Astanga

I practised in the morning because I had a day of teaching ahead of me. I'm continuing to work on my 'Sharath Cramming' - that's what I've heard it called on other blogs. Apparently, many people are showing up to Shalas to brush up on their Primary or Intermediate Series in anticipation of Sharath's visit.

*raises hand* Guilty as charged!

Full Primary Series today, doing everything. My problem poses are Mari D (used to bind, now I'm not even close) and Setu Bandhasana (ouch, my head). Janu Sirsasana C is actually coming along. It's not my best pose, but I can even do the forward bend, sort of.

I'm really embarrassed that I can't do proper jump-backs and jump-throughs so I've been diligently working on the 'take it up' in the vinyasas. I'm hoping that they'll magically come to me if I keep 'doing my homework'. That's how it played out with Chaturanga.

I'm open to any additional advice. I realise that it's probably not going to happen for me before Sharath gets here, but I'd like to do this eventually. And yes, I've tried using blocks. I just can't do it without the blocks. I feel stuck.

My first Urdhva Dhanurasana was so yucky that I stopped and thought it through. I realised that my hips were tight, so I did a few hip openers and voilà! It was better, not great, but better. My shoulders are still very tight, though. There's a great shoulder opener discussion going on over at Karen's blog. She recommends Erich Schiffmann's video. I found this sequence on his website, so I might start with that.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm attending a yoga conference downtown, the same one I'm volunteering at. It was a last minute decision. The teacher enrichment sessions look good and the roundtable in the evening should be interesting. I receive a good discount on the half-day rate. I'll also be there on Sunday (attending in two sessions and volunteering for a third; long day). I'm really excited about it!

Some yoga randomness:

I found this article interesting. I do agree with the premise. I've experienced this first hand; I find it easier to maintain a healthy diet when I have a regular practice. And besides increased mindfulness in the general sense, it's tough to ignore the muffin-top when it's hanging in my face in Halasana. Just sayin'.

Some non-yoga randomness:

Hold on to your hat, Dorothy! A fantastic storm just moved through the city. Funnel clouds were spotted downtown and the sky turned this eerie yellow colour. Here's a photograph of the storm as it moved in. Within minutes of this photo, torrential rains came down with zero visibility. It was pretty scary. The dog is still hiding in the closet.