I went to my second Level II class in a row in two days and realized what it feels like after slacking off on my yoga practice (taxes, family priorities, web work, etc.). Plus, I had gone to a couple of weekend classes that were more restorative than vinyasa. So I can tell that I have lost core strength, flexibility and stamina in just a couple of weeks. Not enough to make me collapse on the floor in exhaustion, but I will probably be sore tomorrow. On top of it all, I developed a blister on my shin! I normally have callouses on my shin (actually a protruding tibia bone just below the right knee) from the kneeling poses, but tonight we did a breath of fire routine that required us to kneel in hero's pose and then twist rhythmically as we breathed. The movement probably torqued my legs, rubbing my shin against the mat.

Yoga shorts for a real man -- Drishti bought the 72K line of yoga wear

To motivate myself I have made a couple of purchases at Drishti Yoga: a pair of yoga shorts and a microfiber mat. I got the shorts because I am tired of gyms shorts that just are not made for being worn upside down and that bind in all the wrong places. If this pair works out, I'll buy some more. I got the mat because I was intrigued by the design -- a microfabric top surface that deals well with sweat while still gripping well and a sticky mat bottom surface. I've been using the same mat for more than two years and it starting to deteriorate. My wife's mat is more than four years old (and it was cheap when I bought it), and has lost all its stickiness. Of course, the politically correct thing is to buy a mat that is ecologically friendly. I have a Jade Harmony mat that I store at Flow Yoga so that I don't have to carry a mat to work. My daughter bought it for me for my birthday last September. The mat is made of natural rubber (and smells like it) and is supposed to last forever. It takes some getting used to because I found that it does not allow me to slide on its surface.