 hours from this keyboard, then I'm stiff as a board and my blood and lymph are not circulating optimally. My usual schedule is twice a day, but I will go more if I feel like it.

By the time late July 2017 rolled around (3-1/2 months later) I had lost 34 lbs., with no change in my diet. All I did was go steady and strong to hot yoga and did not change one single thing in my diet. I am very healthy eater and do not eat boxed, packaged, canned, refined, baked or processed food. There was nothing in the diet to change. I have stopped weighing at this point because now it is unimportant. Who cares! I probably weigh less than I did at the end of July 2017 but now what is more important to me is the size of my clothes. I will probably end up an off the rack size 6. I started out in 'XL' yoga pants, then 'L' Yoga pants and before I went out to buy size 'M' yoga pants, I started wearing my yoga shorts that I bought a long time ago in a smaller size as motivation. When you are going to 'hot yoga' you want to wear as few clothes as possible (ask any hot yogi) because the temperature is 105 - 107 degrees with about 40 percent humidity and worth every drop of sweat.

For the Life of me, I will NEVER let myself get to that point again. I made it through menopause without a single hot flash, but interestingly enough I have made up for the hot flashes with hot yoga. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Visit this section of the site every day where I will soon be posting pictures of myself in yoga poses rather than people I don't even know. I'm going for it.
by Dr. Loretta Standley
www.facebook.com/drlorettastandley
www.facebook.com/PoseitivelyYoga
About Dr. Standley

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