Thursday, December 10, 2009

Yin

I did another Yin practice (Sarah Powers DVD) today. Usually, I do the Yin 'liver' sequence because I'm not fond of all the backbending that happens in the Yin 'kidney'. Since I did Yin 'liver' yesterday, I thought I should do the kidney practice to even everything out.

I was shocked to discover that I actually like it!

I can hold all the poses indefinitely in the 'liver' sequence, but the 'kidney' challenges me. Today, I managed to hold all poses, including the Sphinx backbend for the duration suggested.

I bailed out of Seal (a deeper backbend similar to cobra) early, but that's okay! At least I *did* Seal. Usually I modify it or do something easier in it's place.

Now I'm all excited about the prospect of holding Seal for even longer next time. Look at me! All excited about a backbend!

The first time I tried this DVD, I collapsed onto the mat and muttered “Fat chance!” under my breath during the long hold in Seal. But Yin is really growing on me. I'm really feeling the benefits of this practice and today particularly, I feel better for having done it.

Now I'm even pondering the radical step of introducing one Yin practice per week into my schedule. Hm...

In other news, I'm lazy! Yes, lazy!

As the holidays near, my teaching schedule is getting lighter. This week, I really noticed it because most of my evening classes are on hiatus. Here I am, midweek and I haven't taught a yoga class in over 24 hours! I starting to get twitchy! ;-)

Today, I took advantage of my downtime and slept in, clocking over 10 hours of sleep. Then I did the laundry. And surfed the Internet. I'm doing a lot of reading too. I still haven't put up the Christmas tree but it's coming!

Next week, the schedule will become still lighter, so you can look forward to even more sloth! I'm considering daytime naps but also long walks with Princess Fur and some extra shifts at the soup kitchen. Do those count as 'sloth'?

Maybe I'm not good at sloth! Maybe this is something I should work on...I'll certainly have the time!

2 comments:

Flo said...

I really like Sarah's DVD. I like the Kidney sequence because I have 3 kidneys and lots of kidney issues so this sequence really does help me get some "prana" to that area for sure!
I love Princess Fur she needs a post all to herself.

Kaivalya said...

@Flo
Three kidneys? Seriously? That is very cool!

You would be a rockstar in the Anusara class I sometimes go to! As far as I can tell, in Anusara, kidneys are a big thing. I remember being told to 'lift my kidneys' more than once.

You could lift all three of yours!

Uh oh. I think I may have kidney envy! :-D