Astanga

Last night was rough. I didn't sleep well because my head hurt and my sinuses were throbbing. Then, I was kept awake with horrible cramps that stayed with me until morning.

But when I rolled out of bed in the morning, my LH hadn't actually started, so I still had to get up and do my practice.

Lady's Holiday FAIL!!!

I'm still waiting, and in the meantime I'm bloated, paranoid and I can't. stop. eating. cookies. *burp* Epic PMS!

On the bright side, I actually had a very nice practice and my shoulder does feel a *bit* better. I was able to do Purvottanasana today, which made me happy because it's become one of my favourite poses. A number of other small things are back: bringing my arms overhead in Prasarita C (gently, of course), reverse-prayer-hands in Parsvottanasana, and grabbing my toes in Baddha Padmasana.

But some simple things are still tricky, notably downward facing dog and bringing my top arm alongside my ear in Parsvakonasana. I'm still modifying my vinyasas and skipping vinyasas between sides too.

I haven't bothered to even try my Intermediate poses and since I can't press up into Urdhva Dhanurasana or even put any weight into my shoulder in that position, backbends are out. I'm doing 'bridge pose' instead, hoping that I can at least strengthen my legs and work on that elusive connection between active legs and relaxed gluteals. Last time I was up at North, DR pointed out that I still I haven't nailed that.

On the even brighter side, I'm successfully fighting off the cold I picked up. A combination of ColdFX, neti pot, and vitamin C seems to be doing the trick and I haven't even brought out the oregano oil yet. As I'm writing this (on the subway home from my last class of the day, 9 p.m.), I'm feeling about 100 times better than I did in the morning.

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It's 70s Yoga Day! Here, Kareen demonstrates one method to let off some steam when you have Epic PMS.




BLAAAAARRRRRGGGH!

It's even more effective when you shake your head vigorously back and forth and flap your tongue around like a crazy lazy.

I tried it and now I only want to eat *half* the box of double chocolate vegan cookies.

I'm saving the other half for tomorrow. ;-)

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Hatha

I couldn't do it, I just couldn't.

I was feeling too ill this morning. I woke up at 6:30, ended up back in bed. I taught a noon class and met a friend for lunch (my first real meal in days) but I wasn't feeling well afterward.

In the afternoon, I unrolled the mat and managed to do two Suryas before packing it up.

So today is my 'Saturday'. I just finished a half hour of light Hatha on the floor to open my hips, a few shoulder openers and restorative backbends.

Tomorrow is another day. I'll do a Rogue Primary then.

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Last Sunday, I took Princess Fur to the Really Big Park for a pre-Thanksgiving romp and I took this photo of her.

She's SO happy in this park because there are long stretches of off-leash trails. I think she's spotted a squirrel...




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Astanga

I did it! I did it! *happydance* I managed to get through my Primary! And no shortcuts! It wasn't a bad practice, but there wasn't a lot of backbending either. I'm starting to worry that I'll lose all of my hard-earned Backbending Mojo from sitting out my Intermediate during this illness.

I didn't feel sick during my practice, but I did feel a bit weak and I was losing momentum near the end.

I had to teach this morning, but I tried to take it easy the rest of the day. Tonight, I'm still feeling slightly queasy.

I can't believe this bug has lingered on for so long! I'm worried about next week. It's going to be VERY busy and I'll be in workshops the next weekend. I absolutely *need* to be 100% by then.

My exciting plans for tonight involve rest and sleep. Tomorrow, more of the same. Go, Immune System, go! *pompomshake*

Sigh.

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Meanwhile, in an amazing feat of intuition, I took a State-of-the-Backbend photo on Monday, *before* The Plague hit.

While it's not the best backbend I've ever done, I'm pretty sure this Urdhva Dhanurasana is miles better than anything I've done over the last few days.

I'll take it:



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Astanga

As soon as I woke this morning I knew I would need to cancel my day classes. I went back to sleep, bringing my grand sleep total to 14 hours. But I got up feeling like I hadn't slept at all.

I've heard horror stories about this stomach bug and I know I'm probably getting the 'lite' version of it. I haven't been violently ill, just run down and very uncomfortable. It's been about two days and I'm nearly over it.

Practice this morning was Primary once again, with lots of breaks. I skipped vinyasa between sides and didn't spend very much time at all in backbends. I practically melted into the finishing poses and Sirsasana felt incredibly, blissfully comforting.

My decision making process for practisting when I'm feeling unwell goes something like this:
- Do I have a temperature?
- Am I feeling dizzy or short of breath?
- Am I in pain, or could practice be physically damaging?

If the answer is 'No' to all of these, I do my practice.

But I *do* take it easy. The Primary Series of Astanga yoga is therapeutic and I find that it's very healing. I felt better after my practice today than I did before I started.

I rested for a few hours in the afternoon, then went on to teach three classes in the evening. I doubt I could have done that if I hadn't gotten on the mat myself.

All the same, I hope I'm feeling better by tomorrow morning because I'm *really* tired of feeling this way. I'm grateful that I don't often get sick!

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Astanga

Well, this is just too awesome. *sarcasm*

I'm sick.

Me, getting sick, is a funny thing because I don't usually believe it's actually happening. I woke up in the wee hours last night writhing in pain and popped two generic pain pills, as if THAT would make everything better.

It didn't, but I got up in the morning to practice anyway. I got all the way through my salt bath, meditation and made it to the mat before I started to clue in to how fabulously awful I felt.

I decided to work my way through the Suryas and standing poses. When I got to the seated, I knew that I would doing a modified Primary Series practice, at best.

I modified a LOT. I didn't do jumps (stepped back and forward instead). I did the Marichyasana twists very gingerly and didn't even bind Mari D. Then I started taking a lot of breaks curled up on my mat. And even THEN, I was still asking myself: "Am I really sick, or am I just dreaming this up?"

The Universe had the foresight to make sure my evening classes were cancelled, so I was able to get some rest. I'm not a happy convalescent, but I managed to lay around and nap for most of the day.

So, what does the Reluctant Ashtangi do when forced into inactivity?

Well, I watch a lot of DVDs for one. A couple of years ago, when I was on bedrest, I burned through three seasons of CSI. I though Gus Grissom was my best friend and spoke of him like we were totally hanging out (which we kind of were).

This time, I have the sixth season of Grey's Anatomy on deck and it's brand new to me since I don't watch television. I love this show because the shark-jumping is abundant and breathtakingly choreographed. I think every single character has almost died or died by now. Or has been impaled with an icecicle. Or hit by a bus.

I've also been watching the polls. These polls:

Did you stand up before or after you started 2nd Series?
Claudia created this poll. I'll admit that I'm totally cheering for "Drop back after 2nd" because I think the whole "Stand before 2nd" requirement is silly (maybe 'Standing up' should be the next poll). But I have to admit, I *did* drop back before I started the Intermediate Series and it appears that most people also fall into that category.

What should Miss Stan blog about?
I voted for gossip, but her super-exciting yoga practice came in a close second for me. I've been checking back all day, to see if the baby is still winning.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I had to look up 'remoras' on Wikipedia. I thought that maybe it was a South Indian culinary specialty that I'm not wise to because I haven't been to Mysore yet. But nope, it's a fish. In fact, it's a type of shark, but it sticks itself to things instead of jumping.

(We're full circle again, back to sharks)

In other news, my Fabulous Vegan Muffins have gone viral on Twitter and they're now a Global Phenomenon! I've heard rumours of muffin-sightings in New York and California.

Muffins in Fife, Scotland:




Muffins in Amsterdam:




Apparently, baking muffins in paper cups is a European thing.

I hope I'm feeling better tomorrow, but at least I'm easily entertained.

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