Buying Bridges

The Yoga Conference was this past weekend. I'd love to have a little chat with the genuis who thought that a FULL MOON weekend would be a great time to bring together 800+ yoga practitioners, pack them into small, irregularly-shaped rooms for 6-8 hours a day, while doing intensive yoga practices that many of them are unaccustomed to.

People were BATSHIT CRAZY! The teachers I studied with were warm and enthusiastic and I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions I attended. But by the end of the weekend, I was ready to *strangle* a few of my co-participants. After the last workshop on Sunday night, I couldn't get out of that convention centre fast enough!

The weather didn't help. On Saturday morning, the cold driving rain was such a misery that I ditched the early afternoon sessions in favour of a hot bath at home. On Sunday, I biked to the convention centre in SNOW flurries because the subway wasn't open.

In the past, I've sourced a free ticket to the Yoga Show and attended free classes in the 'yoga garden'. These classes are brief - 30 minutes - but many Yoga Conference workshop presenters are represented. This was a good strategy for 'shopping' around for teachers I liked. This year, I ponied up the money to attend a few workshops and a 2-hour class at the conference.

The class was with Vinyasa Yoga's Goddess of Awesome Hair, Seane Corn. 'Shakti Flow' was billed as an Intermediate/Advanced class and I give huge props to Seane for honouring that. It was a fast-paced, challenging class and I really enjoyed it. I found Seane's teaching clear and intuitive. Sometimes, 'conference teachers' can come across as self-absorbed assholes. Not Seane. She had great energy: open-hearted, humble and funny. I got the impression she would be a pleasure to chat with over coffee. Bonus: She taught the vinyasa exit out of Vasisthasana so effectively that I was able to do it practically on my first try. Her demo of it was beautiful!

The workshops I attended were all with Natasha Rizopolous. When I sampled her sessions at the 'yoga garden' over past years, I struck by how well-organised and knowledgeable she was. I *always* came away learning something new about teaching. She was able to present a coherent and useful 'mini-class' in 30 minutes which is really no small feat in that chaotic venue. I was also touched by her generosity - she spent significant time chatting with me last year about some issues that had come up in my teaching and her advice was very helpful.

I signed up for three of her workshops, specifically geared toward teachers. Though the workshops were very basic in the level of the asana covered, the information was invaluable for my teaching (particularly the workshop on sequencing). Because our teaching styles are similar, Natasha's cueing and sequencing ideas deeply resonated with me. She uses language masterfully! I scribbled many of her cues verbatim into my notebook because I absolutely love the way she puts words together. Her cues are clear, simple and effective.

She's also an incredibly lovely person, as energetic and genuine in her last workshop as she was in her first. Plus, she quoted the yoga sutras (in Sanskrit), which is like the awesome icing on the awesome cake! ;-)

I also did quite a bit of shopping at the show this year, mostly for clothing, which I desperately needed. My favourite find was silk wrap-around skirts made in India from old saris. Perfect to wear over yoga crops, which I pretty much live in on a day-to-day basis, but cute enough to wear out on the town too. I've long been a fan of Halfmoon's Bambusa Stoles. I wear the black one I purchased last year almost daily. I bought two more in pretty colours this year.

After three years of casting a covetous eye as I passed the Health Bridges booth, I finally broke down and bought myself a set. It was a HUGE purchase for me. I normally don't spring for stuff like this. These 'backbending bridges' target different areas of the back. They're beautifully constructed out of Canadian hardwood and came highly recommended. So far, I'm *loving* them.

The second morning I tried them (I'm using Bridge #1 for 10 minutes and Bridge #2 for 5 minutes), I sat for meditation afterward and my entire spine was *tingling*. After two days of use, my back is achy in a wonderfully good way. Bridge #1 already feels like a good session of restorative yoga (last night, I fell asleep on it) but Bridge #2 makes me twitchy after five minutes. I can *really* feel it in my upper back.

I'll be sure to report back if these have any measurable effect on my backbending.


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Astanga

This weekend was great! I did some serious thinking, reordered priorities, rejigged my schedule and made a few changes. One of the biggies is this: I now have a regular day off. Yes, that's right. I didn't before. I was teaching 7 days a week, sometimes even during the slower summer months.

From now on, I'll always to be able to count on having Sundays free and I'm planning to keep that day sacred. No classes, no privates, no work. It's a relief to know that each week, I'll have a entire day with nowhere to go, nothing to do (unless I want to).

Today was my first 'Sunday off' and despite the Moon Day, I decided to practice. I went to Shala South for Mysore-style.

I was 'crim' but I was in good company! There were many other 'crim Ashtangis' today at South. I counted close to 18 people in that room. But going against the grain is very much in style at this studio. I walked in and did my full Primary, plus 8 Intermediate poses. The teacher, DT, never tutted or raised an eyebrow. If anything, I was amongst the more 'traditional' people in that room. Many people were working outside the series, adding extras or flourishes.

I received some strong, focused adjustments. I was impressed that I got so much help, considering this teacher had never seen me before. DT corrected the alignment of my hips in both Parivritta Trikonasana and Parivritta Parsvakonasana (she asked me to shorten my stance on the latter). These adjustments were very similar to feedback I've received from IM at Studio Central in the past.

I received really deep adjustments in both Marichyasana C and D and also got the coveted Prasarita C adjustment, hands to the floor (I held the pose longer, hoping some help might come along, and it did!).

I probably would have had an assist in Supta Kurmasana too, but I didn't need it! For the first time, I was able to bind my hands, cross my ankles, then shimmy my ankles behind my head by myself. DR's help the other day gave me the muscle memory, I think. I wonder if I'll be able to do it again tomorrow?

I moved through my Intermediate poses smoothly. DT checked that I was binding in Pasasana, then left me alone to do the pose on my own. I skipped Parsva Dhanurasana because it felt too crowded to manage it. I grabbed a block to use for Laghu Vajrasana (I'm still not lowering my head all the way to the floor). It was actually nice to have this option and not feel all sneaky or weird about it.

This studio is very supportive of the use of props: the wall for handstands or backbends, bolsters, straps, etc. I certainly could have added my usual shoulder and hip openers before Urdhva Dhanurasana, but opted to go right into backbends to save time. I was practising with a shala buddy and wanted to finish up. I did 6 backbends, no dropbacks (though I might ask for them next time).

I had a good experience this morning. My only gripe is the music - there was some electronica playing when I unrolled my mat, but it wasn't playing for the entire duration. I was actually surprised that it bothered me so much - I used to practice with music and I still play it in the Hatha classes I teach.

I wouldn't mind going back to this room for an occasional practice on Sundays. It's not a 'traditional' shala, but given where I am in my practice right now, it's a good compromise. Whatever practice you bring in the door is supported and I really like that.

And I'm very curious about DG's morning Mysore now. I'm planning to go back to South and give it a shot sometime in the next couple weeks.

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Vinyasa

I'm glad I practised yesterday, even though it was almost a Moon Day. I'm also glad I practised today, the 'real' Moon Day. I didn't do Astanga, just an easygoing Vinyasa class.

Bad Lady Lite? ;-)

I did a YogaDownload class, 'Heart Opening Flow' with Jackie. After months of silent Astanga self-practice, it felt weird doing YogaDownload again. I was struck by how awkward some of the cues were, but I appreciated being led through a unique sequence, with a teacher to keep things moving along (or not - some of the holds felt interminable to me).

The sequence was a continuous flow of standing poses with no inversions. But there were backbends, glorious backbends! And what a difference a couple of months of Intermediate Series practice makes! I was totally rocking the backbends. I've done this class before and found the backbends challenging in the past. Not today. Today, I found them fun and satisfying.

Yay!

It was just an hour - enough to get me warmed up and stretched out before heading off to teach my class. And when I came home, Aunt Flo was waiting for me. Drat. It may be Wednesday before I'm back to my Astanga practice. That's lousy timing. :-(

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I shot a State-of-the-Backbend photo earlier this week. In my backbending, I've been focusing on alignment and not carrying tension into the posture. I've been walking my hands in, but only to a point where my breathing is still deep and free flowing. As soon as I feel tense or constricted, I bail out (and try again).

If D managed to convey just one concept to me vividly, it's this: No breath, no Prana. If I'm holding tension in my body, I'm blocking the flow of energy in the pose and there's no benefit. If I'm not breathing deeply in a pose or the breath feels 'blocked', I need to figure out why.

In this photo, I emphasized proper alignment of my feet and especially my shoulders. Then I only walked my hands in a bit. I wanted to find my 'edge' but still be able to breath deeply.





What surprises me about this photo is how deep the backbend is given that I'm not engaging in any heroics or trying to walk my hands a huge distance. In past SOTB photos I've walked my hands in until I was gasping for breath. In those photos, the backbends look great but I'm DYING to get out of them because they feel *awful*.

Maybe it's just me, but I think I *look* more relaxed here than in past photos (and damn, it looks like my feet are turned out again. How does this happen?! Grrr.)

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Astanga

Today was a wonky on-the-cusp Moon Day. Most people seem to be taking the day off, but I didn't see a point, given that I'm no longer at a Shala.

Plus, now that I'm regularly practising some Intermediate, I really love my Primary Fridays and I don't like to miss them. After a week of hard work on the mat, Primary Series feels like a fun, fun reward. This is really amusing, given that full Primary used to be *such* a big deal in my world. Even as recently as a year ago, it felt like a long, very difficult practice. Now, it's the practice I do if I'm feeling under-the-weather or I need a break.

I had a great practice. Every day, I noticed changes and shifts, things that are newly easy. Often, I don't think to note them, but here's an example: Marichyasana C. I can remember a time when coming into this pose felt like constructing Human Origami. Now, I wrap myself into it on one inhalation. It feels like giving myself a hug. I love Marichyasana C!

You know what else I love? The weekend!!! I'm so happy for some downtime. Today, I finished all of my errands and weekly cleaning, plus I cleared up my desk and reorganised the area around my window seat. I spend so much time there, I wanted to make it more user-friendly and welcoming.

Adding a lamp for light, moving my stereo within easy reach so I can listen to music, putting away my overabundance of books and cleaning up the centimetre-thick-layer-of-dust. All small things, but they made such a difference.

In the afternoon, I cleaned up the kitchen, took Princess Fur for her usual walk and when we got home, she resolutely marched into her condo, anticipating my regular evening departure to teach classes. But instead, I pulled out a big bag of toys. She turned herself in circles, she was so excited! The Human! At Home! Playing with the Dog! A Miracle!

We played for about an hour, then she passed out in sheer exhaustion in what can only be described as a 'Toy Coma'.

Behold:




It's gonna be a GREAT weekend :-D

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Yin

This morning was a whirl of activity as I scrambled to accomplish everything that I would usually do over the course of the weekend, plus some. I did manage to sneak in an hour of Yin Yoga while the clothes were in the dryer. That hour was a lone island of serenity in an otherwise chaotic day.

So much for the Moon Day! I've hardly stopped moving!

I bought groceries, the laundry is finished, the apartment is clean and Princess Fur is huddled angrily in her basket, recovering from an unwanted bath. All of my weekend classes are subbed out, cancelled or postponed. I'm ready!

The Darbys are in town this weekend and I'm *very* excited! Over the next three days, I'll be attending 15 hours of yoga workshops with D&J. If you hear a big 'boom' in the general direction of Canada, that's my brain exploding from the information overload!

I'm treating this weekend a bit like a 'retreat'. I told my friends I would be unavailable and I've emptied my calendar. I wanted to have time to absorb the new information and think about what I was learning. It's also an opportunity to reflect about the direction of my practice in general.

This has been on my radar for a couple of months, I just can't believe it came up so quickly! I almost can't believe that I'll be getting on the subway in less than a half-hour and heading up to the very first workshop!

I hope Princess Fur is speaking to me again by the time I get back ;-)






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Restorative

Wheeee! Look at me, having a holiday from Astanga! *yawn*

Yesterday, it occurred to me that with the timing of this LH, four days will have passed before I’m back on the mat doing my full practice again.

Last night, my body felt all weird and twitchy without yoga, but I know this is temporary. The feeling will soon fade, replaced by an urge to sleep in and sip tea in bed in the morning, while reading a good book. In other words, I’m getting a bit too comfy-cozy with this new routine (the ‘sleeping in’ part of it, at least) and the upcoming 6-day week is going to be a challenge (particularly, the ‘getting up’ part of it).

Also: I’m miserable and this sucks.

I know, I know! I’m supposed to be Revelling in the Sacred Power of My Womanhood, but I don’t enjoy this. In the metaphorical Red Tent, I’m the one everyone wants to kick out because I’m bitchy and won’t stop broadcasting my misery. I don’t enjoy feeling like a stranger in my own body and I don’t like being forced into inactivity through sheer necessity. And it’s not lost on me that the two most uncomfortable days of my month neatly coincided with the two busiest teaching days of my week.

So I’m taking deep, cleansing breaths, resting when I can and just trying to get through it.

I did a some restorative yoga in an effort to balance out the turbulence. That was nice, but everything feels just a bit Twilight-Zoney and up-in-the-air without the steady routine of morning practice to ground me. Makes me appreciate the ‘anchor’ that Astanga usually provides in my life.

I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to do a modified led Primary tomorrow. Until then, I’ll put on my ‘happy face’ and carry on...

*scowl*

Yin Yoga

Last night, I was trying to justify an Epsom salt bath even though it was 9 o’clock at night and I had done my practice hours before. Besides, I wasn’t really *sore*.

Or was I?

I experimentally starting moving my arms around. Actually, my triceps were sore and I had a bit of soreness in my abs. Then I moved my legs one at a time and discovered that my hamstrings were a bit tender and my quads definitely sore. And OwMyHipFlexors. And so on... I was sore almost everywhere.

Apparently, my entire body is in such a state of constant ache from my practice that I don’t even notice it anymore unless it’s particularly dire. I think this is absolutely hilarious! So much for developing mindfulness!

(And, yes, I got my salt bath)

My hip flexors have definitely been an issue this week. Actually, they’ve been achy since I started Intermediate. My body-gremlin, Nitara, is happily settled into my left psoas too. I’ve taken to doing some Yin Yoga in the evening - hip openers specifically - to keep my hips from cramping up. It’s been really helpful. I’m starting to warm up to the Yin Yoga.

Yin Yoga was my practice this afternoon, for the Moon Day. Just a half-hour of hip openers on the floor to keep the Prana moving. A little bit of gentle backbending too...that’s all. No, really!

Okay, okay, I ‘fess up! I did Laghu Vajrasana a few times. It’s amazing how much easier Laghu is (and how much stronger I am) when I haven’t done an *entire* practice prior to working on it. I think I’m very close to the full pose (with a hold!) now and I just need to push myself a little bit harder in the context of my regular practice. That was a good discovery!

I did miss doing my practice this morning, but I have to admit, it was great sleeping in and lazing around too. Moon Days are such a treat!

I’m looking forward to Primary tomorrow.

Vinyasa

Today is the new moon, so I didn’t practice Astanga in the morning. When the alarm went off at 5:30, I turned it off, rolled over and went back to sleep.

I was having a fantastic dream that I was driving a luxury RV through a dessert. Don’t ask. It had nifty cup holders and a good sound system. There were tumbleweeds rolling past! And I was eating Smart Food, which technically I’m not supposed to eat because I’m a vegan.

At least, I’m trying very hard to be a vegan. The slippery slope just became a lot steeper.

It’s much easier to be a vegan if you can eat soy products. There are so many good vegan things to eat that are soy based, many of them excellent replacements for things that vegans can no longer eat (like milk and cheese).

Alas, I’m rediscovering that I can’t eat soy in some forms. I have bad reactions to it. It all came to a stunning conclusion this past weekend when I recognised the same symptoms from the last time I went through this. My bad reaction to soy isn’t a new thing; I knew it was a problem. I was in denial. I faced these same issues when I first became vegan years ago (and it was one of the reasons I gave up and went back to being a garden-variety vegetarian).

This morning, I biked to the store and returned the yummy vanilla soy milk, the soy yoghurt that I love so much and the soy creamer I was using in my chai.

And I replaced the soy milk with rice milk. I was curious to see if any significant improvements has been made in rice milk technology over the past ten years. Nope. It still tastes like sugary chalk-water. Next time I’ll get the almond milk (which is actually pretty good).

I also bought...*sigh*...organic dairy creamer.

I know, I know! But chai is one of the great joys of my life. I’m NOT going to give it up. And there doesn’t seem to be an easy alternative. So I’m a very bad vegan, but this time I’m not going to give up because of the slippery slope. I’ll do the best I can. For now, this is it. I’m going to do some cream research. If I have to buy it, maybe there’s a cruelty-free-super-organic alternative.

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I did a 45 minute practice today at the gym before teaching a class. I really love doing this! Today, I had the entire room to myself. I shut the doors and put some fun music on the stereo. I did the Suryas, the fundamental poses, then moved into some hip openers and light backbends.

I worked on Laghu for awhile, my new favourite pose. I love going up and down! :-) I’m still struggling a bit to find my ‘edge’, to keep it challenging without being impossible. If I cross that line into ‘impossible’ I just fall back into Supta Virasana and then I need to haul myself up with my arms. Laghu FAIL.

It bugs me a bit that I’m never sore in my quads after these marathon Laghu sessions. I feel like I should be *feeling* something, maybe I’m not working hard enough. The pose is gradually getting easier though, so I guess that’s progress.

I’ve switched up my strategy for working on ‘standing up’. I’m dropping back against a wall, as far down the wall as I can. Then, pushing against the wall with my hands, I push my hips forward so they’re over my feet and I stand up. Well, sometimes I stand up. Often, I fall back again and need to walk my hands up the wall a bit further. I’m trying to develop some muscle memory around the body mechanics and the positioning of the hips.

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Monday was my iPad-iversary. On Tuesday, I called Bell and cancelled my DSL Internet service. I’ve successfully transitioned to my iPad for email, scheduling, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds and blogging. I rarely use my laptop anymore. I take my iPad with me everywhere.

I love it! It’s been useful in ways I never imagined. For example, I used the GPS and maps function as a roadmap to get to Quebec and then to find my way around Montreal and Quebec City. The iPad trumps the ‘TomTom’ because it pinpoints your position on the map, a bit like Harry Potter and the ‘Marauder’s Map’. It’s a boon for insomnia: I can’t read in the dark with my Kindle, but the Kindle app on my iPad gives me that option. I also have a large collection of photos on my iPad. I’ve enjoyed showing these to friends. It’s reawakened my interest in iPhoto and my photo collections.

And one day, when I was sick to death of being stuck indoors on a beautiful afternoon, I took my iPad to the beach and for an entire afternoon, I used the beach as my office!

I’m totally sold on this idea :-D

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Yin

I took my Ashtangi Moon Day Obligations very seriously today and rested with enthusiasm. :-)

In the morning, I woke up and took a salt bath, then practsied an hour of Yin Yoga. I did the Sarah Powers ‘Yin Liver’ sequence, replacing ‘Seal’ with a supine backbend. I rolled up an old Yogi Toes towel in my Maha mat and used it as a bolster. I wanted something a bit more solid under me and this worked great.

I’ve been trying to do this supine backbend a few times a day for about 5-10 minutes. My theory is that my back will become bendier if I bend it more. Profound, I know! I spend so much of my life with a rounded back: in front of the computer, curled up with a book, or riding my bike. I’m trying to reverse the trend. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Yin Yoga felt fantastic. The ‘Liver’ sequence includes a number of hip openers in external rotation, held for 5 minutes at a time. I sunk into these and really savoured them. Long Savasana afterward and my entire body felt soothed! After last week’s labours, I needed this!

I spent the rest of the morning napping and then a good part of the afternoon out in the park, laying in the sun listening to music and thinking.

It was a relief to slow down and think some things through, find some perspective.

I can’t believe that we’re already moving into the last week of July! The month flew by. I’m already beginning to look toward August.

It’s going to be an interesting and dynamic month. I’ll be working at a conference, doing some travelling and spending time with family. It’s my last month of a relatively ‘light’ teaching schedule. I’m planning to step outside my ‘comfort zone’ in some significant ways and shake things up a bit.

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Today is an interesting convergence of days: Guru Purnima, the full moon and Guruji's birthday.

There are flowers on my altar today and gratitude in my heart for all the teachers who have guided me in my practice by sharing their experience and wisdom. I'm blessed with the skill and care of so many who have walked this path before me. They light the way and ease the obstacles. I'm thankful and blessed.

My heart is full of gratitude to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois for dedicating his life to sharing this practice. I, and so many others, have benefitted immeasurably.

Happy Birthday, Guruji.

Astanga

I slept in this morning, then staggered out of bed with a tremendous ‘food hangover’. I even had a headache! I was not diligent at all about avoiding gluten this weekend and now I have mystery rashes all over the place. Who gets a rash behind her ears? Apparently, I do. Argh. That’ll learn me!!!

It’s a Moon Day, so the Shala was closed. But I was really keen to get out of the apartment and practice somewhere. I checked out Studio Central’s schedule and realised that a really cool Astanga teacher teaches a morning led class there. I spontaneously decided to check it out.

When I arrived, I introduced myself and gave JB a heads up about my left hamstring. We ended having a great conversation about hamstring injuries.

JB’s a friendly guy, great teacher, and really knows his stuff. I feel like I should nickname him ‘Shoulder Guy’ because almost all of his feedback was related to my shoulders (and relaxing them). It’s always valuable to have a new set of eyes examine my practice. I like this studio because all of the instructors are very alignment-aware and I almost always walk away with some good nuggets of wisdom.

The class was an hour-and-a-half, led half-Primary. My only gripe was the lack of Sirsasana, but everything flowed well and I had a really nice practice.

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This week’s State-of-the-Backbend is a special ‘video edition’. Some of you have already guessed what my ‘secret project’ is and I feel confident enough about it now to ‘fess up:

I’m working on dropbacks.

I started last month by dropping back against a wall and doing some hangbacks. This was helpful for opening my back (and building core strength; that’s when I had the achy upper ribs), but it didn’t do a whole lot to help me overcome my fear of dropping back.

Among the many suggestions for moving through my hamstring injury (And those suggestions were coming fast and furious - evidently EVERYONE has an opinion about gimpy hamstrings! Even my hair stylist weighed in!), one of the simplest was just to *walk*. Susan suggested this and I was skeptical, but something Grimmly posted on a forum confirmed that walking was helpful to him and I heard from a few others as well.

I started walking to the Big Park every day to exercise my hamstring. And the Big Park has HILLS! A couple years ago, I tried dropping back onto a slope in the park. Even with that little bit of height, it was terrifying and I never repeated the experiment. I wasn’t strongly motivated to.

But now I am!!! Last week, I decided to give it another go, and I was happy to discover that it’s not scary at all!

Every day, I’ve been walking to the park and dropping back on that hill. I’ve gradually reduced the steepness of the slope by moving downhill a bit each day.

Five days ago, I got *really* brave and decided to drop back without the hill! It wasn’t pretty, but I did it! And I came perilously close to womping my head on the ground too! Susan’s feedback was: “STRAIGHT ARMS!” And she was absolutely right! I was bending my arms too much on the landing. Need more Pingu!!! ;-)

So I moved back up the hill to a steeper slope and worked on keeping my arms straight on the landing.

I’m rarely ‘Bad Driste Girl’ at the Shala, but I do sometimes spy on my teacher, R, as she’s dropping back. She’s amazingly graceful and has so much strength and control as she drops - her hands are practically hovering over the floor when she finally lands. This is the image I’ve carried in my mind as I’ve worked on my own dropbacks.

For the past few days, I’ve been focusing on the straight arms, of course, but also on hanging back as I push my hips forward, shifting weight into my feet for counterbalance as I bring my arms back behind me, then trying to hang for as long as possible before dropping.

It’s a work in progress, but I’m getting the knack! Today, I made little video. Here it is:

Hatha

I really did honour the Moon Day today, doing only a very short session of restorative yoga in the morning and a few sun salutations to work the kinks out before teaching my classes. It was nice to sleep in and relax. I think I managed to sleep till 8 a.m. and then I enjoyed being lazy. I had a great morning.

The big event of the day was the arrival of my new camera, via Canada Post (my first mail order camera experience!). My old camera is almost six years old and on its last legs. The flash is broken, the battery is fading and last summer, I dropped it on the rocks at the Island and it hasn’t been the same since. The corner of the LCD screen cracked and began a slow deterioration. It’s bad enough that I rarely carry it with me because I’m afraid the jostling will make the problem worse.

So, time for a new camera! I like Canon, so I stuck with that brand. I shopped around for the simplest, lightest camera I could find - something I could easily carry with me. I’m not interested in bells or whistles, but definitely wanted a more versatile self-timer (I’m sick of rushing into Urdhva Dhanurasana in order to capture my State-of-the-Backbend images).

I found a recently discontinued model that received rave reviews and I ordered from a local company (at a significant discount) on Tuesday night. By noon today, it was in my hands! That’s a pretty good turn-around. And it’s orange, my new favourite colour:


I’m delighted with the camera so far. They’ve made so many improvements to the design and function of these gadgets in the past few years! Functionally, it’s similar to my old camera, but small improvements make it easier to use and far more user friendly. And it’s *very* light. Expect to see more photos on this blog in the coming months!

Astanga

I appear to have reached out and grabbed that New Moon and now I’m swinging along, riding its energy. I feel bouncy!

I woke up before the alarm this morning and wanted to practice, so I did. It was an interesting experiment because this is the first time I’ve practised the full Primary Series on my own at home, since I started going to the Shala. It was good! No music, no recording to lead me, just my breath and the city skyline out my picture window, sunshine streaming in and Princess Fur snoozing contentedly in her basket.

My practice has changed in the past month. Everything is a little bit deeper. My hips are more open, the hamstrings have opened up a LOT. But the biggest change I noticed: Ujjayi. I breath LOUDLY. Holy! Just one month of Teacher R’s good-natured nagging (“Big Sound! Big Sound!”) has turned me into one of those loud breathers. Don’t get me wrong, there are many at the Shala who can drown me out easily, but in my tiny apartment, I could HEAR my breath.

And there were the distractions! With no teacher watching, I was much more prone to fussing and fidgeting. I managed to stay very focused right up until Supta Kurmasana. Then I was messing around with trying to get that left leg behind my back. I sort of lost momentum there. I could do it, but getting my right leg behind my back was too challenging. I ended up placing the left leg, lowering down, crossing the right ankle over left. I still managed the bind though. I’m looking forward to getting some help with this at the Shala. I think the teachers will be game for it - Teacher P was encouraging me to cross my ankles before binding the other day.

My two big breakthroughs - the wrist bind in Marichyasana D and the heel lift in Kurmasana (I almost typed ‘hell lift’ there; that’s what it feels like!) were repeatable today. I was watching Kino’s Primary DVD last night (yeah, that was my Big Excitement for Moon Day Eve - that and a hot bath). I noticed that when binding in the Marichyasanas, she tried to straighten the non-binding arm and, if possible, tuck that hand around the leg to get some leverage. I tried that today and it really made a difference in both Marichyasana C and D (C was just easier and in D, The lotus knee sank closer to the floor).

I did three backbends, which I filmed for posterity (but not public scrutiny). I also did a film of my jumpbacks/throughs and surprised myself with a jumpthrough that didn’t touch down - I straightened my legs and lowered! Kind of funny that I’m all obsessed with my jumpbacks, but it’s the jumpthroughs that are improving!

Astanga

Moon Day, so no Mysore practice, as the Shala was closed.

I had big plans to sleep in, but only managed to sleep until about 7 a.m. I did lay in bed for a while though, and enjoyed the novelty of not getting up to rush around.

Moon Days are on Wednesdays this month, so I’ll be able to use up the last two classes on my studio pass, attending Teacher IM’s Astanga I/II classes in the mornings. This is such a treat for me, a ‘teaching development opportunity’ as much as a practice.

IM is one of the best teachers I’ve ever studied with - he was a senior teacher long before I had even contemplated applying for YTT. It’s a pleasure to listen to him lead a class and I always pick up things that I can apply to my own classes. He’s been very inspiring to me as a teacher.

Poor guy had his hands full this morning! He works hard! He offered me several suggestions for postures (Wider stance and square those hips in Parvottanasana and he gently encouraged me to lift up, lift up, lift up! in jumpbacks). I got that terrific adjustment in Marichyasana C, on both sides.

Then I watched him work compassionately with a student who was brand-new to Astanga. Talk about teaching multiple-levels! There were many ‘middling’ students, bookended by two more advanced, with a raw beginner in the mix.

I enjoyed the class and I really like this studio. I always set up by the window where I can see the sky (and there are no Driste police to stop me from gazing at the clouds drifting by!)

Urdhva Dhanurasana was good this morning. I only had two opportunities to do the pose, but I was able to hold it for a long time. 15 long breaths for the first hold, at least 10 for the second. I even experimented with rocking my body a bit, making sure to rock forward on the inhale, back on the exhale. I’ll need to do this if I’m ever going to stand up from that backbend!

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I wouldn’t mind ‘smuggling years off my figure’. I might need to after Friday!

Maybe I should buy one of these to wear at the Shala! It will go great with my dorky headband!

Vinyasa

I debated whether I would ‘fess up to bad news on such a public forum, but for better or for worse, it’s bound to affect my practice. So here it is: as of last night around 7:30 p.m., I unexpectedly became single. I’m feeling at peace with the decision and I’m quietly moving on with my life. I’m doing okay.

After the hustle and bustle of the weekend, this Moon Day was really well-timed. I’m yoga-ed out! It was a treat to sleep in this morning. After waking, I tackled the laundry, the cleaning and the grocery shopping, the clutter on my desk.

I made time for a 25 minute YogaDownload session, Yoga for Runners #1 with Dawnelle. This class is one of my favourites and I felt good afterward. I may do the Schiffman shoulder sequence later on today. And there will be a nap scheduled in there someplace too, because I’m playing a late hockey game tonight.

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And then maybe I’ll do some of this, just to let off some more steam:


Rowrrrrrrr!

Day 313

I had an ordinary, kind of wonderful practice this morning and that's saying a lot, considering that it was 4:00 a.m. when I stepped on the mat.

I did the short form, but I added Mari B just because I miss it and I did Urdhva Dhanurasana because I sometimes feel like I'm not 'pushing my edge' enough in my practice and backbends always do that for me.

My shoulder felt just a tiny bit tender.

Yes, I know it's a moon day but I really wanted to take the weekend off, so that's what I'm going to do: no yoga until Monday. I'm ready to be a sloth!

Day 27

New moon today and yes, I'm practising. I'm a baaaaaad ashtangi! Ironically, I realised the my first day of doing the primary series was actually a new moon day. I guess I started out on the wrong foot and I'm just continuing that way!

Lately, I haven't been sweating very much during my practice, even with the faithful application of ujayi breath. It's cooled down a lot here and last night, it was in the low 50s.

Usually, I open up the doors and windows in the morning and leave them open all day. This morning, I didn't. It was still warm and a bit stuffy inside when I got back from my morning walk. This strategy worked - I had more heat in my practice (don't worry - I did open up the windows after that).

I suppose in the winter, I'll need to heat up the room I practice in. A loaned my space heater to a friend - I'll try to get that back by the end of summer.

I was able to bind on the right side in Marichyasana D today, but not the left. My arm kept slipping off my leg. Sometimes the sweat makes me sticky and it's easier to bind, sometimes it's too slippery and I can't get a good grip. Oh well!

I had absolutely no core strength to speak of this morning - my could barely come up with bent knees in Sirsasana. I think I need to comb the forums for tips in building strength for this one. The only advice that BBB gives is that you shouldn't even be coming into the pose if you can't come up with straight legs (at least, that's the way Pattabhi Jois teaches it), but I can't embrace that because I love the pose so much...

Day 14

I'm an astanga rebel: today is a 'moon day' when most Ashtangis traditionally take a day off of practice and I practised anyway! It was really good, though fairly unremarkable. I seem to be settling into some sort of comfort zone with the practice now - it feels challenging but welcoming to me.

Marichyasana A and B are both completely comfortable. Marichyasana C not so much, but it's coming along.

Jump throughs are fairly consistent, using the blocks on their second highest level. At one point, they were on the lowest level and I was having trouble so I switched them back.

My back was NOT open today and Urdhva Danurasana was really, really difficult.

Sirsasana was its usual bliss. I really, really don't need that wall. From now on, I'm going to pretend the wall isn't there and not rely on it at all (unless I crash into it on my way down). I think my goal for Sirsasana this summer is to be completely free-standing by the time I return to H's class in the fall.