Day 20

I got up early this morning (which was more a matter of will power than anything else) then went for my daily walk. It was so lovely and cool out! The circuit from my building to the park and back takes about an hour. This morning, I drank tea as I walked.

I've been finding that when I practice mid-day, my mind tends to be more distracted and it feels like my practice swallows up a huge amount of time. In the morning, I seem to be more focused and able to move right into it. That's what I did this morning. I moved from walking to yoga to meditation, sort of like a big vinyasa - mere breaths between each activity.

I'm still working on keeping my focus on the breath and the static contraction of my quads in poses. It was coolish out this morning, but I still managed to build up heat and even had to wipe away sweat during the seated postures.

A few milestones in the standing postures: I've been using props and modifications to maintain alignment in some of these postures. Today, I took my block from vertical to horizontal in Parivritta Trikonasana. In Parivritta Parsvakonasana, I've been staying on the ball of the back foot, but today I managed to get my foot flat to the floor.

I grabbed my wrists on both sides in Marichyasana A this morning, only one side in Marichyasana B. Marichyasana C felt better on the left side than the right - this is a switch! I'm continuing to work Hanumasana for five breaths on each side. Today, I took the blocks for that pose from vertical to horizontal. This is substantial progress for me! Perhaps there's hope for that one yet!

My lower back was very, very cranky in Paschimottanasana and I didn't do Kurmasana or Supta Kurmasana.

In Urdhva Danurasana, I experimented with the blocks, using them for my feet instead of my hands (I saw this mod in the BBB Power Yoga book). I ended up slipping and hitting my head! I tried again with the hands on the blocks...better. I'm feeling very strong doing the pose without any props at all - in fact, I now feel very comfortable coming up into it, but if my back is not open, I can totally feel it. That's become my new 'edge' (rather than arms and shoulders).

In the closing sequence, I worked against the wall for Urdhva Padmasana and Pindasana, just to start to get a sense of the poses.

I did ten minutes of meditation too.