Sunday, January 2, 2011

Buried in paper

I'm kind of astounded by how easily I've adapted to a later schedule. This morning, I slept until the alarm and got up groggily at 7 a.m.! I now walk the dog at the same time I always did, but now I'm walking her *before* I do my practice instead of *after*. Everything is topsy-turvy!

I've discovered that if I'm not exhausted from rising early, I can be marvelously productive at night! The hours between 7 and 10 have been busy and energetic. The past two nights, I've been up past 11, working on 'Project Paperless'. I started this in the Fall and I thought I would be finished by the New Year.

Ha, ha, ha!

Clearly, I underestimated how much PAPER I've collected over the past 40 years! Although I've made substantial progress with it (I just
gave away my two-drawer filing cabinet!), there's still loads of stuff to sort through and scan, including 20 years of paper Journals, boxes of photos and possibly my tax records (still checking to see if scans are an acceptable record for those).

The work is strangely satisfying. When I dump my recycling in the big blue bin off the loading dock after a weekend of sorting and scanning, I heave a huge sigh of relief and I feel lighter.



********************
I went to the morning class at Hot Central this morning. It wasn't a huge class, which surprised me (I thought Sundays would be busier). I'm hoping that these morning classes continue to be a bit smaller. The room is always less oppressive with fewer bodies.

The temperature was absolutely perfect! I was hot. I was sweating buckets. But I didn't want to DIE.

The instructor was really good. She's a relative newbie to teaching, but she delivered the instruction clearly and with added alignment information, which I appreciated. Sometimes these Bikram instructors spit out the dialogue (they teach from a memorised 'script') like an auctioneer. It was nice to be able to understand exactly what was being said.

I didn't skip any poses today and my backbends were much, much better. I guess I'm going to have good-backbend-days and bad-backbend-days, just like in my Astanga practice!

Yoga is yoga is yoga. Different form, same hangups! Who knew?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 comments:

susananda said...

I kind of hate to say it, but I bet a month of bikram improves your ashtanga backbends :)

I'm getting up late too, there will be a shock to the system when this holiday is over!

Kaivalya said...

@Susananda
I kinda hate to admit it, but I think it already has improved them ;-)

Jen Stevenson said...

Hi Kai - Happy New Year!

I recently moved and left my ashtanga community 1600 miles behind. I don't have anything close to ashtanga where I'm living now but there is a Bikram studio.

Knowing that I thrive on routine I wondered if I would feel at home doing that practice. Do you see getting to the point of having a meditative practice during a class and can you use ujjayi breath. Just wondering your thoughts on how parallel the two practices are or maybe not.

Love reading your blog! I catch every post and I have learned so much from you. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It's nice to realize that we are all on the same path and that we are not alone.

Portside said...

Been playing with Bikram of late too - have found it a bit less stressful on my asthma. And certainly with you on the Yoga is yoga is yoga sentiment. Luckily for me here in DC there's a 6:15 am option. Still early but not crazy early.

What parts of the Bikram sequence are you finding most challenging?

Kaivalya said...

@Portside
It's odd...in my city, at least, there doesn't seem to be a 'culture' for early morning practice amongst Bikram people.

The most challenging poses for me are the spine strengthening series, particularly Shalabasana. And the hangback in the Ardha Chandrasana sequence at the beginning.

Favourite poses: Vriksasana/toe balance and Ustrasana. And every last Savasana, natch! ;-)

susananda said...
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Kaivalya said...
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susananda said...
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