Day 44 -- Listen

In contrast to yesterday, today I needed to get out of the room.

Last night, my six-year-old was up at midnight with an earache. After I gave her some medicine, her sister tried to corral the dog, who had escaped from the girls' room (where she usually sleeps) and hidden under our bed. I told the girls just to go back to bed, and that Moneypenny could hang out with us for a while.

But it took me a long time to go back to sleep, partly because Moneypenny was fidgety, and her dog tags kept clinking and startling me fully awake. Then at 1am, she started barking at something outside, pulling me out of my drowse and back into adrenaline mode. I took her back downstairs, but again--it took me a long time to settle down.

And the alarm goes off every day at 5:15 a.m. There's no snooze, no wiggle room; it's not like I can skip the class I teach every weekday at 6am. So whenever I have a rough night (and they're actually quite few and far between these days, nothing like those years of nursing babies and toddlers), I promise myself a nap at some point, and that gets me going.

I got the kids off to school and headed to the yoga studio. I always love Brook's class, and things started out well. But halfway through the Standing Series, I felt faint. I sat out half of Triangle and got back up for Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee. In the past, I've always been able to get all the way through Tree, telling myself that the long Savasana is up next.

But today, I started blacking out during Tree. I staggered out of the room and sat for five minutes. Once it was time for Full Locust, I went back in.

At some point during the Floor Series, Brook reminded us to focus on her words when we felt overwhelmed and scattered. I always do this with all the teachers, and Brook's smooth, warm cadence makes that task particularly easy.

But today, I had to listen to my body as well. I needed the break today, as opposed to just wanting one yesterday. It did me good, and I got through and finished the class.