Bikram: Morning Practice Versus Later Practice.

There is a world of difference between my morning Bikram practice and my later-in-the-day practice.

There are elements of each that really suck.

The Mornings

• Stiff joints.
• Creaky knees.
• No flexibility in the spine, so backbends and side bends (think "Half Moon") are rough.
• But forward bends rock, because I have no food in me and very little liquids.
• Spine-strengthening series is actually achievable and productive.

Later-In-The-Day

• Loose joints.
• Juicy knees.
• Super flexibility in the spine. Backbends are a piece of blueberry cheesecake! And nobody goes deeper in Half Moon than me.
• Forward bends, because I have eaten and been drinking all day, SUCK ASS. And is often evry difficult.
• Spine-strengthening series is awful.

But none of these are valid excuses for skipping class or postures. Always put forth your 100% best effort.

That's what I tell myself, at least.

Like this morning... My alarm went off at 6:45am, because I had the intention of going to the 8am class.  I set my alarm to "snooze" till 7:15am. When that alarm went off, I looked at the temperature app on my phone and determined, "There is no freaking way I am going out there in this cold!"

Then, a voice inside my feeble brain said, "That is weak. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to actually do Floor Bow pose for once? You usually have so much trouble in the evening classes with it."

I was able to coax myself out of bed with this thought.

But man did my backbends suck ass!