Thursday...

Done with ballet and yoga.  Tired, but going back to the gym for a swim, where it's nice and warm, away from the city chill...

Yoga class was good but I think I overdid it because I was even stiffer in ballet.  It was a similar class to yesterday, with the same teacher.  We did some adagio combinations at barre, such as chasse forward to fourth, circular port de bras, swing leg to attitude, bring to passe, fouette over to penche...we also did batterie with attitude balances.  We did an interesting battement combination:  battement to passe, tendu down, front and back, grand battements to side.

In center we did tendus en croix with arms, pirouettes to chainnes and inside pique turns.  Adagio was start sou-sou, developpe leg to ecarte, step and developpe ecarte to other direction, fondu grand ronde jambe to arabesque, promenade in attitude, inside attitude turns to releve arabesque.

For jumps we did glissade assembles, sissonnes to chainnes and inside pique turns.  Finally, grand allegro was contretemps chasse pas de bourre glissade grand jete, glissade assemble, pirouettes.

It was nice to see my former yoga teacher this morning, who has become a dancer and recently went to Italy on vacation.  He used to be a gymnast and some of his yoga moves are pretty impossible for me.  He has incredibly strong arms, even though he is tall and reed thin.  I cannot do his malasanas where he is sitting with his legs in front and then pushes off the floor with his arms and somehow swings his legs underneath his body so that he is in cobra position.

Other than that, and a girl who kept doing headstands in class, the triangle poses and body twists felt nice on my back, as did all the straddle stretches.  I told him the joke I heard last night about the girl who tried yoga and found that drinking would make her feel even more relaxed and then perhaps she could bring her leg over her head, ha, ha.

Well, a dreary day, but I did my workout because it all adds up, and a day missed will show up on you later and a day worked will reap its rewards.  Now it's back into the night...

Got to my favorite bookstore cafe to warm up with some coffee and a protein bar and then headed to the gym for Pilates class, deciding to forego swimming on such a cold night.  I am beginning to enjoy Pilates, more than yoga, where before it used to be vice-versa.  I am simply stronger now and enjoy the challenges of Pilates.  We worked with the magic circle in this class, on inner and outer thighs and hip alignment.  I noticed that when I was on my left side how hard it was to keep my hips from moving as I moved my legs up and down and forward and back and then in circles.  We also placed the magic circle between our ankles and squeezed against it to strengthen the thighs.

The hardest exercise for me tonight was the swan, where we picked up our chest while lying on our stomachs.  "Proud chest," the instructor said.  This weather must be making me stiff, but I chisel away every day, knowing that it will all pay off in the end.

Oh, and I asked a friend about pointing the toes and if it hurts the hamstring area and I see now that you must work up to where the pain starts and then back off.  We were talking about a foot device that stretches the foot and I said I felt if the spring was any tighter, my bones would break.  Same with muscles, my friend the dancer helped me see.  All this training is hard work...but I love it!