Astanga

I'm at the house today, so I meditated in the crushing silence this morning (the absence of comforting city noises). But the silence was cheerfully broken by the hum of the small space heater we found hiding in the basement. The handy bonus function of 'white noise generator' was really great, but this heater also produces HEAT!

I was delighted to actually break into a sweat this morning during my practice. I did full Primary with my Beryl DVD, which I finally remembered to pack (hooray for to-do lists). I had a great practice and a perfectly lazy day afterward. Oh, and I skipped Janu Sirsasana C and Setu Bandhasana, as usual.

You know that dream where you're walking into a room, or a hallway, or an outdoor space, or anywhere really - and realise you're in your skivvies? That's sort of how I felt when I checked my access stats yesterday. Yeesh.

Suddenly, it seems, *hundreds* of people are reading this blog. My blogdom popularity rating has gone up by 50%. My readership hasn't been this high since my Accidental Brush with Fame over the summer.

I can't figure out, although many of you seem to be finding me via Grimmly's blog *waves at Grim*

Anyway, hello and welcome friendly lurkers! I'm glad you're here. Make yourselves at home. There's a comments section below and help yourself to the gingerale in the fridge.

While I was pursing my access numbers, I stumbled across the search statistics and that's where the *real* fun started. This is where I got to read about the search terms that lead you people to my blog. Lots of you search for my blog name, which is heartening. Some of you search seemingly random words or phrases. Some ask questions.

And me, being me...well, I feel compelled to answer. I may even make a regular feature out of this.

So, this week, the Internet asks:

Why use a Mysore Rug?
I have one word for you: sweat. Puddles can make a sticky mat slippery. Astanga is a sweaty practice, particularly if you're doing it in a heated shala with a bunch of other (sweaty) bodies. The modern micro-fibre yoga towels develop better traction as they become damp (some folks even spray them with water for that purpose).

Kino McGregor on fasting
Arturo wrote a nice post about this: Nutrition for Yogis

What does Seane Corne use in her curly hair?
The Hair is far less impressive in person (and the person is far *more* impressive in person, but that's another post).

Here's a juicy tidbit: Seane Corn highlights her hair:
"Probably the unhealthiest thing I do is that I do highlight my hair and I have been doing that for a very long time. And it is probably the most chemicals that I am introducing into my system."

And finally, here's my favourite random search string:
nice zafu morning ride

Giddy-up, zafu! We're going' for a ride! Yeeeee-hawwww!