Okay, I'm still getting my head wrapped around this, but it appears that I'm about to become mini-famous (In fact, there's a good chance that many of you reading today are brand new, so welcome! I'm glad you're here!).
YogaDork tipped me off.
I was casually reading YogaDork's latest post, which was about an upcoming article in Yoga Journal (August 2009) talking about yoga blogs. “Oh goody,” I thought, “This should be interesting!” The article discussed yoga blogs in the context of community and information sharing (which is a pretty generous take on the sometimes narcissistic, snarky world of yoga blogging, I thought). It also offered a selection of 10 particularly good blogs. I curiously perused the list.
I saw many of the usual suspects. Yoga Dawg is on there, along with Cyndi Lee and a few of the 'professional blogs'. YogaDork, of course, made the list. There were some new-to-me blogs that I'll definitely be checking out (Brook looks particularly awesome).
And I'm on that list.
I kind of did a double take, then a triple take, then a quadruple take. Then I did my happy dance, because seriously, who doesn't want to be in Yoga Journal? And then I checked the scanned copy of the article because I still couldn't believe it. Then I went to bed and dreamt that it had all been a BIG MISTAKE. In the dream, I was standing at my local news stand, flipping through the August issue of YJ and I wasn't even in the article at all.
Then I woke up and did my happy dance again.
As far as I can tell, I'm the only Ashtangi on that list and the only Canadian, so I have a lot of representing to do.
It's interesting to me that out of all the really outstanding Astanga blogs in our Cybershala (and there are some truly wonderful ones that put my little blog to shame), YJ chose the 'Reluctant Ashtangi'. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I'm far from 'reluctant' these days..
Anyways, I'm honoured and deeply flattered and pretty well gobsmacked. And in a couple of weeks, my access stats are going to be very interesting.
A nod to my fellow blogging celebrities: Congrats, everybody! Behold the awesomeness:
elephantbeans.wordpress.com
yogadeals.blogspot.com
yogaforcynics.blogspot.com
yogadawg.blogspot.com
yogabiz.blogspot.com
brookshall.blogspot.com
cyndilee.tumblr.com
kissmyasana.blogspot.com
Yogalila.net
Yesterday, I took the dog to Woofstock where she spent two hours frantically sniffing, sniffing, sniffing everything within leash-reach: “A bum to sniff! Another bum to sniff! More bums! Food on the ground! What's that, over there? OMG a Great Dane! Is that a poodle? I MUST SNIFF HER BUM! Then I'm going to eat some more food off the ground...” It was miniature schnauzer heaven! Her frantic, scattered energy reminded me of my brain when I'm trying to meditate. It was exhausting just watching her and when we got home she slept for 16 hours.
Me? I ate half a funnel cake. All of this by way of explanation: my practice was stiff and ponderous because my diet was horrific yesterday. We won't talk about the double-chocolate cookies. Or the burrito. Or the sushi. No siree!
This morning, I woke early and did the full Primary Series here in my own little yoga space. I had a laid back, easy-going practice, but my body and especially my joints felt really, really gummy.
For those of you keeping score, this was the 7th consecutive day of Full Primary. It's the first time I've managed to get six in a row in months. I don't schedule my days off; usually, life happens and schedules them for me. I'm sure that in the next couple of days, practice will not be possible for one reason or another and I'll take an astanga break. Until then, I'm on a roll.
8 comments:
Hey congratulations on making th YJ list, reading your blog has often provided me with inspiration when the will to practice has waned, so I imagine you'll be inspiring millions now...
thank you
namaste
Congratulations! I too am still picking my jaw that fell on the floor. All the best!
Hey Kai, congratulations on your soon-to-be fame!
Yes, dogs and butts...they can rarely be separated :)
Do you play around with any Intermediate astanga ever?
Thanks, Patrick!
Intermediate series, hmm. I've thought about it. That's one of the reasons I've been trying to whip my Urdhva Dhanurasana into shape and master dropbacks (and dare I say it, standing back up)
To be honest, I already do many of the Intermediate poses in my hatha yoga practice and I teach them to varying degrees in my classes. I've recently started using Ustrasana as a prep for Urdhva Dhanurasana in Primary.
As a whole, the Intermediate Series looks intriguing - and a bit scary (I'm thinking of those headstands) ;-)
That said, I've set the fall as a possible target for starting to work on intermediate, for two reasons:
- Gregor Maele's book on Intermediate will be available (Nov 09)
- Kino McGregor is offering a Intermediate DVD (Summer 09, the last I heard)
As a home practitioner, these resources will be invaluable to me. In the meantime, cleaning up my Primary is a priority.
@Nobohdi: Thanks! Many people in the Cybershala have given me the same inspiration and motivation to practice, so it means a lot to know that I've been able to provide some inspiration to others. :-)
@YogaDawg: Thanks! I'm still kind of stunned too. It's fascinating to watch the increase of traffic and new visitors. Fun!
Congratulations! I can really relate to your process of excitement-doubt-excitement! I'm really stoked!
@Brooks: Thanks so much and thanks for stopping by. I'm really delighted to have the opportunity to 'discover' so many great new blogs all at once. So far, that's been the best benefit of this fame thing. ;-) I spent this morning reading and adding to my blogroll. Fun!
Hey Kai,
That's awesome! I too will be all about those resources in November when they show up. I like Maehle's Primary book quite a bit.
I've been friendly with most of Intermediate for a couple years (I like forward bends and inversions) but its backbends keep sending me back for research, and of course, they come early.
It'll be interesting to see how you get along with it. Cheers!
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