Sunday, April 4, 2010

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

3 comments:

Brooks Hall said...

I enjoyed hearing about your sweat-steering headband, and I'm glad it works! It's funny to think about how the chin band might work! That would be some serious yoga gear!

Arturo said...

halo Kai
you deserve a halo today. it sounds like an ad. oh, the imperfections of life, that the devices works for most poses, but not for inversions. that room must be really warm.

hugs
Arturo

Kaivalya said...

@Brooks
I'm still getting over my amazement that my chin actually sweats! Who knew!

@Arturo
Thanks!Yes, it's a very warm room. I shudder to think what it must be like in the summer.