Astanga

This was definitely one of those ‘reluctant’ days when I didn’t feel like practising. I was deep into Baddha Konasana before it occurred to me that I was finally enjoying myself and it was a cakewalk after that. I think I’m just really, really tired.

I need to be more careful about getting adequate sleep. Losing a night of sleep over the weekend put me in catch-up mode for the rest of this week and I don’t have *time* to catch up on anything; every minute is allocated. I yawned through my evening classes and right now, I’m so tired, I feel numb. I’ll try to go to bed early and sleep in a bit.

Pasasana was great today. I didn’t bind in the pose - I’ve backed off from binding in favour of deepening the twist. So I’ve been kind of reaching my arm around and grabbing my heel, then tucking my back hand between my thigh and abdomen. Today, I experimented with bringing the wrapped arm around my shin and back toward my hip.

I didn’t bind to fingers or anything, but the pose felt *right*. Now, it’s only a matter of time and practice before I get the bind. I remember how this works from the Marichyasanas. I’ll work on opening my shoulders a bit. Losing a few pounds wouldn’t hurt either. Baby steps!

I’m adding a couple classes (teaching) next week, so today was my last ‘free’ noon hour. I decided to live it up and go see Avatar again. I’m glad I did. The IMAX-3D is less mind-blowing the second time around. I paid more attention to the plot and dialogue this time and I caught little details I missed the first time.

I enjoyed it thoroughly - this is one of my favourite all-time movies. I could see it again, but I probably won’t bother with the IMAX, I’ll just see it in the ordinary theatre (Isn't technology funny? I used to think seeing something on the 'big screen' was a big deal. Now, I'm all 'meh').

Astanga

Here we go, it was bound to happen sometime this month: I had an absolutely wretched practice for no reason at all. It just was. Can’t blame my Lady’s, can’t blame the weather, can’t blame my emotional state.

How bad? Well, I was distracted throughout, gave up on working my jump-backs because I wasn’t in the mood to work that hard and I was modifying poses all over the place. My hamstrings were stiff, my hips hurt (this is probably due to my Monday night ice hockey game) and my breath felt shallow.

Backbends were too much to endure. I did one and skip the others. I didn’t do the closing sequence at all because my SI joints and low back were feeling creaky.

I took 3 minutes of Savasana and put it behind me.

So, we’ve established that the highlight of my day was not yoga. The highlight of my day was Avatar. Yeah, yeah, some of you have been telling me to go see this movie. “Go see it NOW!” you’ve clamoured. “It’s important, it’s wonderful.” One wise soul offered this advice: Watch in IMAX 3D.

I was rolling my eyes a bit, but I’m SO glad I listened.

Avatar is, without question, the MOST STUNNING film I have ever seen. I’m not a movie person. I’m not even much of a science fiction person. This film transcended every genre, blew apart my highest expectations and left me literally speechless.

I have an incredibly short attention span for movies and yet I sat there, absolutely RIVETED for 3 hours. I couldn’t move. My bladder is the size of a thimble and I didn’t even get up to pee. And when I got home, I was oddly disoriented, the same way I am after returning home from overseas travel. I’m still a bit speechless about the whole experience.

I don’t know what to say about this movie that will convey how powerful and wonderful it is. The ordinary moments were so beautiful that I found myself weeping. The heartbreaking moments were so poignant, I realised that I was gripping the armrests and straining forward in my seat. The story is simply told, but the message is profound. I want to see it again.

No spoilers here. Just go see it. PLEASE. And if you can, see it in 3D. Even better, see it in IMAX 3D.