Astanga

I just received an email from my mother about the earthquake. It was her first Big Earthquake experience and I think she’s very excited about it. She was on a patio when it hit. The ground started moving, the awning overhead was waving around. She says it was immediately obvious who the Californians were because THEY got up and moved away from the building! An earthquake newbie, she stayed put and watched it all play out. When it stopped, everyone applauded (“Hooray! Nicely done, Mother Earth! Encore!”...there were aftershocks a short time later)

My neck is feeling better today! I was a bit worried about my hockey game last night, but my neck actually felt better after I played. I guess all that head swivelling and craning to see where the puck went was good for stretching things out. I massaged, heat-rubbed, and took muscle relaxants last night. I’m almost pain-free today. I’m thinking I’d like to stay pain free for the rest of the week since Kino arrives on the weekend. On Monday, I can start Chakrasana-ing again and see if I can manage it without straining my neck.

Due to my late night at hockey, I decided to sleep in and come to the Shala a little bit later than usual. The last possible start time is at 9:15, so there’s a lot of wiggle room. I’m a bit like ‘Goldilocks’ right now, trying to find a start time that’s ‘just right’.

An ealry, 6:15, start is less hot and not as crowded. Later start times have the benefit of not requiring a 5 a.m. alarm *flinch*. There’s more of a sense of community in the Shala when there are actually *people* there. I’m starting to learn names - it’s fun!

Today, I started at 8 a.m. It was hot and crowded, but not unbearably so. There was always space for new arrivals to lay their mats. I liked it. I might try a 7 a.m. start tomorrow.

I had a very, very flaky practice this morning. I never actually forgot any poses, but that’s only because Teacher P was keeping an eagle eye on me. Teacher R was around during the first part of my practice and she offered advice and guidance for my standing poses. I’m really beginning to fine-tune the flow of the standing poses. She stopped me in Parivritta Parsvakonasana and gave me some advice for deepening the posture.

I’m finding that this level of heat is a better test of my new headband and yes, it definitely works as advertised. I was sweating a lot this morning and the Halo keeps the sweat from streaming into my eyes.

I really can’t believe how much I sweat! Teacher P assures me that this is completely normal but I feel like some kind of Sweat Mutant Freak. I’ve noticed that I’m not the first woman at the Shala to come up with the bike-shorts-sports-bra-tank-top combination. It really works for me. I can’t imagine wearing long yoga pants during my practice. I’d boil! And they would get heavy from all that sweat.

According to this, I could do it in my formal wear:

(Nice suit, but the dude needs an adjustment)