Saturday, October 10, 2009

Astanga

Full Primary today. I just hopped on the mat and got on with it because I had a busy day ahead of me.

I'm not using Ujjayi breathing in my practice right now because I have a slightly dry throat and I don't want to make it dryer. To be honest, I think I'm fighting a bug. There's a plague going around and the girlfriend is in quarantine with a severe respiratory viral infection. This is exactly the type of plague that struck me about six times last winter, when my immune system was still shaky from my illness.

So, understandably, I'm nervous about it. I'm taking ColdFX, Echineacea, Vitamin C, drinking tonnes of water and getting adequate sleep every night. So far, I'm fine, but no Ujjayi for me until this dry throat passes. It's very weird doing the practice without the breathing - it feels incomplete.

Another new trend in my practice: Snap, crackle pop in my some of my joints, especially my right hip! It doesn't hurt at all, but it makes loud noises. The symphony isn't exclusive to yoga either - sometimes the pops happen when I'm walking around the apartment (or around a classroom while teaching yoga, startling my students). I wish the EZBoard was still active so I could query the masses.

Anyone have thoughts on my sudden popping? Do I worry? Not worry? Is my body experiencing some massive opening?

I'm still developing strategy for my backbending project. I've decided to start laying over blocks for at least five minutes every day to bring some flexibility into my thoracic back.

In the meantime, I'll start posting State-of-the-Backbend photos again on Saturdays. Here's today's:

2 comments:

Michelle said...

Oh no , I hope you don't get sick. Not fun at all, especially with this perceived H1N1 scare.
Anyway, about your hip, I know the exact sound and you are right, it doesn't hurt but seems like it should. Maybe your recent hip openers have released some long held tightness in that area and then that once tight muscle needs to be strengthened now. Just a thought.

Kaivalya said...

@Michelle
Not to spread alarm, but I know two families in the States who have gotten H1N1 (and everyone is fine; it was just a BAD flu). I tend to be skeptical about media hype too, but in this case, I'm being really careful. I'm prone to pneumonia so I really don't need to get H1N1.

I think you're right about the pops. Not only do they not hurt, but in some cases, they actually feel good.