Tuesday, April 6, 2010

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)

9 comments:

Skippetty said...

BAHAHAHA! I think for decency, they've decided to unbind his arms from behind his back and place it strategically to prevent any embarassing... um... bulge. (Oo er, did I just say that?)

Kaivalya said...

@Skippetty
You did, you did! ;-)

The tie does a nice job as a 'modesty shield' too! He's ready for the board meeting!

Arturo said...

Hi Kai
where did you find that hilarious ad? Maybe I should peek at the comments above. it reminds me a teacher in Florida that would do one of those flips of scorpion in an ad, and the artist put all kinds of stuff flying. i'm not sure what they were selling. it also reminds me of the funny calendar from a certified teacher in Hong Kong, which had people wearing suits and doing poses all over the city - in the subway, at restaurants (Dwi pada was while waiting for a food order), etc.

oh, where was your mom visiting that there was an earthquake?

hope you enjoy the Kino workshop.
cheers,
Arturo

Y is for Yogini said...

This made me laugh aloud! He really does need a bit of an adjustment, doesn't he? There should be a companion ad where it's just him and his awesome brown socks. LoL. Perhaps he could model for Toe Sox? :)

Claudia said...

HA HA HA that is funny!

by the way, I also always wear shorts and (in my case) a leotard... I could not imagine long pants either...

Jen Stevenson said...

I wear shorts all year long. I feel so constricted, hot and stuffy in pants.

I don't understand why I sweat so much too!!! It seems to be getting worse and worse lately. I chuckled a bit this morning when sweat was pouring from my chin. I was picturing what a halo around my chin would look like.

It's been very humid the past few days down here in the south of Texas. Monday at the shala the entire floor was wet. You'd love it!!!

Boodiba said...

I'm just amazed you play hockey!

word veri: grope

Not kidding!

Kaivalya said...

@Arturo
My mother is in Southern California, in the the desert near Palm Springs. Well, okay, okay...she's not really in the 'desert' per se (I like the mental image of my Ma as a bedouin). She's in a fancy schmancy gated community with lotsa swimming pools.

I'll let you know how Kino goes! I'm so. excited. (!)

@Y is for Yogini
I like the Toe Sox idea. He definitely rocks that suit!

@Claudia, Jen
I'm glad I'm not the only one wearing shorts. I was nervous about wearing them at first...thought it might be a Shala faux pas. Everyone was in pants...

@Boodiba
I think the captcha word generator knew it was you!

I've been playing ice hockey for 12 years and I'm about to take my first 'year off' since Yoga Teacher Training (that particular 'year off' didn't last very long. I signed up again as soon as I realized that I could be in a full body cast and it wouldn't matter for YTT).

Already planning my Big Comeback though: Summer 2011.

Boodiba said...

Well good for you. I don't do anything physical besides yoga, except for walking around the city.