Astanga

Often after a couple of days away from my Astanga practice, I'm struck with an irrational fear that somehow I won't find my way back to it - like a wandering child, veering off the known path and becoming lost in the woods. In the interval of non-practice, the Primary Series starts to appear long and interminable. I begin to wonder if I might be too weak. From afar, the practice starts to look too difficult.

Then I get back on the mat and everything is okay again. That's what I did this morning. My two-day Astanga vacation gave me a some perspective and appreciation for my daily practice. I realised that I didn't care whether I was doing perfectly floaty vinyasas between postures. I was just happy that I was doing anything at all! I was just happy to be there.

So I did my Primary and I had a good practice. Since it was Friday, there was no pressure to do Intermediate poses, but I know I'm ready to add them back in. My shoulder is still a bit sore in places, but I'm 99% there. I stopped pushing back into downward dog half-way my practice through because I didn't want to aggravate my shoulder, but I was feeling pretty good. I skipped inversions, due to my LH.

I did five backbends! Today, I was even walking my hands in. I can feel the effect of *not* doing backbends this past week. My front body is very tight and I feel the stretch across my belly when I push up into Urdhva Dhanurasana.

Tomorrow, there will be a very mediocre, but hard-won 'State-of-the-Backbend' photo! For practice, I'm going to take it easy, but I'll be back in the Astanga business for practice on Sunday.

Overall, I'm feeling a little more upbeat. It was just an awful week, but like all awful weeks, there's an end to it. My voice is still raspy, but I can talk. Sometimes. It's gradually returning.

And with a reduced schedule, I'll finally be able to rest and have some fun. Things will only get slower coming up on the holiday. My favourite part of Christmas is the time off!

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A dog story for Princess Fur Friday:

My superintendents are not happy to be managing a building in a province that protects the right of tenants own dogs. When I first moved in, they asked me to sign a clause verifying that I would 'never own a dog'. I cited my legal rights and they backed down.

Since then, they've tried various underhanded strategies to force us out. When I finally filed a formal complaint, they backed down.

But then they renovated the elevators with special, Princess-Fur-Camouflaging interiors. I was suspicious. See? They're still trying to make her disappear! She blends right in:




In the sample book, I'm pretty sure that particular colour swatch was called 'Schnauzer'.

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