Astanga

I just received an email from my mother about the earthquake. It was her first Big Earthquake experience and I think she’s very excited about it. She was on a patio when it hit. The ground started moving, the awning overhead was waving around. She says it was immediately obvious who the Californians were because THEY got up and moved away from the building! An earthquake newbie, she stayed put and watched it all play out. When it stopped, everyone applauded (“Hooray! Nicely done, Mother Earth! Encore!”...there were aftershocks a short time later)

My neck is feeling better today! I was a bit worried about my hockey game last night, but my neck actually felt better after I played. I guess all that head swivelling and craning to see where the puck went was good for stretching things out. I massaged, heat-rubbed, and took muscle relaxants last night. I’m almost pain-free today. I’m thinking I’d like to stay pain free for the rest of the week since Kino arrives on the weekend. On Monday, I can start Chakrasana-ing again and see if I can manage it without straining my neck.

Due to my late night at hockey, I decided to sleep in and come to the Shala a little bit later than usual. The last possible start time is at 9:15, so there’s a lot of wiggle room. I’m a bit like ‘Goldilocks’ right now, trying to find a start time that’s ‘just right’.

An ealry, 6:15, start is less hot and not as crowded. Later start times have the benefit of not requiring a 5 a.m. alarm *flinch*. There’s more of a sense of community in the Shala when there are actually *people* there. I’m starting to learn names - it’s fun!

Today, I started at 8 a.m. It was hot and crowded, but not unbearably so. There was always space for new arrivals to lay their mats. I liked it. I might try a 7 a.m. start tomorrow.

I had a very, very flaky practice this morning. I never actually forgot any poses, but that’s only because Teacher P was keeping an eagle eye on me. Teacher R was around during the first part of my practice and she offered advice and guidance for my standing poses. I’m really beginning to fine-tune the flow of the standing poses. She stopped me in Parivritta Parsvakonasana and gave me some advice for deepening the posture.

I’m finding that this level of heat is a better test of my new headband and yes, it definitely works as advertised. I was sweating a lot this morning and the Halo keeps the sweat from streaming into my eyes.

I really can’t believe how much I sweat! Teacher P assures me that this is completely normal but I feel like some kind of Sweat Mutant Freak. I’ve noticed that I’m not the first woman at the Shala to come up with the bike-shorts-sports-bra-tank-top combination. It really works for me. I can’t imagine wearing long yoga pants during my practice. I’d boil! And they would get heavy from all that sweat.

According to this, I could do it in my formal wear:

(Nice suit, but the dude needs an adjustment)

Astanga

I couldn’t have picked a better day to field-test my Halo headband. The Shala was a stifling vortex of sweaty misery this morning and it’s not even close to summer yet. It wasn’t bad when I first sat down, but as soon as we got going, things heated up quickly.

The heaters were quickly turned off and at one point, a window was opened (I was one of the fortunate few to be adjacent to that window...ahhhh!). I was sweating so profusely, I didn’t need to spray my arms and legs for Garba Pindasana and when I rolled up into Kukutasana, my body slid down my arms no matter how much I engaged the lift through my Bandhas.

The Halo headband worked! It did keep the sweat from running into my eyes - anything that rolled off my head and down my forehead was diverted to the sides. But as soon as I turned my head upside down - for example, in the Prasaritas - the diverted streams of sweat flowed into my eyes.

I suppose what I need is *another* Halo headband to wear around my neck! My willingness to look dorky for the sake of my practice has some boundaries, though: since I’m not willing to wear a Halo headband around my neck like a collar, I’ll just have to deal with the sweat when I’m inverted!

After adjusting to a Mysore-style practice, it was interesting to go back to a led class. I found it challenging to keep my mind focused. There was so much going on around me - noises, people packed into a small space (it really wasn’t all that crowded), teachers moving around the room making adjustments, sweat! I struggled to focus on the count. I couldn’t allow myself to get into too much of a rhythm because Teacher P likes to occasionally keep us in a holding pattern in Chaturanga (I got nailed for moving into to Udhva Mukha Svanasana too soon).

It felt like it went on and on and on. It was hard.

I did notice that I was coming into poses more easily this time around. I bound all my Marichyasana poses fully and I even got chest and chin to the floor by myself in Baddha Konasana. The led class is a good place to gauge how far along you are in your practice without the teacher’s help (my Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana needs some work).

After class, there was a half-hour discussion, which mostly revolved around the Yoga Sutras and Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Now that I have a place to bring my questions, I’ll have to dive into my study of the Sutras again. This is a good month to do it!

My Easter/Eastre basket this year:


I don’t really celebrate the holiday, but I do like the chocolate! The cookies are from one of my students (poor bunny’s ears were broken in transit). I managed to score some Peeps this year too! They’re sometimes hard to find here. I love them, but really I just love the sugar. :-D

Hatha

I finally located a bike shop that carries Halo headbands, but just my luck, it’s out in the far east end of the city. Given that I almost *never* go out there, I kind of gave up on the whole idea. And then, today, I realised that I had plans for afternoon tea in that area so I was able to stop by on my way.

When I told the lady behind that counter that I was buying this for yoga, she looked REALLY confused. I ended up getting the headband that ties in back(rather than the one-size wrap-around version). I’m afraid I’ve gone from a ‘Baron Baptiste’ look to ’The Karate Kid’ but at least it’s more inconspicuous in black:


Here’s a close-up of the sweat-channeling band on the inside of the headband:


And here are the specs (yes, specs. I’m a nerd, so there MUST be geekery!):
-Double-layer construction with Dryline Fabric and...
-VisaEndurance anti-microbial wicking fabric (containing silver Ions which prevent the growth of bacteria)
-Patented SweatBlock Technology (basically, a rubbery plastic strip that seals to the skin, channeling sweat away from the face)

Here’s a hilarious graphic of an unhappy guy with sweat streaming into his face and another, happier, guy with sweat streaming down his neck instead. Choose your misery, I say!

(click on the image for LIVE ACTION sweat!
The animated gif hasn't died yet, folks!)

I’ll try it out tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

I’m on the easy schedule today: yoga lite.

Tonight, I did the Schiffmann shoulder sequence, then I did about 7 minutes of easy vinyasa with a video from Dashama Gordon, one of the YouTube CelebraYoginis. I signed up for her 30-day yoga challenge: each day, she offers a short (10 minutes or less) video on her site. This is great for people who have never done yoga before. I give her props for introducing yoga to people who might never try it otherwise.

As a teacher, it’s interesting to see how someone else sequences and teaches asana.