You can only hide from your own yoga practice for so long. Photo via DearDear.

I have to say, it's been one heck of a holiday season so far! Busy busy busy bees. I buzz around from work to home, from the Midwest to the Caribbean, from wake to sleep.

All this travel, eating out, and getting caught with a yucky cough has affected my Bikram practice. Tonight I found myself in the Torture Chamber feeling a little chubbier and a lot tanner than usual, hoping that class would go smoother than Sunday's.

I lucked out: my body decided to work together with me, so instead of chasing my breath around the room I was able to connect with it, utilize my nostrils, and complete every posture.

A week away from Bikram and you might start to feel like this. Photo via Etsy's Tumblr.

I felt great, especially considering after the last two classes I seriously thought I'd go a month before completing every asana again. While I've felt incredible and super-energized after classes since I returned from Puerto Rico, I must admit that those 90-minute meditations have been hard.

I often find myself out of breath, overwhelmed. I set up in the last row by the beginners, wondering where has my Bikram yoga gone?

I think the worst part about playing catch up is that I seem to have lost the Bengal Tiger strength and bulldog determination part of the yoga. I get frustrated by the little things, and quickly. I get distracted easily.

I find my eyes wandering around the room, comparing myself to other yogis. I tell myself I need to push harder, be better, be able to execute the postures like I did a month ago instead of listening to my body today.

I slip and slide, overindulge, feel discouraged.

At work, I let the little mistakes I make get to me, I let them be reasons to dislike my own Self. At home, I can feel distant when I don't communicate about my needs or exhausted when I over-work. Then when I take a day off, I feel guilty.

Welcome to the holidays, right?

Photos via A Desert Fete.

Do you ever get the sense that this is a time of year where your expectations are highest and your ability to meet them is at an all-time low? I know I'm exaggerating here, but I just want to make the point that despite the eggnog lattes and silver bows, December can be a rough month -- emotionally, financially, physically. For singles and couples, individuals and families.

We're all trying to do so much, and if we're not practicing our yoga, it's hard to do anything at all.

It's easy to over-eat, over-spend, and over-plan all the wintery celebrations and decorations.

Just think: all those holiday parties with their mini wieners and meatballs, their shrimp dip and crackers, their champagne punch! Speaking from experience here. And it was delicious, let me tell you! :)

Alright, so I do think that celebrating with special food and drink and super awesome company is a must of the holiday season. But if that celebrating really leaves you feeling empty or lonely or overweight, I highly recommend you try to make up for it in the Hot Room.

Eat, drink, be merry, and then do your yoga! Commit to the 90 minutes. Sit down when you need a break.

Find the community at your studio, too, and enjoy it. Meet people; chat in the locker rooms; get together (for healthy food and drink) after class! When you can truly connect to other dedicated Bikram yogis around you, the experience of the postures becomes different -- fuller, more meaningful, more well-rounded. You find yourself with someone to talk to about the ways the yoga applies to life outside the hot box, and sharing those reflections can change your life (and your practice).

Keep an eye on your yoga, or it might sneak away from you.

Don't get me wrong: I don't want this post to imply that I'm suffering this month, or even this holiday season. I'm simply attuned to those who are, and the moments which sometimes make December and January feel like a mudslide.

I'm a very happy yogi right now. I've been so, so lucky and incredibly blessed with the stuff I have going on. I could not be more surrounded by loving people, either.

Even in the Hot Room, a place that's felt distant lately, I have a lot to be grateful for. My Standing Bow has improved a ton, probably in part because I spent all my free moments in Puerto Rico taking photos of that posture on the beach. :) I'm also learning to enjoy the first set of postures, and really treat it like a warm-up instead of a race to the finish line. I'm learning what it means to slow down so that I can keep doing the yoga at a steady pace rather than needing a break and missing out on postures.

I'm realizing more and more that without the yoga, I can't quite handle it all. I'm learning what I need to do to make Bikram a priority, even when the holidays bring madness. And I'm hoping that you're doing the same.

Here's to keeping Christmas week and New Year's stress-free, yoga-filled, and rich with love, light and happiness!

Find your bliss. And hold on to it with all you've got.

Namaste,

Rachel