Astanga, Vinyasa

(Duke, one of dogs from the Yoga Dogs calendar.
Photo credit: YogaDogs/Barcroft Media
Find it at: Yoga Dogs 2010 Calendar)

Wow, being on a reduced scheduled is kind of awesome!

Today felt a little bit self-indulgent, like “it’s all about me” and “now, how about a bit more about me” and “let’s wrap this up with more ME!” MEEEEEEE!

I’ve been having a ball! I guess did get *some* work done, if you define the word ‘work’ very loosely. I taught one class. I did three loads of laundry. I walked the dog and ran errands in the neighbourhood. I wrestled a new cover onto my made-famous-by-Urdhva-Dhanurasana futon (which will debut in the weekly State-of-the-Backbend photo).

Then I had some fun. With all this time on my hands, I practised twice today. I wasn’t kidding about the Month of Tapas!

This morning I went to an actual Astanga class, taught by an old favourite teacher of mine. It was fun, if a bit periolous getting out the door. I’m good at propelling myself to my *own* classes on time, but with my routine disrupted I was floundering around and ended up running late. In my rush, I slammed my right foot into Princess Fur’s condominium and hopped around squeaking in pain.

Two and a half hours of yoga and what hurts? I have Dog Condominium Foot!

Hi, welcome to Kai’s House of Stupid. Can I place your order? *eye roll*

The class was fun. It’s an Astanga I/II and technically it’s too ‘easy’ for me, in terms of pace. We did the Primary Series to Mari C, then cut to closing. But Teacher IM encouraged me to come into the full expression of the poses and even walked over and gave me fantastic adjustments in Parvottanasana and Marichyasana C.

I’m still struggling with the reverse namaste thing in Parvottasana, but he did something with my arms and shoulders that brought my palms together and it felt wonderful! I was binding to wrist in Mari C, but he brought me even deeper and leveled out my shoulders. I thought my body was going to turn 360 degrees! Nifty!

And there were lots of suggestions and tweaks. My feet need to be still wider in Virabhadrasana I. Knee is directly over ankle in Marichyasana B. This suggestion brought a ‘two steps forward one step back’ element into that pose because I’m used to folding all the way forward and melting into a happy puddle (it’s my favourite ‘vacation’ pose). Now, I’m working harder. Drat! ;-)

After class, I ran to the subway and made it to my noon class with ten minutes to spare. Perfect timing, so I can keep attending this class. The adjustments are great, and it’s just fun to practice in a big room full of other people. I really enjoy this teacher - his cues and instruction are excellent. Listening to him and watching him work is good professional development for me as a teacher.

In the evening, I hit the mat a second time just for fun. I did a YogaDownload class: Power Yoga #5, 60 minutes with Jamie. Good sequence, though I hated the abdominal work. This is a good clue that I should probably be doing more of it. The apartment was warm and humid from drying laundry, which made for a sweaty hour.