Astanga

It's a gray, cool day, a perfect day to sit in the window seat, sipping tea and pondering life. I'm blogging, drinking chai and eating my famous cookies (I baked a batch for my noon class yesterday and there were a few left over). I have a few good books waiting for me. There's some fun, new music on my iPod. Best of all, I finished my practice already.

I decided to do an outdoor practice this morning, even though it was not very warm out (it was 17C and overcast when I headed out at 9 a.m.). I did full Primary today, but there was not a lot of binding going on because I was wearing long yoga pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Fabric, as I've discovered, is slippery. I didn't even bind in Supta Kurmasana.

I was curious what the vibe around the Big Park would be at that time of morning. It was quiet, very quiet. The only other people were joggers (running around and around) and the tennis players (pristine in their gleaming white outfits).

And waaaay over there, on the grass, was the Crazy Yoga Lady - that's me - with her small dog, moving through sun salutations.

I become very focused when I'm in the middle of my practice. A neighbour once spotted me doing yoga in the Little Park and said that I looked so 'intense,' she couldn't interrupt.

Not everyone feels that way, though. People have approached me to ask directions, to see if my dog wants to play with their dog (”Uh no, if we were out here to play off-leash, we would go to the DOG AREA”), and even to ask me what I'm doing ("..Yoga!"). I've been approached by scam artists. I've been approached by people (okay, men) who want to 'do yoga with me'.

It's a city. We get a few weirdos.

This morning, in Sirsasana, I watched a man in flowing, cotton garments float towards me in that smooth, graceful way people seem to move when I'm viewing them upside-down. He was flapping his hands in an odd way that triggered my Freak-o-Meter. As he approached, the dog growled in warning.

Keep in mind: I'm standing on my *head*. He starts to chat me up, but I wasn't responding because I was, you know, VERY BUSY.

So I ignored him. I exited Sirsasana, rested just a few moments and moved right into Yoga Mudra. He moved on. I wasn't worried about him - in the Big Park I'm surrounded by people. There's a playground nearby, joggers and cyclists all around. But this is the reason that I don't go to the park very early or very late.

I skipped Savasana and headed home.

Cooookiiieeees!