Day 34 of 40
I feel physically bushwacked today! On Saturday, I went rafting with some folks at National Instruments, where a couple of friends are interning. Rafting was basically the same as tubing down the Guadalupe River, but in a three person raft, and there were some small rapids which were tough to get over because the river was unusually low (it's been a dry year so far). It was a lot of fun to get out into nature and to meet some new people. :) But when I woke up on Sunday, I was sore (no surprise) - sore triceps, shoulders and legs from all the walking, and my hands are still tender from the paddling. Then I went to yoga! Today I'm not as sore as I could be, a testament to my increasing fitness, but am still feeling like I would like to stop hurting.
I've been encouraged by some of the benefits I've seen from attending yoga more frequently, though. For example, a few times before, I have attempted to 'flow' from a kneeling posture into sitting on my heels and pressing my forehead into the mat. Before, I couldn't bend low enough to touch my forehead to the mat without falling forward, off balance. Now I can do the move properly and smoothly - because I think my ab strength has improved. It's a remarkable change. I've also noticed toning on other parts of my body.
Even though I'm sore, generally, I am just feeling 'strong', a feeling of vitality and energy. It's great.
Here's something interesting I experienced yesterday: In The Mentalist from last thursday, there's a widow character, and in the character's first scene, you can see only her profile from a distance. After a few seconds of watching this actress, a thought randomly came to mind, "I would really love to see Morena Baccarin in something. I wonder what she's been up to these days." Morena Baccarin is the actress who played Inara in Firefly, and I'd only seen her cast one other time on tv in a commercial for Secret deodorant. I'm not a wide tv watcher, and I hadn't kept up with her screen activity.
When the widow's face was shown in close-up for the first time, for a second, I actually believed I recognized Teri Hatcher. But very quickly I realized that the actress playing the widow was no one but Morena Baccarin. I was shocked. She looked completely different from her role as Inara- her hair was very short, and her clothing and posture were harsh.
I can only conclude that I had unconsciously picked up on the resemblances of the widow to Morena Baccarin before actually recognizing her consciously, and these resemblances cued the thought I had about the actress. But the entire process was unconscious - at no point did I connect the widow character to Morena, or even think "That widow looks a little like Morena Baccarin". So I had, in fact, recognized her unconsciously well before I consciously recognized the actress. Just a strange example of the unconscious at work!
I've been encouraged by some of the benefits I've seen from attending yoga more frequently, though. For example, a few times before, I have attempted to 'flow' from a kneeling posture into sitting on my heels and pressing my forehead into the mat. Before, I couldn't bend low enough to touch my forehead to the mat without falling forward, off balance. Now I can do the move properly and smoothly - because I think my ab strength has improved. It's a remarkable change. I've also noticed toning on other parts of my body.
Even though I'm sore, generally, I am just feeling 'strong', a feeling of vitality and energy. It's great.
Here's something interesting I experienced yesterday: In The Mentalist from last thursday, there's a widow character, and in the character's first scene, you can see only her profile from a distance. After a few seconds of watching this actress, a thought randomly came to mind, "I would really love to see Morena Baccarin in something. I wonder what she's been up to these days." Morena Baccarin is the actress who played Inara in Firefly, and I'd only seen her cast one other time on tv in a commercial for Secret deodorant. I'm not a wide tv watcher, and I hadn't kept up with her screen activity.
When the widow's face was shown in close-up for the first time, for a second, I actually believed I recognized Teri Hatcher. But very quickly I realized that the actress playing the widow was no one but Morena Baccarin. I was shocked. She looked completely different from her role as Inara- her hair was very short, and her clothing and posture were harsh.
I can only conclude that I had unconsciously picked up on the resemblances of the widow to Morena Baccarin before actually recognizing her consciously, and these resemblances cued the thought I had about the actress. But the entire process was unconscious - at no point did I connect the widow character to Morena, or even think "That widow looks a little like Morena Baccarin". So I had, in fact, recognized her unconsciously well before I consciously recognized the actress. Just a strange example of the unconscious at work!