Astanga

My teachers are away this weekend, leaving the Shala in care of the assistant. I was planning to play hooky and practise at home anyway, but the lingering effects of the food poisoning gave me a valid excuse: I was in no condition to get on the mat at 9 a.m.

Instead, I slept in a bit and tried to drink some tea. I stayed in bed resting until noon and managed to eat a protein bar for lunch. My entire body was feeling puffy and tender. The pain was intense last night and I slept fitfully.

When I don’t practise in the morning, I kind of forget that I need to. Practising later in the day is not part of my routine.When noon rolled around, I was surprised when I realised I hadn’t yet done yoga.

So I rallied and stepped on the mat at 1:30 to do led Primary with Sharath’s CD. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really surprised myself! Not a bad practice! The standing poses felt impossible, but once I moved on to the seated, I fell into a groove.

It’s been a long time since I practised with this CD. In fact, it’s been five months (I checked). It didn’t feel as difficult as I remembered but it does move FAST! At times, it felt a bit *too* fast, like I was only getting two or three breaths in before it was time to move again. That was weird, but it makes sense, given that my full Primary lasts at least 90 minutes these days (the CD runs about 75 minutes).

It was really fun to do the Chakrasanas in all of the appropriate spots - I’ve never done that before with this CD. Those transitions really do help the flow! I’m getting so much better at Chakrasana and I feel comfortable with it. I need to start working on moving all the way through when I bring my legs back. I’ve fallen into a bad habit of pausing before rolling. But I’m closer to rolling to my toes (rather than my knees). The transition no longer bothers my neck.

As I listened to the CD, bits and pieces of verbal instruction were suddenly clear that had never made sense to me before. For example, the ‘bring the heels close’ direction in Karna Pidasana. Before going to the Shala, I kept my feet apart so it never really registered. There were all kinds of small things like that. It’s all stuff that I wouldn’t have known if my teachers hadn’t corrected me. It highlights how much my practice has changed over the past few months. I’m grateful for all of the help I’ve received at the Shala and in workshops I’ve taken over the summer.

My practice moved quickly after Garba Pindasana and it was fun! By the time I hit finishing, I was feeling so much better and I was glad that I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t sure I would last through the Sun Salutations, but I finished strong, holding Sirsasana and Uth Pluthi for all of Sharath’s counts.

And now I’m all ready for the Moon Day tomorrow :-D