Friday, January 14, 2011

Rinse and Repeat

Has a week really passed since I last blogged? Almost! I feel negligent, but I really haven't had much to say. You don't believe me, do you? Wait until you read this post. It's BORING.

There's absolutely NO DRAMA at all in this Bikram's yoga practice. Nothing to report. Nada! It's kind of awesome, but it makes for some very dull blogging. "I got up, went to the hot room and did my practice. Then I showered. Then I left." Repeat. Daily. *yawn*

No one at this hot room cares if I'm suffering enough! If I get The Lazy and sit down, the class just goes on without me. In fact, I can take breaks whenever I want to (but I rarely do). If I decided to take Savasana smack dab in the middle of a pose, no one would say a word. Not only that, but if my back feels cranky and I decide to go easy on the hang-backs after Ardha Chandrasana, no one yells at me. Of course, by the same token, If I'm being all awesome and heroic in Ustrasana, no one says "Good!" either.

It just is what it is.

On Monday, I fell out of Sasangasana. If you're not laughing, you should be! This is a pose where I'm literally curled up in a ball on the floor. It was quaintly ironic, given that I managed to stay perfectly upright in all four renditions of Dandayamana-Dhanurasana (Standing Bow; similar to Natarajasana in Astanga). But Almond said mildly: "That's fine", and told me to come back into the pose. No biggie.

Really, these teachers seem happy if I do the following: 1) Show up. 2) Stay in the room. Everything else is icing on the cake.

Of course, I'm exaggerating a little bit. On Wednesday, Peanut was teaching. If there's drama anywhere, it's in Peanut's classes, but it's mild drama at best. And Peanut is such a sweetheart; you've gotta love him. He likes to pick on the teachers in the room! I haven't told the Mixed Nuts that I'm a yoga teacher, but I guess they finally Googled me. This week, when Peanut started in on the teachers, he included me in the bunch. It was kind of fun, and I had a great practice that day. For the first time, I lowered my forehead to my shin in Dandayamana-Janushirasana (Standing Head-to-Knee).

Pistachio was teaching on Thursday. This is the day that I finally nailed the balance in Padangustasana (Toe Stand) on the first side, hands in prayer position. It's also the day that the room was cooler than usual. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wasn't HOT enough. I've finally gotten to the point where I don't notice the heat unless there isn't enough of it.

In Walnut's class today, I fell out of the first side of Padangustasana but nailed the second. The room was hot enough and I was completely invisible again. I feel like I could have sprouted wings and flown around the pillars and no one would have paid any attention to me.

My shoulder is feeling better, I think, but there's still some lingering sensation there. I'm not sure if it's truly from the injury or if it's just imagined pain, an imprint of trauma. I haven't done Astanga in 19 days, but I do teach Astanga and demo in some of my classes. I've noticed lately that Downward Dog feels completely comfortable and on Wednesday, I demo'ed the transition from Up Dog to Down Dog. It felt fine.

The devil that lives on my left shoulder is whispering in my ear. She wants me to give the Primary Series a try sometime this weekend. I miss my practice. But the angel that lives on my right shoulder is also offering advice: give it a rest and wait 11 more days and ease into it slowly.

I'm wondering, what would Guruji do?



Susananda's Bhairava, hopefully on his way to London. She may need his wrath to get through passport control! Let's keep our Cybershala fingers crossed!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 comments:

Boodiba said...

I think I'd DIE if I went a week without blogging. It'd be nice to try it as a test, but so difficult even to imagine I know I'll never bother.

Anyway I'm happy to hear you are carrying on & will join the good journey wishes for our friend Susananda.

Sarah said...

fascinates me how the same body/mind have transferred to this new routine, environment, poses, style of teaching and sequences... not quite a holding pattern, still in a progression as yourself. watching you as you are watching you. thanks for opening the curtain again this week. wondering how else your teaching will reflect a month of experiences in "hot room' yoga.

Lindsay said...

Thanks for sharing your experience! I am considering a 60 day Bikram (and blogging) challenge. I feel like I would have to turn my already hectic life upside down to do it. I teach hot yoga (Barkan Method) and homeschool my kids. Do you think it is worth it?

susananda said...

I'm here!

Bhairava is going to kick my jetlagged ass out of bed in approximately 5 hours.

The Mixed Nuts have got you sussed, hehe :)

Kaivalya said...

@Boodi
One advantage of not blogging every single day is I have a chance to respond to comments. I'm kind of digging this relaxed writing schedule! I do plan to step it up a bit, though. I miss getting my thoughts down. Like you, it helps me process what's going on in my practice.

@Sarah
If I've learned nothing else from this experience, it's that 'yoga is yoga' and daily practice yields much the same benefits/results regardless of what style you're practising. And yes, it has had an impact on my teaching. Blog post on that coming soon...

Kaivalya said...

@Lindsay
I don't have kids and don't homeschool, so I can't even begin to imagine the pressures and unpredictably that throws into the mix... From a strictly yoga standpoint, though, yes, yes, yes. Definitely worthwhile. Your practice will grow in huge and unexpected ways. If you can pull it off, daily practice is hugely rewarding.

@Susananda
Yay! Susan in London! I'm glad you made it back without undue harassment. Must have been Bhairava's influence...

Yeah, they've got me sussed all right and Peanut's really got my number. A few of them do, actually...if I get The Lazy and don't lift my heels in Janu Sirsasana, it sometimes gets a mention. ;-)

I'm having fun, though! Who would have thought? Seems I like a lot of things I'm initially reluctant about...

mixandmatchyogini said...

Have been reading you in the shadows for a while, and know I have made myself a blog and added you to the blog roll, it only seemed fit to manifest and say hi! :)
I would try to 'be good' and stick with Bikram for the whole month... hey, you could ever take the opportunity to do a 30-day Bikram challenge and see if you can notice the results!

Ragdoll said...

I'm really enjoying reading about Bikram from an ashtangi perspective. And wondering how I'd be if there really was no external 'pressure' at all (commasa because I know it's not really the right word - more like encouragement than pressure) to keep pushing harder.

Glad the shoulder's recovering, I hope the 'WWGD' answer has come to you by now!