Saturday, October 31, 2009

Astanga

I'm sore...how embarrassing! Looking back on October, I realise that my practice of Astanga has been pretty scant. I been focusing more on vinyasa-style. All together, I'll have less than 10 days of Astanga in by the end of the month. This needs to change in November.

For today's practice, I popped in the Power Yoga DVD at 8 a.m. and did full Primary. I told Beryl that I would see her tomorrow, so that means a Sunday Primary as well (if I keep my word and I don't sleep in).

A few notes:

- I love doing the landing from Supta Konasana but there is scant space in my apartment for it. I've figured out that if I turn 90 degrees to the side and bring Supta Konasana *really* close to the bookshelf, I can then 'land' close to my desk (the joys of city living!). I remember waaaay back asking Bindi how to land this pose and she said something about 'landing on the calves', which at the time made so little sense, she might as well have been speaking Swahili. But that's exactly what you do, you land on your calves. Funny, you do it once and then you're all “Oh! THOSE calves.” Yeah.

- I fell out of headstand today. That hasn't happened in ages, about two years I think... Given how paranoid I am about falling out of this pose, it's ironic it is that I do it so rarely (and when I do, it's such a non-event...silly brain!)

- This week's State-of-the-Backbend:

And, finally, some fun gossip: Rumour has it that Beryl Bender Birch herself may be reading this blog. One of her students, who reads and comments here (*waves to Jen*), sent the URL for this website to Beryl.

On one level, I'm not terribly surprised that this could happen, given the interconnectedness of the Internet and social networking. The world has certainly become smaller! In context to my own history of yoga practice though, I'm a bit gobsmacked.

As a mostly-home-practitioner, I've been using VHS and DVD teachers to supplement my practice for many years. But back in those years, Patricia Walden and Rodney Yee lived in my televsion. For all I knew, they were each about 5 inches tall and lived in shoeboxes (this made it particularly surreal looking up at Rodney Yee's face from Utthita Trikonasana during a workshop earlier this year, but I digress...).

What if Beryl is reading this blog?

Some of my posts are very serious and yoga-y, while others are quite frivolous. Let's face it, many of you would not be reading this blog if all I did was write about when-where-how-I-bound-what-in-which-pose. The occasional silliness lightens things up a bit.

But it begs the question, do I really want Beryl reading about the fascinating rash in my armpits that made the Marichyasanas so very uncomfortable today? Does she need to hear me speculate that this rash could be related to the large number of sea-salt-covered french fries I ate while volunteering at the soup kitchen last night? And-by-the-way-I'm-bloated?

Hm.

And while we're on the subject, my guitar teacher will soon be a reader here. I'm getting ready to send her the URL, which she asked for ages ago (I was waiting for the Diva Cup post, which absolutely shouldn't be embarrassing to me, but somehow is, to fade from the front page. Of course, mentioning it now practically guarantees that my guitar teacher AND Beryl will now go looking for it.).

You archive, but you can't hide! Isn't blogging fun?! ;-)

4 comments:

Jen Stevenson said...

Oh Kai,

I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable about what you blog. I just thought she'd be tickled that you mention her so often. Don't worry that she would be judgmental. She is so accepting and so down to earth with a great great sense of humor. She really is an amazing woman. You should try and catch her at Kripalu or wherever she may be.

Hope your rash goes away!

Michelle said...

Oh, you crack me up Kai. I think Rodney Yee reads my blog cuz I mention him enough. Just kidding. You are quite popular though. Maybe she will read it, and come back again and again just like the rest of us.

Kaivalya said...

@Jen
Oh, no worries, Jen! :-) I was mainly pondering the fabulousness of the Internet.

And maybe projecting forward just a tiny bit - I mean, it's only a matter of time before my MOTHER stumbles across this blog and then I'm *really* in trouble! lol

Kaivalya said...

@Michelle
Of *course* Rodney reads your blog! He's a huge fan. In fact, he mentioned you during his workshop. He loves your French Onion Soup! ;-)