Astanga

Today was a public transit marathon! It all started in the morning with a streetcar to an east end yoga studio to take care of some business related to a local yoga conference I'll be working on. Then, back on the streetcar headed west to meet a client. After I finished, I took a train west to the Very Big Park to play! (I did all of this with the dog, by the way. She's an experienced 'city dog' and comfortable on public transit).

The park was magical. We wandered through the 'nature trails' (as natural as it gets when you're surrounded with woods but can still hear the buzz of highway traffic). Unexepectedly, we wandered into a clearing and found this:


A secret swing! I swung for awhile and we continued until we found this pretty glade, where I unrolled my yoga mat to practice:

(No, that's not my Manduka - it's a light travel mat)

I'm pretty sure this is the same little glade where I used to come and meditate and play my Djembe (African Drum) years ago. I thought it would be the perfect spot. I was SO wrong. I don't remember a 'bug problem' before, but perhaps the damp weather triggered an boom in the insect population. I was practically eaten alive by mosquitoes, HUGE mosquitoes.

I managed to slap and curse my way through the sun salutations and standing, then fled to a nearby parkspace, where I got eaten alive by red ants. Needless to say, I cut it short to half-primary. At least I got plenty of fresh air!

I noticed some soreness today in my left quadracep and left calf muscle. I'm not sure what that's all about - maybe the vinyasa-style practice I did yesterday? I'm still replacing Janu Sirsasana C with a reclining Tiriangmukhaikapada Pachimottansana and I really felt it today (in a good way).

I'm thinking about mixing up my practice more, maybe alternating between Astanga Primary Series and some of the Yogadownload classes (since I have the free membership, I should use it!). I love my Primary Series, but I find the vinyasa-style classes (they seem to be Baron Baptiste-esque on Yogadownload) a lot of fun. I have a feeling my practice will improve if I introduce some variety.