Found Hamstrings & The Raccoon Loaf

It was 7C this morning when I jumped on my bike to ride to the shala. For those of you who dream in Fahrenheit, that's the low 40s. My landlord turned off the building heat because, hey, it's mid-May and it's *supposed* to be warm so I've been running my old heater in the apartment - the noisy one. My oil heater now lives at the shala so I can better fly my freak flag as the 'the one who's so hard-core, she brings her own HEATER.'

Anyway, it's cold and it's rainy and practice was difficult this morning. Everything felt slightly 'off.' DT has been leaving me to stew in my own private Idaho in the LBH poses. It's not going so badly. On a good day, my legs stay put in Eka Pada Sirsasana but I need to grab my foot coming down into the forward bend. The leg always pops out during the exit. Dwi Pada is only doable if I can lean into a wall. This pose always makes me think of Weebles. Remember Weebles? They wobble but they don't fall down? I need to be a Weeble.

DT descended as I was wiggling into the first side of Eka Pada today and I received deep adjustments on both sides and a few tips to help me do it myself. My LBH poses *are* getting deeper. I noticed today that with the help, I could actually find some extension in my torso, especially on the right side. I felt like I was sitting up straight instead of curled forward like a gargoyle.

And there's *good* news! My hamstrings are sore, really sore. This afternoon, I sat down on a bench in the subway station and made a surprised 'OOF!' sound when my tender hammies touched down. Over the weekend, DT and I were messaging back and forth. I wrote: "You'll be happy to know that my hamstring hurt." She messaged back: "Yes, that means you're using them." Yay!

I'm used to my quadraceps being sore, but not my hamstrings. It feels backward!

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In other news, our shala has a mascot! A raccoon! Actually, the raccoons have been around for years. I remember seeing them back when Shala Central was at this location. They like to hang out on the green roof right outside our windows.

When we arrived for practice on Sunday, it was wet and miserable out. A raccoon had found shelter, curled into a furry ball between the air conditioning unit and the window in what can only be described as a 'raccoon loaf'. Cat owners will know exactly what I'm talking about! When I walked to the corner to unroll my mat, he kind of checked me out, then curled back up into his loaf.

(by the way, it's probably *not* a good idea to Google the term 'raccoon loaf'. I thought MY freak flag was flying high. Eek!)

As the room filled up, the raccoon finally freaked out and left. I lowered the blind to give him some privacy (after I noticed that he was cautiously peering around the corner at me as I was coming into upward dog), but he didn't come back.

A shalamate caught this photo of him, sleepy and slightly disoriented. He looks exactly like a small child groggily waking up from his nap, which makes perfect sense because that's exactly what he was doing! Aw!!!! Cute!


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