Astanga

It seems I’ve finally ‘settled in’ to the Shala, at least into the routine with Teacher M. I feel comfortable with the room, I’m moving through my practice without skipping poses and I’ve cleaned up my Primary Series a lot. Interestingly, I’m not sweating as much. I wonder if I was overheating because of nervousness?

This week, Teacher M pointed out other areas that I could streamline my practice, like keeping my extended leg straight as I lift up and grab the toe in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, and coming up into Sarvangasana on one breath instead of moving through Halasana first and fussing with my arms.

Kurmasana was a theme again today. With the adjustment, I was able to get my chest and chin to the floor. I worked very hard in the pose and tried to lift my heels off the floor, but it’s not happening for me yet. I bound hands AND ankles myself in Supta Kurmasana, though. I seemed to have corralled the Sleeping Turtle for the time being! Next step is really bringing the legs behind the head in the pose.

I’ve chilled on the Chakrasanas, because of my neck. Yesterday, I rolled over lopsided a couple of times and I was sore aftward. For now , I try to roll three times and if I can’t do it, I just take regular vinyasa. This new attitude has taken some of the pressure off. If I keep practising consistently, it will come along eventually. In this morning's practice, I focused on the *inhale* coming up and pressing down through the hands. Hit and miss, but I managed to roll and land one beautiful Chakrasana - it felt like slow motion!

Backbends are becoming more of a theme. Usually, I hold my backbends for five breaths. Today, I decided to shoot for eight breaths. Teacher M instructs me to move my hips forward but for some reason, whenever I try to do this, I move them *back* instead. Being upside down is disorienting! Today, I felt like more of my weight was in my feet.

The regular teachers will return tomorrow and the shala doesn’t open until 8. Everyone will be practising at one time and I suspect it will be crowded (I’ve noticed the Shala has become busier over the last few days).

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Last month, I joked that April might be ’The Month of Svadhyaya”. In light of recent events in my life, a month spent in reflection, study and self-inquiry seems like a pretty good idea, so I’ll go with that.

Plans and goals for the coming month:
- Attend the Shala consistently, maintaining a six-day practice
- 20 minutes of daily meditation
- Attend Kino’s workshops, study the DVDs
- Learn the breath counts and dristes for the full Primary Series and apply this knowledge to my practice
- Reread Maehle’s first book in its entirely
- Learn Devangari (I started last month, but will try to finish the project in April)
- Pick up my guitar for at least 5 minutes each day, with the goal of enjoying music (rather than just ‘practising’ it)

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I’ve been enjoying the April Fools humour floating around the Internet. Claudia really caught my attention with her Nine poses and Kapotanasana Moment of Glory post.

But this one is my favourite. THIS can’t possibly be for real! If it is, then the joke will be on me! I find the whole concept ludicrous. But then again, I raised my eyebrows at ’Spinoga’ and look at it now.