Astanga

When the 5:30 alarm sounded, I shut it off and went back to sleep. I slept until 8:30!

I was on the mat by 9:30 and moved quickly through my practice. Because of the late start, i was already hungry. By the time I got through my Intermediate poses, I was afraid I might roll over and eat my Manduka for breakfast! So I skipped dropbacks, did just three Urdhva Dhanurasana and finished.

Without the supplementary work I usually add for backbends (prep, hang backs, rocking), my practice took just 1 hour, 45 minutes.

To be honest, I probably had a little bit of The Lazy too. This is one of my fears about doing a home practice. As dedicated as I am, I never seem to work as hard at home as I do at the Shala with a teacher's eyes on me. Slacking off is an option at home and sometimes I take it.

Without a teacher, I'm feeling a little bit adrift these days. I don't feel accountable to anyone but myself. While this is a good exercise in self discipline, it's a problem when the inevitable low energy day pops up.

I spoke too soon regarding Laghu. Apparently yesterday was just a Good Laghu Day. While it's nice to know that those actually exist in my world, today I was back to the higher block, set vertically. Up and down, up and down. It's difficult, but for some reason, I really like this crazy pose.

I don't like Parsva Dhanurasana. This pose makes me feel like a beached whale, or an animal in a trap. Every time I come into it my brain says, "What are we doing HERE? We must escape!!" I have no idea what my problem is. It's not an impossible pose, just a very odd one.

I'm hoping that it will play out like Garba Pindasana did: it will grow on me and I'll someday love it.

This Labour Day has been gray and cool. No plans, so I'll be spending my holiday baking muffins and reading the Guruji book. Exactly what I need: Comfort food and some good stories to stoke my inner fires.