I've never taken the 'vomit comet' before, but this morning I decided to give it a go because I wanted to drop in to DR's Mysore room at Shala North at 7 a.m.
I left with plenty of time to spare. In fact, I was at the bus stop by 6:10. Good thing, too - because the bus didn't come. And the next bus didn't come. A half-hour later, a bus passed by, but it didn't stop because it was packed full. The next one didn't stop either.
Mysteriously, the 'vomit comet' was packed with leggy people adorned in brightly-coloured track suits, fit-looking, clutching water bottles. I was perplexed. What happend to the 'club scene'? Where were all the stoned ravers and drunk teenagers?
The mystery solved itself when a middle-aged, stringy gentleman in a bright turquoise track suit approached our bus stop, water bottle in hand. There were three of us waiting and we gazed at him curiously. He was friendly. He explained that the buses were full because a 10K race was starting in an hour. Aha! Mystery solved!
The four of us pooled our resources and grabbed the next taxi north. After waiting in the cold for almost an hour, I arrived at Shala North around 7 a.m., just as I had intended, so it all worked out in the end!
I had the nicest practice in DR's room! I'm genuinely fond of him and his assistants are really terrific. This is a 'traditional room' so I didn't do any of the extras or prep work I've been adding in lately. It was a bit different doing my 'standard issue' Primary Series again, without the extras (correct vinyasa!). But I didn't skip any poses.
I noticed that the poses came easier than I remembered, especially Supta K. I came into it the regular way, without the LBH stuff beforehand. An assistant helped me cross my feet. I used to struggle to bind in this one, but I bound easily this morning. And crossing my ankles actually felt comfortable! The Marichyasanas felt great - DT has really been working me in these and it showed. Every bind was easy and I felt tall instead of all scrunched.
DR worked with me on dropbacks and standing. My legs were already sore from the work I had done this week with DT, so it was *challenging*, but fun. DR is really good at taking me right up to the edge of my strength. He made me work hard to stand up! At one point, I was pressing up on my fingertips, working my legs until they quivered like jelly! I'm sure I'll feel that tomorrow!
Then I got a genuine, full-on Paschimo squish, which was awesome. I really miss those!
On Saturday, I went to my teacher DT's vinyasa class. Every week, she blows my mind a little bit by asking me to do something unusual or (seemingly) impossible. This week, she brought us into Gomuhkasana and on the exit, asked us to lift into a tripod headstand with our legs still twisted together.
My immediate reaction was: "You want me to do WHAT?!!!!" I can do a regular tripod headstand and I can even twist my legs together once I'm up there. But for some reason, twisty legs weigh about *kazillion* pounds! Eek!
I didn't have a lot of time to think about it though, so of course, I just DID it and it was fine. But holy smokes! HEAVY!
On Friday night, I went to the 'Gong Show' Bikram community class. A new-to-me teacher was leading. I've decided to call her 'Hazlenut' (I name all the Hot Central teachers after nuts). I liked her class a lot - Hazlenut's pacing was very good.
Even though I'm only doing Bikram classes periodically, it's getting easier and easier. I have a theory: my Astanga practice is SO long and difficult right now, it makes hot yoga feel like a very warm, sweaty vacation. Think about it: the class is only 90 minutes and I get to take rest between nearly every pose! Compared to my morning practice which is 2.5 hours and I go-go-go!
I noticed two interesting things in particular during this Bikram class: My hips are now VERY open in Pavan Muktasana. I can bring my knee to my shoulder! And backbending is comfortable and fun, especially Ustrasana, which used to be my 'nemesis pose'. Now I love it! Yay!
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1 comment:
uhm, love the oreo imagery upstairs, and the funny writing about nature taking its course. not sure i would enjoy a concert by the master farter. haha.
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