Astanga

I'm spending a few days at the house. It's challenging to find time and space to do a daily practice of the Primary Series when I'm away from home, but I'm determined. My solution: rise early and practise in the morning. I never manage to do this at home, but I went to bed early last night in hopes that I could do it here.

And I did! I woke around 6 a.m., plodded downstairs to put the kettle on for tea, then set up my mat near MB Buddha in the front room. I placed the dog's basket near the front of my mat (she likes to be near me as I do yoga). This is what my yoga space looks like at the house:


Not a lot of room to either side, unfortunately, so I have to move to the hallway for Supta Padagunsthasana and Garba Pindasana is a bit tight. But I have windows to the west and east. This time of morning, the light streams in through the trees. Dappled sunlight, nice!

I practised the full Primary Series this morning. I don't have a towel or Mysore rug to use at the house. This wasn't a problem until I tried to slide my feet forward in Kurmasana and (worse!) bring my feet together in Supta Kurmasana. The mat caught on my feet and bunched up. The lack of a rug also made jumpthroughs awkward. This summer, I want to purchase a Manduka towel. When I do, I'll leave my old rug at the house (it's getting very thin anyway and is due to be replaced).

It's not as warm in the house as it is in the apartment (particularly right now - we're having a cold spell), but I worked up a decent sweat in my practice. I was able to bind in all the variations of Marichyasana and in Supta Kurmasana. I practised headstand against the wall because I didn't want to risk falling and breaking something (making a loud crashing sound would also be bad). I threw a blanket over myself in Savasana.