Astanga

I couldn’t have picked a better day to field-test my Halo headband. The Shala was a stifling vortex of sweaty misery this morning and it’s not even close to summer yet. It wasn’t bad when I first sat down, but as soon as we got going, things heated up quickly.

The heaters were quickly turned off and at one point, a window was opened (I was one of the fortunate few to be adjacent to that window...ahhhh!). I was sweating so profusely, I didn’t need to spray my arms and legs for Garba Pindasana and when I rolled up into Kukutasana, my body slid down my arms no matter how much I engaged the lift through my Bandhas.

The Halo headband worked! It did keep the sweat from running into my eyes - anything that rolled off my head and down my forehead was diverted to the sides. But as soon as I turned my head upside down - for example, in the Prasaritas - the diverted streams of sweat flowed into my eyes.

I suppose what I need is *another* Halo headband to wear around my neck! My willingness to look dorky for the sake of my practice has some boundaries, though: since I’m not willing to wear a Halo headband around my neck like a collar, I’ll just have to deal with the sweat when I’m inverted!

After adjusting to a Mysore-style practice, it was interesting to go back to a led class. I found it challenging to keep my mind focused. There was so much going on around me - noises, people packed into a small space (it really wasn’t all that crowded), teachers moving around the room making adjustments, sweat! I struggled to focus on the count. I couldn’t allow myself to get into too much of a rhythm because Teacher P likes to occasionally keep us in a holding pattern in Chaturanga (I got nailed for moving into to Udhva Mukha Svanasana too soon).

It felt like it went on and on and on. It was hard.

I did notice that I was coming into poses more easily this time around. I bound all my Marichyasana poses fully and I even got chest and chin to the floor by myself in Baddha Konasana. The led class is a good place to gauge how far along you are in your practice without the teacher’s help (my Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana needs some work).

After class, there was a half-hour discussion, which mostly revolved around the Yoga Sutras and Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Now that I have a place to bring my questions, I’ll have to dive into my study of the Sutras again. This is a good month to do it!

My Easter/Eastre basket this year:


I don’t really celebrate the holiday, but I do like the chocolate! The cookies are from one of my students (poor bunny’s ears were broken in transit). I managed to score some Peeps this year too! They’re sometimes hard to find here. I love them, but really I just love the sugar. :-D